The topic for the second paper is: Compare and Contrast Lincoln and Douglas on the Issue of the House Divided. Highly recommended that you read the two articles by Jaffa posted in the "Content" section. The Lincoln-Douglas debates were part of a larger campaign to achieve political adjectives from the two. Lincoln was running for Douglas’ seat in the senate as a republican. Douglas had been a member of congress since 1843, a national figure for the Democratic Party, who was running for re-election. The debates attracted national attentions, mostly due to Douglas’ persona. Lincoln took advantage and made a name for himself as a prominent contender in national politics. At the time, the Democratic Party was going through a sectional riff, at the time of the debates. Douglas had recently gone against president Buchanan and the southern democrats when he apposed the admission of Kansas as a slave state. Douglass was against the Lecompton constitution; the stand was popular among republicans. The outcome, would have maintained the unity between the Nor and south sections of the Democratic Party. Buchanan, along with the southern democrats, were in favor of Lincolns candidacy, they feared Douglas’ going interest, and for his lack of support to the Democratic leaders. With Douglas receiving support from republicans, Lincoln would have to keep Illinois republicans from supporting Douglas. Lincoln would use the morality of slavery to wedge support away from Douglas’ famous popular sovereignty, while winning support of abolitionist. The house divided quote Lincoln used in his speech was taken from Mark 3:25. Lincoln would began by warning that the subject of slavery will not go away until there is a crisis that either abolishes slavery... ... middle of paper ... ... the rest of the county. Douglas believed that Negros should "have and enjoy every right, privilege, and immunity consistent with the safety of the society in which he lives," the question therefore is particular to each state the people of such a state or territory must decide for themselves. Lincoln received more popular votes than the Democrats; this was an important shift in Illinois. Lincoln gained a strong reputation through out the entire north. By Douglas winning, he further alimented Presidents Buchanan’s administration and especially the south. The south soon lost its power in the Senate; the division of the Democratic Party was even more splintered. Lincoln assured the south that he would not interfere with slavery in their states where it already excited. Also, Lincoln assured the north that he was not ready for political or social equality of the races.
Lincoln was a very smart lawyer and politician. During his “House Divided” speech he asked the question, “Can we, as a nation, continue together permanently, forever, half slave, and half free?" When he first asked this question, America was slowly gaining the knowledge and realizing that as a nation, it could not possibly exist as half-slave and half-free. It was either one way or the other. “Slavery was unconstitutional and immoral, but not simply on a practical level.” (Greenfield, 2009) Slave states and free states had significantly different and incompatible interests. In 1858, when Lincoln made his “House Divided” speech, he made people think about this question with views if what the end result in America must be.
At the time, the South depended on slavery to support their way of life. In fact, “to protect slavery the Confederate States of America would challenge the peaceful, lawful, orderly means of changing governments in the United States, even by resorting to war.” (635) Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and realized that slavery was bitterly dividing the country. Not only was slavery dividing the nation, but slavery was also endangering the Union, hurting both black and white people and threatening the processes of government. At first, Lincoln’s goal was to save the Union in which “he would free none, some, or all the slaves to save that Union.” (634) However, Lincoln realized that “freeing the slaves and saving the Union were linked as one goal, not two optional goals.” (634) Therefore, Lincoln’s primary goal was to save the Union and in order to save the Union, Lincoln had to free the slaves. However, Paludan states that, “slave states understood this; that is why the seceded and why the Union needed saving.” (634) Lincoln’s presidential victory was the final sign to many Southerners that their position in the Union was
In the 1860’s the United States weren’t united because of the issue of slavery. The civil war was never just about getting the union back together, but about making it count and getting rid of slavery. The south wanted their slaves and would say they are “-the happiest, and in some, the freest people in the world”. (Doc 5) However, the north knew that was not true because of Harriet Beecher Stowe's “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. In 1854 when the Kansas-Nebraska act was passed it caused some issues. Anti-slavery supporters were not happy because they did not want expansion of slavery, but the pro-slavery supporters weren’t happy because they wanted slavery everywhere for sure. (Doc. 7)The Kansas-Nebraska act caused trouble before it was even passed, Senator Charles Sumner argued against and attacked pro-slavery men causing Preston Brooks to beat Sumner with a cane. The south praised Brooks while the north felt for Sumner. (Doc 8) In 1858 during his acceptance speech Lincoln said his famous line, “A house divided
The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 was a very influential event that occurred in American history and has much significance, even till this day. The debates were in contest for the United States Senate seat in Illinois. The main topic involved in the debates was based around slavery and the separation of the union because of it. Both Lincoln and Douglas refer to the U.S. Constitution in their remarks and state different opinions surrounding what they interpret the meaning of certain parts regarding slavery to be.
Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States during the beginning era of Reconstruction, had plans to free slaves and grant them freedoms like never before. In 1863, before
When President Lincoln first called for troops to put down the confederate rebellion, he made no connection between this action and an attempt to end slavery. In fact, he explicitly stated "the utmost care will be observed to avoid any devastation, any destruction of, or interference with, property..." At this point, slavery was not yet integral to the struggle, it was much more important for the Union to air on the side of political prudence and avoid angering loyal boarder states. However, despite this lack of political dialogue, many abolitionists, slaves, and free blacks felt the war to preserve the union could also be a war to end slavery. In the end, they were right, as military need overwhelmed potential political dangers, slaves and the institution of slavery became a central issue in the civil war.
...ll the Republican political leaders, two third of the majorities of the house and the senate approved and sent the senates to approved the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery. President Abraham Lincoln used his influences republican party leaders, and his campaign speech that he spoken from Springfield to Washington to persuasive and changed the South state’s mind. Lincoln wanted to end the civil neutral by stating that he was willing to conciliate the slaves’ states in the South, but that there will be no compromise that was acceptable of the expansion territory of the slavery.
At the end of the Civil War congress was under the control of the "Radical Republicans." Lincoln was able to handle them and had devised a plan for reconstruction that would treat the South better and in a friendlier way. However, the Radical Republicans saw reconstruction in a different light. They saw it as a way to get back at the South for what they've done. If Lincoln had lived, there is no doubt that history would have been different. However, the assassination of Lincoln left Andrew Johnson as President. Being a Southerner and former slave owner did not help his circumstances with the Radical Republicans. Immediately after the Civil War, the South passed numerous laws called the "Black Codes." Theses laws restricted the rights of black
Lincoln is famously known for ending slavery. He Issued the Emancipation of Proclamation. The presidential proclamation was issued during the American Civil War. Lincoln stated in his speech, "I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of states, and henceforward shall be free." The states he was referring to were the 11 out of 22 states that still had slavery. It was because of Lincoln that millions ...
Without a single electoral vote from the Southern states, Lincoln became the sixteenth president of America. Running against Douglas, a Democrat, Breckinridge, and Bell in 1860, he won forty percent of the popular vote, and a large majority of the electoral vote as well (Doc B). This enraged southern states, because they realized that since Lincoln was able to win with only the northern states’ votes, they did not have enough representation or power to elect the president. After this election, the southern states were more willing to secede from the Union, making Crittenden’s proposal doomed to be rejected from the beginning, because there was no hope for the Southern Democrats and the Northern Republicans to reach a compromise. In addition, though senator Seward was a Republican, he supported the extension of the Missouri Compromise line and was willing to negotiate with the South in order to preserve the Union. He ran against Lincoln for the Republican party nomination and lost, but, in a letter from Lincoln in December 1860, he was offered the position of Secretary of State (Doc I), a common stepping stone to becoming president. Lincoln knew Seward was a threat to his beliefs due to their
Lincoln presented several examples of why he wrote the “Emancipation Proclamation” speech. The emancipation of the slaves’ speech is about how Abraham Lincoln made an address to the world so that they could free the slaves in the confederate states only. One of the themes in the speech is indicated by Johnson and Guelzo. "From the outset of his presidency, Lincoln wanted to end slavery" (Johnson and Guelzo). This speech is an address that states all slaves in Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia are free. A theme of the "Emancipation Proclamation" speech is that no matter what people may seem like they most of the time want to do what is right. "From the outset of his preside...
...en slavery can be settled, until there has been a conflict or war. Lincoln also says that the U.S. government can’t stay half for slavery and half against slavery for long without a conflict. All in all, the politics involved with the Civil war were both a major and crucial role in the Civil War.
When Abraham Lincoln became a threat to slavery, they felt that the whole way of life is being eliminated.
With that being said, his only concern was with preserving the North. The north had a supplemental army, prestigious factories, and rations. Compared to the south where they did have a low army size, but lacked supplements and essential training skills needed to defeat the Union. During the Civil War, Lincoln did not want the North to declare victory over the south. This was because the south did not want to secede from the north without the abolishment of slavery occurring. The thing is that despite Lincoln being an advocate for freeing the slaves, many people living in the South had already predicted that slavery was bound to end at some point. In the end of the war, the north ended up winning the, and it vastly improved their economy, abundance of military equipment, and industrialization in factory settings. Due to the implementations of the war, America’s identity was unclear because the Union had achieved much more success than the south, which in turn does not shape America into a functional
Abraham Lincoln’s original views on slavery were formed through the way he was raised and the American customs of the period. Throughout Lincoln’s influential years, slavery was a recognized and a legal institution in the United States of America. Even though Lincoln began his career by declaring that he was “anti-slavery,” he was not likely to agree to instant emancipation. However, although Lincoln did not begin as a radical anti-slavery Republican, he eventually issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves and in his last speech, even recommended extending voting to blacks. Although Lincoln’s feeling about blacks and slavery was quite constant over time, the evidence found between his debate with Stephen A. Douglas and his Gettysburg Address, proves that his political position and actions towards slavery have changed profoundly.