An Unbreakable Union As Abraham Lincoln was sworn into the office of President of the United States of America, the nation was deeply divided, with several states having seceded to form the Confederate States of America. He promised to “preserve, protect, and defend” (Doc #1) the Union and its federal forts and property in the Confederacy that were being dismantled and appropriated by the South. Lincoln further promised in his address that “no State can lawfully [leave] the Union” (Doc #1) and that he would reassert the laws of the Union in the rebellious states. What role did Lincoln take in the events between his inauguration and the outbreak of the Civil War? Was he preparing for peace, or planning for war? Lincoln took a direct role in the events leading to the outbreak of hostilities. Not only did he attempt to negotiate a peaceful resolution and open dialogues with Southern officials, he tried to rein in his advisors who challenged his positions, and cemented his administration’s stance on the question of secession. Prior to Lincoln’s inauguration in March, Lincoln played direct and indirect roles in the events that shaped the beginning of a civil war. Although the future cabinet members around him urged him to make statements to convince the South he had no intentions of abolishing slavery in their states, he did nothing of the kind, refusing to make public statements until he was sworn into office. He refused to do this because he was already on record for saying he had no constitutional powers (until he was made president) yet, and because he felt it would be a sign of weakness to be compelled to repeat his sentiments over and again, and to be kept on the defensive: “they would seize upon almost any letter I could wri... ... middle of paper ... ...secession, he was prepared for the possibility of war, but had no plans to attack the South. He made offers with the South to trade the forts for assurances of peace, and even ordered his men to surrender if it would save their lives. While Lincoln’s decision to supply the fort with provisions was a provocation and led to a Confederate attack, Lincoln never made the order to fire on the South first, and he took steps, continuously, to avoid a conflict and try to reason with the Southern government. Lincoln had no plans for war, and his reinforcement of Fort Sumter was to affirm its status as a federal fort, not to force the Confederacy into starting a war. Both sides had an aim: whether it was to gain complete independence or pull back the secessionist states into the Union, neither was willing to back down, and the responsibility for the war rests on both sides.
Lincoln above all solely wanted to save the Union. It was his philosophy that he did not want to rid the country of or promote the institution of slavery, but to prevent the introduction of slavery into new territories and the preserving of the Union. Lincoln, very evidently, stood neutral on the issue of slavery, saying he wouldn't agree with both 1) men who wouldn't save the Union unless they could save slavery at the same time and 2) men who wouldn't save the Union unless they could destroy slavery also (276). This most likely proved to be a huge factor in the war because Lincoln was not choosing sides, but he was more being the mediator. Lincoln...
Abraham Lincoln became the United States’ sixteenth president during a controversial era in which the Union was in danger over the prospect of slavery. Distraught by the idea that the collapse of the American Union might forever destroy the possibility of a democratic republican government, Lincoln set out to restore the union, claiming that it would not survive if it remained divided. He aimed to protect democracy by ruling secession as illegal. Initially, Lincoln rejected emancipation as a goal of the war, but changed his stance after being pressured by the arrival of an influx of black refugees in Northern camps, and the efforts of radical republicans to use wartime legislation to destroy slavery. As a result, he drafted a general emancipation
Abraham Lincoln’s greatest challenge during his presidency was preserving the Union during the Civil War after the Southern states seceded from the Union. There were many dividing issues in the U.S. before his election in 1860, and his presidential victory was the final straw that led to the Civil War. The North and the South were already separating due to regional differences, socially, politically, culturally, and economically. Slavery was one of the biggest factors that led to the division between the North and the South. Preserving the Union while half of the country refused to regard federal law while in secession was extremely challenging, yet Abraham Lincoln decided to fight war against the South not only for the sake of abolishing slavery, but most importantly for the sake of preserving the Union. He was dedicated to fighting for the equality of all men in the U.S., as mentioned in his famous Gettysburg Address: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He used this to argue a basic point: if all men are created equal, then all men are free. His House Divided speech showed his determination to keep the...
Before his inauguration, the Union was dissolving, and Lincoln was left with one choice to preserve this Country and the freedom it guarantees; his only option was to wage war with the rebellious South.
When Abraham Lincoln took office as President on March 4, 1861 - the United States was a divided country with slavery as the key issue before the nation. In order to preserve the Union, it was inevitable that something had to be done in America. The differences of the states spiraled into America's most dreadful and bloody civil war.
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.
President Lincoln called for volunteers from the northern states, ultimately giving the Union army 75,000 soldiers. The south on the other hand, did not have an established army, so they turned to the southern states’ militia groups to supply their soldiers. As both sides began to mobilize their troops, it became apparent that politics would play a major role in military tactics. The South prepared for a defensive battle to win their independence, while the North developed offensive campaigns in order to preserve the Union. President Lincoln believed the only way to win control of the southern states was to physically overpower
...ld not protect the interest of the Southern states. Coupled with the hostilities, lack of votes for Lincoln from the South and disregard for the constitutional protection of slavery is a justifiable reason from the Southern leaders to secede from the Union.
