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How Successful Was Lincoln in His Handling of Events from November 1860 to April 1861?

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How successful was Lincoln in his handling of events from November 1860 to April 1861? (50 marks) Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on 1809. He was elected president in 860 and assassinated during the year of 1865. As President, Lincoln was indeed complex and enigmatic. He was certainly cautious, preferring to think over problems slowly and intelligently before coming to any sort of conclusion. He had always been opposed to slavery, believing it to be immoral and evil. In 1858 Lincoln was chosen by the Republicans to run against Douglas. During his years as president, he was responsible for several actions. Within this essay I will identify Lincoln’s main actions and assess their impact. By the 1850s, slavery was still …show more content…

On the other hand many would say that Lincoln could have done something more to reassure southerners. Lincoln could have made the South feel part of the Union instead of staying silent; this would have maybe persuaded many of the southern states to join back into the union. The fact that Lincoln did not really react to the seceded states may have made the South feel very worthless and therefore believe that secession was the ideal thing to do. During the years 1860 – 1, several compromises were proposed by Congress. Unionist John Crittenden and House Committee played a significant role in proposing a compromise for both North and South. Their main idea was to extend the Missouri Compromise line to the Pacific. This gave hope for the South and hope of slavery expansion. Crittenden also recommended a constitutional amendment which guaranteed that there would be no interference with slavery in those states where it already existed. Another proposal from Crittenden was that Congress would be forbidden to abolish slavery in Washington. Of course this appeased the Southerner’s needs, but not so much the North’s. So in result, Republicans rejected the proposals. Maybe if this compromise was accepted by the North then the Civil war may have been avoided? This was not the only compromise which was proposed to avoid war. Compromises

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