Example Of Abraham Lincoln Essay

Introduction

The US President Abraham Lincoln is considered to be one the greatest president in the history of the USA. He became the 16th President of the United States of America where he joined his Presidential seat in March 1861, and his reign ended after almost four years in April 1865 when he was assassinated. The Abraham Lincoln is considered to be the strongest leaders of all times who led the United States out of the bloodiest war fought in the history of the country – the Civil War. Abraham also led the country to the political crisis, constitutional reforms and provided the citizens with the moral grounds and strengths to fight back as a nation. During his four years of strengthful reigning period as President, he abolished the demon of slavery, he was able to preserve the Union, modernized the US economy, and also provided more support and strength to the Federal government.

An Overview of Abraham Lincoln Achievements

Various historians are well aware of the place of Abraham Lincoln in the American culture and appraise him for his accomplishments and for everything that he did for the country. Abraham Lincoln was committed to the fact that he will preserve the Union no matter whatever the consequences will be. It justified the democratic measures and indeed the Union was saved through his efforts. He realized that the demon of slavery required elimination; a complete end to it, but he also knew that it required careful timings, a lot of patience, an iron heart and eventually he was able to bring an end to slavery. In the process of strengthening and saving the Union and bringing and end to the menace of the slavery he was able to create a perfect Union that focused more on the economic structure and the liberty of the citizens and focused upon every individual residing in the country.
He understood that in order to be victorious in both the causes, it was important that his Presidential role must be strong, visionary and purposeful which meant that he had to practice his skills politically and hence he was able to leave behind United States of America that is both economically strong and free of slavery. He was the most active and prominent figure of that time when he was able to transform the basic image of the President’s role as the chief executive of the office to a more powerful position – the President is the supreme governing power of both the judicial courts and the Congress. His activist movement began right after the Fort Sumter, where he called the military of the state both army and navy, followed their expansion and granted US$ 2 million with the permission from Congress, blocked the southern parts. Simultaneously, he suspended the writ of habeas corpus and ordered the arrest of any suspected traitors in the territory and later on was able to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
In order to implement all of the above, Lincoln broke all the major constitutional laws and provisions back to back. The Congress was hardly summoned to take any special decisions, and he fought a war with the declaration that a war is being fought. Since he was a strong leader, he was able to counter the Supreme Court opposition by bringing his own judicial review that the President will be the supreme decision maker over the Congress and court. Since he was a ruler with power, he demonstrated that it made no sense that the Constitution should be saved, and the nation must be lost. He implemented all the strategies that he thought were right for the unilateral action and then justified that his powers and the emergency authoritative decisions that he undertook were granted to him by the people of his country. He maintained the fact that the President’s set was the coordinate between the three main departments ruling the country, but in no way it was under the court or the Congress. Hence, he proved that in the times of war, the President is responsible to make emergency decisions, protect and defend the nation.
Even though soon after his death, his executive authority also lasted and for the upcoming forty years the court and the Congress ruled over the White House. Even then the lasting accomplishment of this great president was storing and strengthening the Union, bringing an end to the slavery, and justifying the significance of democracy. With his zeal and energy, he was able to mobilize the nation for one unified action and secured the country. Hence, it can be claimed that no president in the American history has faced such greater crisis and no President, in such a short reign, have been able to make such remarkable contributions and achievements for the country.

Bringing an End to Slavery

During the year 1850 the slavery was still legalized and fully practiced in the southern part of the United States, but it was brought to an end in the northern states. Abraham Lincoln was amongst the prominent people who disapproved openly of slavery. He returned to the country politics because he wanted to fight slavery and bring an end to it. Abraham Lincoln before resuming his Presidential seat fought and highlighted on the rising issue of slavery and even opposed the Douglas provision which stated that the settlers had every right to decide whether they wanted to allow the slavery in their territory. Abraham Lincoln claimed that this important decision should remain in the hand of the Congress rather than the citizens themselves. In his 1854 Peoria Speech he again openly declared that he was opposed to slavery, and he again explained and commanded this notion when he gave his President’s speech. In his Peoria Speech he spoke with a commanding and powerful voice stating that the slavery must be ended, and the country must be free of this menace so that it can flourish economically, the industrial boom should take place and people must be free and all must abide by one law.
In 1858, the Douglas had a fight with President James in order to control the Democratic Party. Some favor that re-elections must take place and later in a decision was issued by the Supreme Court that declared that black were not the citizens of the country, with no rights from the constitution or the state. Abraham Lincoln was the only individual who had the liberty and the power to denounce this decision and declare that this a conspiracy of the Democratic party so that the slave power should dominate the country. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln delivered another powerful speech on the House Divided in which he claimed that if a house is divided against its own self it will not be able to withstand the external pressure and the government cannot operate with half free state and half in slavery. He claimed that the Union will not be dissolved, neither the house will fall, but he expected that the both will end their differences soon. The stage was set for the campaign to select Douglas or Lincoln as the Senator of the country.
During the slavery movement, the concept of Underground Railroad gained significance. The Underground Railroad was not an actual railroad system, but was an effort in a organized manner to help the people who were captured as slaves, mostly in South America to flee from the slaveholders and lead a free life. Although many slaves instigated their journey without any help, with every passing day the public perception increased that the Underground Railroad was an organized system and was helping people to pass safely through the passage and achieve their freedom. The Underground Railroad was less significant than we might hope in the in the fight against slavery. (It is approximated that 30,000 slaves were freed via the underground railroad, but there was a population of 3.9 million slaves in 1860--just prior to the Civil War).
In the North American region the legal structure of the slave ended and the new constitution recommended by the state was adopted. Hence, this region gradually moved towards the eradication of the slavery in the North America. The National Congress also passed an Ordinance that restricted the entry of the slaves into the region. This resulted in a lot of states being free of the menace of slavery, and it was widely believed that slavery was evil, and it should end with an American economy. The Battle of Antietam was fought during the American Civil War, which helped reduce and completely eliminate slavery,. The end of this way allowed President Lincoln to declare the Emancipation Proclamation. For more a month, this proclamation was kept in the drawer as it awaited the news about the result of the war. After the war ended devastatingly, the President Lincoln declared to his cabinet in the mid of his Presidential reign that the time has come now to end the slavery of the country and declared Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 that all slaves existing in the United States must be set free and should not be kept incarcerated.