Additionally, Lincoln was known for being a man with no policy. Once the war began, Lincoln clearly adopted the preservation of the Union as his policy. As the war waged, Lincoln also added emancipation to his policies. As the
Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th in Kentucky. He was the 16th president of U.S. He tried to preserve the unity of the United States. Lincoln was the president at the time of the Civil War. He started the Reconstruction plan to readmit seceded states. His stance becomes more about slavery than the Union. He took steps to abolish slavery. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 1863 in January. The Proclamation declared that the slaves in rebellious states would be free. He also influenced the 13th amendment banning slavery. Lincoln was slain in the presidential box at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. by John Wilkes. He did not live to see his plan on slavery become an
Weeks stated that there are three components usually brushed upon by supporters of Manifest. The first component of Manifest Destiny was the virtue of White European people and their institutions. Secondly, supporters of Manifest Destiny used their mission to spread these institutions, thereby creating the world in the image of the United States. Lastly, Manifest Destiny advocates believed it was their destiny under God to achieve this task. However, Lincoln sided against “Southern sectionalism, anti-immigrant nativism and the imperialism” of Manifest Destiny as being considered unfair and unreasonable. Although Abraham Lincoln was against slavery, he did not want to blatantly make it a big issue. Abraham Lincoln was a Republican who believed slavery was a moral issue. Even though, he did not have the power to abolish slavery, Lincoln wanted to stop the extension of slavery because it was wrong. He was attempting to expose slavery as an eternal struggle between right and wrong, but he wanted to keep the South together. Following after Lincoln’s election, South Carolina first began calling for a meeting to secede from the Union. Many Southern states did the same thing and held state conventions and inevitably, the Confederate States of America was formed. Jefferson Davis would become the president of the Confederate States of America. There were a few of peace proposals that were attempted to prevent the secession from occurring. Senator James Henry Crittenden proposed to extend the Missouri Compromise line throughout the states to California. This meant the territory North of the line would be free, the South of line could maintain slavery practices. However, Republicans did not pass this law. Lincoln attempted to reach a compromise with the Southern states, but they were not satisfied enough. The president decided to bring unarmed ships to bring provisions to Fort Sumter, but the Confederacy saw this as a sign of aggression. As a
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteen president of the United States of America. Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809. He was born in a little town called Hadin County, located in Kentucky. Abraham Lincoln’s parents were born in Virginia. Abraham Lincoln had four children’s their names were: Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas. His wife name is Mary Todd Lincoln. Everybody in the north wanted Abraham Lincoln as their president because they didn’t want slavery in their country. When Abraham Lincoln took office a month later a war started against the south. This war is called the Civil War. The Union army against the confederate’s army fought the battle. This battle began in April 12, 1861 at Fort Sumter located in South Carolina. Abraham Lincoln was the leader of the north also called the Union. He wanted to end slavery in the south because he wanted for every man to be treated equally. Well the south disagree with Abraham Lincoln because the south believe in slavery and they were there own country. So according to that whatever Abraham Lincoln does in the north it would not effect the south. Abraham Lincoln was trying to end slavery by making the Election of 1860. He was going against abolitionist from the south. Well the election of 1860 did not go as plan, the south refuse to end slavery and they could careless what Abraham Lincoln had to say about it. The general of the south at this time was Robert E. Lee. He was a great general but Abraham Lincoln was way better than he ever was. Abraham Lincoln made a plan since the south did not want to end slavery. Abraham Lincoln was going to block the Atlantic Ocean so the south would not trade with other countries in the world...
Contrary to what today’s society believes about Lincoln, he was not a popular man with the South at this period in time. The South wanted to expand towards the West but Lincoln created a geographical containment rule keeping slavery in the states it currently resided in. Despite his trying to rationalize with the South, Lincoln actually believed something different ”Lincoln claimed that he, like the Founding Fathers, saw slavery in the Old South as regrettable reality whose expansion could and should be arrested, thereby putting it on the long and gradual road ”ultimate extinction” (216). He believed it to be “evil” thus “implying that free southerners were evil for defending it”(275). Lincoln wanted to wipe out slavery for good and the South could sense his secret motives. By trying to trick them, the South rebelled as soon as Lincoln became president and launched what is today known as the Civil war.
The American Civil War was fought between the North (The Union) and the South (The Confederates), because of the South wanting to secede from the North. Lincoln's election as president in 1860, triggered southerners' decision to secede believing Lincoln would restrict their rights to own slaves. Lincoln stated that secession was "legally void" and had no intentions of invading the Southern states, but would use force to maintain possession of federal property. Despite his pleas for the restorations of the bonds of union, the South fired upon the federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter, in Charlestown, Virginia. This was the event that decided the eventual beginning of the Civil War. Despite the advantages of Northerners, their victory in the ...
The civil war was possibly the last recourse the nation had, nevertheless Lincoln’s government did try what was possible to prevent the confrontation. Sadly the war was going to happen sooner or later with or without Lincoln; there was a lot of tension in the nation prior Lincolns election.