Abraham Lincoln

1 Abraham Lincoln is without a doubt, one of the most important persons in American history, and has even been labeled as "the greatest American of all time" by a number of historians and laymen. To America, Lincoln was much more than a president, he was also the man that led the nation through one of their greatest crisis of all time; "The Civil War".

2 Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in Kentchuky, and later on moved with his family to Knob Creek. This was followed by yet another relocation, to the backwoods of Indiana, five years later. During his childhood, Lincoln experienced the remorse of taking another beings life, as he shot a wild turkey in a hunting game, and never attended in such an event again. At an age of seven, this gives us a good impression of what kind of a person Lincoln was growing in to. At an age of twenty-eight, Lincoln moved to Springfield Illinois, to work as a lawyer. He soon won a good reputation, and went by the nickname "Honest Abe": Lincoln served justice. Throughout his life, Lincoln showed a great compassion for all human beings, and was, in the latter part of his life, known as "the Great Emancipator". How he earned this title, is a story I will tell later in the text.

3 With a background of law practise and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Lincoln was nominated to be the candidate for President of the United States in 1860. He took the presidency with 39% of the vote, and ventured, without knowing it, in to one of America's greatest crisis in history, with himself leading the nation.

4 "Oh, well, I guess we'll manage to keep the house." This was Lincoln's reaction when roumers that the South was preparing for war, reached his ears. If this was because he did not fear the Southerns, or because war already was expected by the majority of the nation, is hard to tell, but I choose to believe both of these reasons to be right. Lincoln already knew about the risk of Civil War when he accepted presidency, which was made clear through his speach as he left Springfield for Washington, D. C, three months after he was elected: "I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved on General Washington". With this we also get to know that Lincoln did not take The South lightely as a foe, but fear and acknowledgement is two different issues.

5 The South had already, before the president ellection, vowed not to accept a possible Republican president, and as Lincon made this possibility a reality, South Carolina, followed by six other Southern states, answered by seceding from the U.S. and forming the Confederate States of America. At that moment Lincon's main goal in the Civil War was brought to life: Preserving the Union.

6 The seven Southern states that seceded from the Union, had their reasons for doing what they did. A majority of the South where of the opinion that slave labor was necessary for the nation's progress, and with Lincoln as the American president, they feared for the future of slavery. Lincoln had already in a speach, in 1854, made it clear what he felt about slavery. He said: "Slavery is founded on the selfishness of man's nature", and once again uttered his feelings in a speech in 1858: "All I ask for the Negro is that if you do not like him, let him alone.". There is no wonder why the Southern states feared Lincoln as a president, but as the Civil War was commencing, he soon made it clear, that slavery was not the issue he was fighting for.

7 "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery." This was Lincoln's own words in a public letter to the editor of the leading newspaper New York Tribune; Horace Greeley. Even though Lincoln meant what he said, slavery was in fact, an important factor in the war, and Lincoln knew this too. He knew the Union could not last with tension between the North and South caused by slavery. "I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free." These words from Lincoln's "A House Divided Speech" in 1858, reflected on the difficulties and confusion that were a result of the slave- and freestates. There was an endless fight whenever a territory was to join the U.S as a state: Would slavery be legal or not? The idea was to have as many slavestates as freestates, but this proved hard, and the Missoury Compromise is an evidence of this. Lincoln was not fighting against slavery, but to preserve the Union, something had to be done.

8 Yes, something had to be done, and Lincoln did it, killing more than two birds with one stone. Waiting for the Union to have the upper hand, Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation proclamation September 22, 1862, after the Battle of Antietam. The Union Army sorely needed more volunteers to fight their cause, and Lincoln did what he did, because of what i wrote in the last paragraph, and hoping the African Americans would join the Union Army to fight for their own freedom. This was, however, only one of two reasons. Great Brittain and France, had for quite a while, considered joining the Confederasy in their fight for independence, by ading with financial support, but for the Union to take a clear posittin against slavery, Lincoln expected them to keep their distance. The Final Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, and Lincoln regarded the time between the two proclamations to be the last chance for Southern States to re-join the Union.

9 Lincoln did rise above the prejudices of his time, and his acctions during the Civil War are without a doubt, great reasons for the situation in the U.S. today. Equality, however, was not an issue Lincoln cared about. The title "The Great Emancipator", shows how Lincoln was, and still is regarded after the Civil War, but the truth is, that he earned the title as the result of his war strattegy against the Confederate States of America. Had the Southern states not seceded, Lincoln would have focused mainly on restraining the slavery from spreading, and he would most definitly not have been remembered as the "The Great Emancipator", and maybe not even the president that led the Union to victory.

10 Lincoln "freed" the slaves to preserve the Union, but this was merely one of his meassures to reach his goal. Throughout the war, Lincoln stood up for his cause and offered nothing but his sincere effort as both a president and member of the Union. He did of course not experience the war from the battlefield