“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. ” President Lincoln made many statements like this, that portrayed his personal opinion along with an idea we should all agree with. With Lincoln as president of the United States of America we were able to learn a lot about ourselves as a country and solve some of the most intimidating ideas in American history, which included slavery. Without Lincoln’s wise overview of the problems within the United States of America, much about today’s life could’ve been drastically different.
During Lincolns presidency he was able to put an end to slavery nd rejoin the North and South besides their differences. President Abraham Lincoln should be considered the great emancipator, because not only was he a great president that impacted American history; but because of his composure and dedication to the United States of America. Lincoln’s primary desire was to preserve the union, not put an end to slavery. His personal preference included wanting freedom for all men, but his position as president didn’t allow him to change the practice of slavery in the South.
With his primary intentions being to save the union, he was putting his job as president in front of his ersonal desires, which requires an immense amount of dedication to his country. As Lincoln stated in his response to Horace Greeley in August of 1862, “… I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearer the Union will be “the Union as it was. “‘
When Lincoln makes this statement he’s trying to clarify that his job is to save the Union, he’s putting work before his personal preferences. As for Lincoln’s decisions regarding slavery, they are done in the best interest of having he Rebellion States rejoin with the Union. As also stated in Lincoln’s response to Horace Greely in August 1862, “What I do about slavery and the colored race I do because I believe it helps to save this Union. ” The decisions Lincoln made during war were all in the best interest of saving the Union, he was willing to do any thing in order to preserve the Union.
Lincoln’s dedication to the United States of America just provides another reason to why he should be considered the great emancipator. He made countless sacrifices and was selfless in dedication to his country, these thought through decisions helped lead to the reeing of the slaves and also led to the South rejoining with the United States of America. Lincolns initial intentions weren’t to free the slaves, he knew it was a topic he’d like to address in the future, but he didn’t intend to free the slaves until the tensions in the country were resolved in reaction to the Presidential Election.
The South was fearful that with Lincoln becoming president, they lose slavery, even though Lincoln no intensions of doing so. Lincoln describes his concerns about the South’s feelings in his First Inaugural Address (March 04, 1862) where he tates, “Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Lincoln is rather confused by the feelings of the South and is fearful that the Southern states will separate from the Union, so he attempts to reestablish trust between the states by creating the First Inaugural Address. As president, Lincoln doing everything he could do to preserve the Union, and he was sure to follow the ules, by adhering to the laws of the constitution. Circumstances change when the South separates from the Union, and the war begins. During war the Lincoln’s role as president shifted to commander and chief of the Military and Navel Authorities.
Until this point Lincoln’s followed the rules, but in this situation he’s able to do whatever he sees necessary in order to win the war. The only reason Lincoln was able to tamper with slavery was because the South separated. The South gave Lincoln the power to abolish slavery. As proved in the Emancipation Proclamation f September 22, 1862, “And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the constitution, upon military necessity.. all persons held as slaves within any state.. in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever free...
Lincoln was wise in his decisions because the war allowed him to free the slaves and he took advantage of this. Lincoln’s decisions led to the end of war and the freedom of the slaves in the United states of America. Lincoln’s legacy is created from his character and his approach taken to a broken country. His leadership skills were necessary to put an end to slavery and rebound the separation of the North and the South. Lincoln was such a composed leader and spoke in such an official tone and used his words wisely.
After the war was concluded and about a month prior to his assassination Lincoln wrote his Second Inaugural Address (1865) where he describes what must happen next, he declared, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.. ” Lincoln’s perspective of the future is really empowering to the citizens of America, it just proves that we can go through the worst and still chieve the best. These constant reassurances made by President Lincoln really helped in the beginning phases of rebuilding our broken country.
Even before the war was concluded Lincoln was confident in the fact that their legacy would lead on and the sacrifices made by men and women of the United States would not be left forgotten as stated in the Gettysburg Address (1863), “… and that government of the people, by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth. ” Lincoln deserves to be recognized as the Great Emancipator because of his dedication to this country, and the essons he thought to America. Lincoln created the foundation of the 13th amendment, for one of the biggest controversies in American history, slavery.
It divided the entire country, and Lincoln was able to reestablish the peace and put an end to the unnecessary evil of slavery. Lincoln allowed his personal opinions to influence some of his decisions which effected the United States, just like current President Trump allows his personal opinions to effect his decisions today. The idea from the previous sentence is not about how presidents allow their personal opinions effect their executive decisions, but how their ecisions affect America and then America’s response to their ideas.
Lincoln’s ideas struck the South with fear about the loss of slavery, while Trump scares Americans with his blunt and aggressive comments. The moral of this idea is that history repeats itself, each president faces their own problems, and Americans are going to have different feelings about each president. But Lincoln walked into that white house knowing he was willing to defy all odds. It’s the personality that makes a remember able president and that’s why Lincoln is best fit to be considered the Great Emancipator.
