The great 16th President's beginnings are rather humble. Lincoln is a unique national precious treasure, a legend that best depicts the democratic ideal. The great Lincoln wanted to gain skills to proceed with his position in society. Lincoln had bright ideas to change America for the better. Abraham Lincoln came from a necessitous family in Kentucky. Lincoln was considered a powerful president for making many equality changes in America. Lincoln had bright ideas for America Lincoln wanted to share them with the world. He thought slavery was not only morally wrong but politically embarrassing and economically. And, as a moral issue, he called it the eternal struggle between right and wrong throughout the world. “His political career was suddenly rekindled, as slavery became the central, driving issue of his political concerns” (pg.114). Lincoln is known for his honesty And was known as honest Abe. However, he insisted that he would go to war if slavery did not end. So it got to the point where he used military necessity to end slavery. Lincoln decided to use total war. It is meant to be as brutal and destructive as you can. Lincoln converted the bloody struggle into a second American Revolution, a new birth of freedom that would allow the fulfillment of the national promise of equality for all African Americans. From the heights of presidential power and privilege, he led the country through a savage nasty civil war. I insist that Abraham by, all means, did his very best to give African Americans. “Lincoln knew that slavery was wrong (a belief that he inherited from his father), and when he first saw slaves in chains on a Mississippi riverboat trip he decided Lincoln would fight the practice if and when he got the chance” (pg.95). Abraham Lincoln is the honestly the greatest president in history because he was willing to save the union, he started a war by using the military necessity to end slavery, and lincoln passed domestic reforms during the 1st and 2nd terms to help African Americans.
Slavery was a big reason for breaking up the country“ he came to the presidency in the winter of 1860–61, Abraham Lincoln was dedicated above all else to preserving a united nation” (pg.141). For the North, it was about saving the union and keeping the United States together, making sure that the American Political experiment in the democrat party did not fail. “Lincoln insisted that no state had the right to disrupt the national authority or to challenge the fundamental concept of majority rule ” (pg.141). No minority has the right to break up a government. The United States was big, and the most advanced democracy in the world. Most Americans believed that the United States and its democracy in progress was and would be an example to the rest of the world. But if the United States failed. Lincoln said it would go far to prove the incapability of people to govern themselves. Lincoln meant that the United States was a large and advanced democracy on earth. Women and African American people could not vote or serve in elected office. It was a small democracy but larger in other places in the country. Americans saw that as an American achievement. Democracy was, based on free and fair elections. If you lose an election, you go off and form your nation. If that happened, then the United States would fail as a country. It would show that democratic forms of the United States cannot last very long in history and real life.“We must settle this question now, whether, in a free government, the minority have the right to break up the government whenever they choose,” Lincoln said. “If we fail, it will go far to prove the incapability of the people to govern themselves” (pg.142). The government censored various unfriendly newspapers during the war. They had some editors and publishers of those newspapers arrested. Also, stretching the limits of presidential authority. “He saw to it that military news originating from Washington was censored. He regulated telegraph news through the War Department. Occasionally newspaper editors were arrested” (pg.172). Lincoln repressed civil liberties during the war and otherwise 'stretched the limits of presidential authority' by him suspended habeas corpus which meant that the government could lock them up. The government locked up thousands of people. Lincoln instituted the U.S. 1st military draft. Lincoln used the power of his presidency, to militarily blockade southern ports. And to cut off Southern trade. “ He ordered a blockade of Southern ports and expended funds for the purchase and production of weapons” (pg.172). Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation halfway through the war. So in the rebel Confederate States, slaves are forever free. Lincoln's biggest accomplishment that he ever made. A million slaves were no longer slaves. “Lincoln's order was to free four million slaves with the stroke of a pen.
