Abraham Lincoln And The American Civil War

A biography book is usually easy to write and publish. However, according to the preface in “Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America”, author William E. Gienapp describes Lincoln as being a man who “carefully guarded his feelings and kept his personal affair’s out of the public gaze” (x). Because of his rough childhood, being a private person and not sharing his thoughts is considered to be normal. On top of moving several times as a child and the death of his mother, Nancy Hanks would explain why he didn’t talk much about his upbringing. More so, instead of getting a good education, Lincoln was taught how to do basic farm work. It wasn’t till his father married Sarah Bush Johnston, who actually encouraged Lincoln’s interest in learning. Sarah

‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.

During the the 1860s, a division occurred in the United States of America in which a civil war took place. When Lincoln was elected, 11 states seceded from America- Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Florida. They called themselves the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis to be their president. Both sides, Confederate and Union, had many different views on slavery, some were similar while others were different. While most Union citizens were against slavery, some had similar beliefs as the confederates.

Douglas’s tactics come into play when he starts to criticize Lincoln’s case, which is expected in this debate. When Lincoln says that the slavery question was the only thing that had ever disturbed the peace and harmony of the Union, Douglas brings to light that nullification, disunion and war had disturbed the peace of the country where Douglas says, Lincoln’s argument “falls to the ground”.

With the eruption of the Civil War came one of the biggest tribulations and trials that this country has ever faced, but as we understand the motives of one of the greatest Presidents in American History we can see that the Civil War was inevitable. From his original intentions of merely preserving the Union and holding the country together, to permanently abolishing slavery we can observe why prevailing in the struggle of the Civil War is one of Lincoln’s defining legacies. Thus, as the civil war draws to a close, an old tumultuous era has ended, and a new more prosperous era has

In order to understand the American Civil War, one must know more about the leaders who controlled both sides. As many Americans know, Abraham Lincoln participated in the command of troops on the Northern side of the conflict. On the Southern side, a very influential leader was also present; Nathan Bedford Forrest was a well-known general in the South and was renowned for his brilliant tactics in combat. One is known as the great emancipator of the slaves, the other, as the first leader of the Ku Klux Klan (Biography: Nathan Bedford Forrest, n.d.). The roles could have been greatly reversed, had their upbringings been different. Despite their many differences, these two influential figures had a surprising amount of similarities.

Eric Foner argues that the growing that the moral split of slavery in politics was just as irrepressible as the civil war. He argues that the only way to restore the union was through war, thus making it irrepressible. Following the idea that the moral split of slavery was not entailed by the political uprising against or for slavery, politics speakers such as Seward and his “Irrepressible Conflict” speech, were simply a voice for the people. They were able to speak what the people thought and were able to gain such support because their approval. Another political leader who spoke about the irrepressibility of the civil war was Abraham Lincoln in his “House Divided” Speech. He gives this speech in 1858 when he receives the republican nomination for the presidency. He emphasizes that slavery must come to an eventual end in order to preserve the union, even if it must be done with force. He states that in order for slavery to come to it’s eventual end that, “ it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand’. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved; I do not expect the house to fall; but I do expect it will cease to be divided.” (Lincoln). Slavery would come to an eventual end in the union, but the only way to do achieve this would be through the civil war. The reason for

In his address, President Lincoln spoke of a different kind of freedom than what many may be led to believe. He did not talk about freedom from taxes or labor but the real reason the most crucial war America has faced yet was fought. It was hatred toward racial discrimination and slavery for which countless

The northern abolitionists may have wanted to end all slavery, but Lincoln did not, and he was in command of the Union army. He considered it his duty to put down a rebellion, and admitted that any government would put down open rebellion regardless of the reasons that began it. He repeatedly pleads with the southern states to work with him on preserving their right to use slavery, and argues that a union of states who are against the idea of a union is untenable. To him, it is a matter of preserving the Union and its collective strength by not allowing valuable territories to separate themselves of their own accord. Especially when, as he puts it, those territories worries “have no real existence”.

The Civil War was the worst crisis in American history, pitting two sides of a split nation against one another in bloody battles that persisted for four exhausting years. It was a war that neither side claimed to want, and that neither side claimed to start. Although popular belief places the blame with the South because they fired the first shot, there is considerable evidence that Lincoln, realizing war was inevitable, coerced the South into firing that first fateful shot.

‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.

The Republican Party prepared an anti-slavery proposal but Lincoln had no true intention of interfering with slavery as a whole and believed slavery was a state issue and every state should control its own loyalties to it. But as far as expansion, “Lincoln was ready to negotiate on every aspect of slavery except the idea of permitting expansion of slavery to new territory”, 1 and many southerners felt that there was no longer a place for them in the Union. In December of 1860, South Carolina became the first state to seceded from the union and create their own country. “In six months, ten more states would secede from the Union (Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas)” 2 and February 9th of 1861, utterly marked the organization of the unions counterpart, the Confederate States of America, commanded by Jefferson Davis who served as the president.

In the presidential campaign of 1860, Lincoln in fact did return, and won without a single vote in 10 southern states. Following his election, 7 states seceded from the Union, starting with South Carolina. These seven states made up what was known as the “Cotton Kingdom,” an area where slavery made up the biggest percentage of the population. South Carolina was actually the state with the highest percentage of

not have much real effect at the time, it pointed a way to a brighter

The Civil War was a war between the union, and confederate states in the United States that occurred from 1861-1865. Many people believed that the Civil War was about slavery and southern states right to defend their states’ rights. The confederates were fighting for their liberty and independence under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, who they felt was a tyrant. However, the union, was fighting to preserve their territory, that was created by their founding fathers from chaos and dismemberment. President Jefferson Davis believed that the civil war was based on the confederate rights to secede from the union. Jefferson also felt that Abraham Lincoln was to blamed for the start of the civil war, since he was against slavery. Lincoln’s intended goal was to preserve the union, he claimed slavery was not the reason. “If I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it, and if I could slave it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that (Shi &Tindall, 2015, pg.465)”. Lincoln told everyone that if the southern states were to return to the union that slavery would still exist. However, many people believed that Lincoln wasn’t being truthful.