Civil War and strengthening of Union

The American Civil War is considered to be one the most important events in the history of America that was fought in the nineteenth century. With the Civil War, the President Lincoln was able to determine the freedom, individuality and supreme power of the Federal government over the court and the Congress. One of the first major battles that was fought was The Battle of Antietam in 1862. This war was fought near the Antietam Creek and has its significance as it was fought on the union ground as is considered to be one of the deadliest battles in the history of the country. When the war ended, both the parties maintained their position, and it strategically impacted the country’s future. It was this war, after which the Emancipation Pronunciation was declared and signed.
Another major battle fought during the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg, which was fought between Union and Confederate army and is considered to be the turning point in the American Civil War. The Confederate was defeated by the Union army. This war strengthened the position of the Union and helped in developing and restoring their position in the government. In terms of developing the strategies of war, there were two main priorities of Lincoln – first to ensure that the country was defended up-front and second strategy was to fight an aggressive war that would satisfy the needs and demands of the Northern region. President Lincoln met with his cabinet twice every week to strategically determine the progress and the ways to defeat the enemy’s army.

The Great Gettysburg Address

With the Union wins the Gettysburg war, the president’s position was improved, and his party support became strong. This called for his remarkable and commendable Gettysburg Address. Even though President Lincoln claimed that the world will forget his address long before they will even hear it, it became one of the most quoted and well-versed speech in the history of the country. In three strong minutes, he stated that the nation was born in 1776 rather than 1789 and all men in the country had equal positions. The war was defined as based on his principles of equality and liberty and that the end of slavery was a national issue, and the country will soon be relieved of this menace. This speech was dedicated to the end of slavery, strength of Union and also the future of democracy which was redefined and it was ensured that the democratic preposition will not end of the world and will continue to work for the people of this world. His speech was concluded with the notion that the Civil War was fought to give birth to a new free country of the United States.

Reconstruction

The reconstruction of the Southern states began during the war, as it was anticipated on how to integrate these states back into the country’s territory and what will be the fate of the Confederates slaves that were freed and the leaders that were held as captives during the war. President Lincoln wanted that the Confederates should be treated properly, and the moderates were led to determine the Reconstruction policy for the war. He also stated that the elections should be held in the Southern region through the war. His Amnesty Proclamation in 1863 stated that the pardon should be given to those who did not favor the Confederates or held Confederates office.
President Lincoln also favored that the government should assist in the expansion of the economic influence and the National Banking Act was established to help the financial sector flourish which will in turn provide economic security and assurance of growth to the country. The national currency was also determined and established during the Presidential reign of the Abraham Lincoln. The Department of Agriculture was created as soon as he came into power. The celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday is credited to Abraham Lincoln and before this it was merely a regional holiday and that too in the England. Abraham Lincoln declared the Thanksgiving holiday to be celebrated every year.

Conclusion

The President was assassinated in 1865 by a popular actor who had contacts with the Confederates. The Abraham Lincoln is considered to be the strongest leaders of all times who led the United States out of the bloodiest war fought in the history of the country – the Civil War. Abraham also led the country to the political crisis, constitutional reforms and provided the citizens with the moral grounds and strengths to fight back as a nation. In the process of strengthening and saving the Union and bringing and end to the menace of the slavery he was able to create a perfect Union that focused more on the economic structure and the liberty of the citizens and focused upon every individual residing in the country. The American Civil War is considered to be one the most important events in the history of America that was fought in the nineteenth century. With the Civil War, the President Lincoln was able to determine the freedom, individuality and supreme power of the Federal government over the court and the Congress.

Bibliography

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