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Lincoln faced major struggles during the civil war. He was fully committed to this goal and, he promised to accomplish it no matter how long or costly the task was. The grounds that Abraham Lincoln justified was emancipation Military Necessity. Freeing the South slaves was necessary to win the war and, winning the war was necessary to save the union. Lincoln supported the Wilmot Proviso, which banned slavery in new territories acquired from Mexico, and he tried to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. The grounds that Abraham Lincoln justified was the Emancipation Military Necessity. “Emancipation was a “military necessity essential for the salvation of the Union,” he said. “[We must] free the slaves or be ourselves subdued” (pg.194). Freeing black slaves would help the North win the war by dispossessing the South of its labor force of the people, who did the slaves, who did the physical work, who kept the South's economy functioning, and also by freeing slaves. “ It was so regarded because slaves and slave labor were used extensively in the war effort. Lincoln knew that slave labor was an essential component of the Confederate army” (pg.195). The proclamation allowed black people to fight in the civil war. It would provide the northern military with a lot more men, which it did in some 200000 black men served in uniform, about 10 percent of the North's army. “And once given the chance, nearly two hundred thousand black soldiers and sailors fought heroically for the Union and freedom” (pg.211). Lincoln believed he could sell emancipation more if he told northern racist white people we need to free slaves in order in the war and to win the war. And in the end, that kind of argument worked pretty well. The constitutional war powers of Lincoln worked to disallow the constitutional protection of slavery. Slaves had to get away from their masters and find their way to Union lines, but Lincoln was sure they would be willing to take the risk if freedom was the reward. Lincoln thought that total war was the way to win the civil war. What Abraham Lincoln meant by total war was to be as brutal and destructive as you can. You could also take civilian property and burn them and take their properties. “His army was authorized to destroy civilian supplies and foodstuffs. It burned fields, tore up rail lines, and wrecked the state’s infrastructure” (pg.251). The North had a lot of men and guns to create a lot of violence. “After 1861, Lincoln never wavered in his conviction that, given the North’s advantage in numbers of men, weapons, railways, and industrial resources, Union forces should press forward all across the lines of battle, hitting the Southern army in all theaters simultaneously” (pg.255). The plan was to tear down the South's economy and to make war so hard that it would break their will to fight, crushing their spirit. “ He knew that it was not enough to defeat the rebel army; the Confederate's economic ability to wage war had to be, dismantled as well. The will of the Southern people had to be broken; their spirit had to be crushed” (pg.250). The total war strategy was to inflict maximum damage on the South and inflict the maximum number of casualties and deaths.
The major domestic reforms Abraham Lincoln passed during their 1st and 2nd terms were the Internal Revenue Act of 1861, which“ assured the financial community that the government would have a reliable source of income to pay the interest on war bonds. Subsequent Revenue Acts of 1862 and 1864 created moderately progressive tax brackets and set rates at 5, 7.5, and 10 percent” (pg.312). The Homestead Act of 1862 made the public land in the West for farmers. “Under the new Homestead Act, any adult citizen who headed a household could win the title to 160 acres of frontier land simply by living on it for five years” (pg.314). The National Characters for Bank Act of 1863 and 1864 accepted a system of national characters for banks. The Pacific Railway Act provided for the structure of a railroad from Omaha to Sacramento. “Also of great importance was the passage of the Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864. These laws provided for the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from Omaha to Sacramento for the movement of passengers and freight as well as government use for postal, military, and other purposes” (pg.316). The tax system grew so large that the Bureau of Internal Revenue was, designed to administer it. In 1862 Morrill Land Grant College Act was. An Act of donating public lands to territories provided college for the benefit of agriculture and mechanic arts. The Department of Agriculture looked after the attentiveness of farmers. Exercise Tax took taxes on everything like liquor, professional licenses, carriages, yachts, medicines, corporations, and stamps. Reconstruction of the Union had been on his mind since the battleship. In 1863 Lincoln offered his plan for the reunification of America with his proclamation of Amnesty. It was clear to Lincoln that he had to make some plans for the reconstruction. Lincoln wanted to be lavish to the South. His proclamation of Amnesty and reconstruction called for an exculpation of all southerners who took an oath of loyalty to America and accepted slavery to be gone. “Lincoln’s proposal came to be called the Ten Percent Plan: that is, once 10 percent of a state's citizens swore an oath of allegiance to the national government, the state could be, readmitted to the Union” (pg.319). Lincoln wanted forever to abolish slavery through the 13th Amendment. Lincoln used his skill as a politician to gain more votes from the democrats to ban slavery. Lincoln even offered federal jobs to legislator's families from both parties interchange for votes. That’s how badly Lincoln wanted to prohibit slavery. Lincoln accomplished to get 119 to 58 votes to ban slavery. People shouted happiness probably, no Congress of the United States ever heard before. Lincoln planned to pay $40 million to the states so that the 13th Amendment can ratify. “Quickly he learned that there was no need for payments: within the year the required three-quarters of states had ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, ending slavery in America forever. And the very first state to do so, Lincoln proudly noted, was Illinois” (pg.336).
In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln took serious action to save the union, going to a bloody war to end slavery, and passing reforms to help African Americans gain equality he accomplished freeing slaves forever in a powerful smart way. That was a big success for African Americans. To this day, many people honor him and his great accomplishment for America.
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