Essay on Civil War

Faced with the potential dissolution of the Union and overthrow of the govt., Lincoln acted and reacted by making new limits of authority and leadership beneath the pressure of dire civil strife. The nation, after all, was undergoing a civil war-something that no previous president had been forced to cope with and one thing that the commencement Fathers had not specifically provided for within the Constitution. Circumstances forced Lincoln to be innovative, and he even his growth of authority by invoking a brand new interpretation of the presidential oath relating to the Constitution itself.

Although James McPherson presents Lincoln as having numerous qualities that defined him as a brilliant leader, he wastes no time in revealing what he believes to be Lincoln’s greatest strength. In his Introduction, McPherson states regarding Lincoln’s political leadership: “In a civil war whose origins lay in a political conflict over the future of slavery and a political decision by certain states to secede, policy could never be separated from national strategy…. And neither policy nor national strategy could be separated from military strategy” (McPherson, p.6). Lincoln could not approach the war from a purely martial standpoint—instead, he needed to focus on the issues that caused it. For the catalyst of the war was also the tool for its solution; a war started by differing ideologies could only be resolved through the military application of ideology. This non-objective approach to the waging of the war almost resembles the inspired approach McPherson brings to his examination of Lincoln himself.

Lincoln served as a great president who took on challenges head on. The biggest issue he faced was the Civil War. The Civil War was a conflict about slavery and expanding it. Lincoln’s goal was to gradually put an end to slavery however, the South did not agree with this and decided to (according to the government) rebel against the country. Doing this meant the beginning of a war where a country would fight itself. It was the North against the South. While the North was abiding to the government’s regulations they had to fight the South. After all the battles of fighting each other the Civil War went down into American History as one of their bloodiest wars. As a threat to the South Lincoln ordered the South to give in and join the Union again. He warned them that if this did not happen, he would free the slaves under their custody. He gave them a time limit for this but the South did not listen nor did they give in. As a result, Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation.

Prior to Civil War, distinct Northern and Southern cultures had been established; The free North occupied the commercial industry, while the slavery-based South undertook an agricultural occupation. The South and the North began to fight over right and wrong. The major issue was regarding slavery, as the South wanted to preserve slavery while, the North wanted to get rid of it. These conflicts rose into sectional antagonism and eventually put the United States and President Lincoln in a loophole. During the Civil War however, Lincoln made some extremely controversial decisions, that resulted in a reduction of the sectional antagonism present, and the United States became truly “one nation.”

As one of the most pivotal moments in American history, Abraham Lincoln initiating the civil war has far reaching consequences. However, as important as these consequences are the reasons for fighting the war; and the persistence/heart to endure the war. I believe that Lincoln started the war with the intentions of preserving the union, but as the war went on a new reason came to be -- ending slavery.

The Civil War was a trying time in American History; societies crumbled, lives were lost, and a nation was torn apart in order to be made whole. However, was this conflict inevitable? Were the North and the South destined to battle out their differences? Were the decisions made by President Abraham Lincoln to make war on the CSA justified? While there is much deliberation on this topic, the final answer is yes to each and every question. The North and the South, though they shared many similarities, were irreparably divided over the slavery issue, such that conflict could not be avoided. Lincoln’s deliberations on the situations of the day were the only acceptable response to the issues at hand. Disagreement caused by the slavery issue

Lincoln also believed surrendering in the face of secessionist threats would undermine the democratic principle of majority rule. He opposed secession because he considered it to be unlawful, would disintegrate into anarchy, destroy the world's only existing democracy, and argued the U.S was better-off as a united, single entity. Furthermore, the North's business community didn’t want to endure the permanent loss of the South as a market and source of raw materials. Slavery and the status of African Americans were at the heart of the Civil War crisis. While some Confederate soldiers went to war to preserve slavery, other Union soldiers fought to end it.

The Civil War was a war that was fought over the civil and humane treatment of every person, regardless of their outward appearances. It left a scathing scar on the nation After the atrocities that were suffered in the Civil war, the nation need a way to heal it’s wounds and unite again. Lincoln had a battle of his own to fight within the congress for the Reconstruction of the nation, While Lincoln believed that the south had suffered enough and had a long road to recovery, the radical republicans wanted to punish the south. They believed that the act of secession by the southern states was treason and the penalties should be strict.

On the other hand, Lincoln thought that while there has been no slavery desirable, he felt should not think that extends to several other new districts, and this should avoid legally. And this should be avoided in a legal manner, with tenacity he had found the solution for this, however, was the right to property enshrined in the U.S. Constitution Even so, the war powers of the President Lincoln, he made a call to get an emancipation during the civil war, in order to enable it to seize the properties of hard workers in order to free them from the legal means

Lincoln’s war strategies shaped the war effort by making it a no ally war, blocking trade for the south, having the best general, and taking over the big capitol of the south. The first strategy was to mess with the economy of the southern states and proposed the Anaconda plan to blockade the southern ports. Doing this made no trade to occur, causing the South to not be able to trade their cotton with Great Britain and receive money for ammunition. He also made sure he had the best general for the army to pursue the acts Lincoln wanted to be done. When a general failed Lincoln would fire them and hire a new one and they failed mostly because they were intimidated by Robert Lee and were not prepared for a fight. He went through many generals until one could do what Lincoln really wanted to achieve from the war which was a preserved union and win the battles. Abraham Lincoln also made it possible that no other country could interfere with the war occurring, which meant no allies or help from any country making it just about their nation. The last tactic was to take over Richmond, Virginia because it was the capitol for the Confederate states.

When the Civil war began, President Abraham Lincoln’s primary objective was to preserve the Union and any policies that helped or hindered black people were subordinate to that goal. Lincoln was also concerned about the Border States. He feared that the four remaining slave states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) would go into confederacy. So out of fear, he decided not to say anything that could be interpreted that he wanted to interfere with slavery and because of this was ultimately determined to do nothing. Lincoln then decided to issue a call for Call for 75,000 volunteers to enlist in the military for ninety days of national government service. (Chapter

Abe Lincoln accomplished many things during the civil war. Abe Lincoln was a great leader and president. He ended slavery in the U.S. during his time period. During the year 1860, slavery was one of the biggest problems in america. Abe Lincoln, president at the time, was against slavery. During the

On September 22, 1862, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, issued the first, or preliminary, Emancipation Proclamation. In this document he warned that unless the states of the Confederacy returned to the Union by January 1, 1863, he would declare their slaves to be “forever free.” During the Civil War, he was fighting to save the Union and trying not to free the slaves. Lincoln was quoted to say, “I am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.” The Emancipation Proclamation illustrated this view.

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most well known presidents in the history of the United States of America. He as thought to be the man who led this great country through the toughest times it had to encounter. His determination to get the United States through the Civil War is one of the best things that have ever happened for this country. Lincoln’s argument about the relationship between slavery, the Constitution, and the Union changed throughout the Civil War. Lincoln’s view of the purpose of the war was to save the Union because of the southern states seceding from the Union. However, the argument changed to the war being about slavery because of Fredrick Douglass’s speeches and the Confederates surrendering at

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.