Abraham Lincoln The Great Emancipator Analysis

As Bennett states in his article, Lincoln was opposed to the extension of slavery not out of compassion for suffering black people, but out of devotion to the interests of white people. In his Charlston speech, Lincoln stated, “I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black race, . . . I will say there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality.” The speech itself shows that Lincoln was opposed to every aspect of the Emancipation Proclamation that he himself issued. Not only that, but Lincoln felt pressured to issue the Emancipation Proclamation by Radical Republicans who were pushing for it to be passed. Furthermore, if Lincoln had not issued the Proclamation, the congress would have done it. Lincoln did not want to give up his power as a president, and signed the document himself. In response to the proclamation, Bennett writes, Lincoln “freed” slaves where he had no power and left them in chains where he had power (page 137). In Lincoln and Colonization, by Richard Blackett, a historian of the abolition movement, The pressures of war forced his hand. As a result, the proclamation contained so many restrictions that observers questioned its effectiveness (page 20).

First, Abraham Lincoln wasn’t a fan of slavery. He thought that slavery should be abolished. According to document 5 it says “Abraham Lincoln, who had declared “Government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free…”. Lincoln also thought that it should be “Free Speech, Free Homes, and Free Territory”. He thought that blacks should have the right to talk in public and blacks should own their own homes and property. Lincoln wanted all blacks to be free and didn't want racism.

This clearly shows that Lincoln was not out for the Negro but just to preserve the union. He says in many other debates that he thought the Negro had a physical difference from the white man as well as an intellectual difference (Lincoln-Douglas, n. pag.). Lincoln was considered by many in the south to be a bigot, a white supremacist who wanted segregation and opposed civil and political rights for blacks (Oates 21). Stephen B. Oates talks of many of the theories in his book, like that many southerners concluded that Lincoln was with them in the matters of race (22). Many of these examples show that Lincoln was a hypocrite of some sorts. He would appeal to the southerners by making statements that led them to believe that he was against the Negro. Yet he was writing the emancipation proclamation that was supposed to free all of the slaves. This also is debatable that the proclamation freed any slaves at all. The emancipation proclamation is looked at by some as one of the most far-reaching pronouncements ever issued in the United States (Oates 25). Also it is said that the proclamation freed few if any bondsman (Oates 26).

o Lincoln 's reputation as the great emancipator rests largely on his emancipation proclamation, an executive order which went into effect on January 1st, 1863. This order ostensibly freed all the slaves in territory currently rebelling against the United States, i.e. in areas where the US government had no authority to free slaves. This is rather like the United States announcing that, from here on out, North Korea would be ruled by Lady Gaga. Sure, it 's a great idea, but it 's not really your jurisdiction. In areas where the US did have the authority to free slaves--the border states and some of the areas of the Confederacy that had been effectively conquered and occupied by federal troops, those slaves were not freed. So Lincoln

The Civil War of the American had led to the major change to the American society in general and also the status of black Americans specifically. During the period prior to the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln had contributed not only his ideal but his passion of a nation in which every person is created equal based on the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln was elected president in 1860 and started his plan on freeing the slaves and also to put an end to the American Civil war in order to reunite the States through the Emancipation Proclamation. His ambitious of emancipating the slaves and reunite the nation are the importance factors that helps Abraham Lincoln deserves his accolade of “The Great Emancipator.”

Lincoln debates that the emancipation of slaves from the Emancipation Proclamation is making a big deal over really nothing. No slaves will be affected by the Emancipation Proclamation, because the people that have to enforce it will not enforce it. Lincoln compared it to how Pope Callixtus III excommunicated Halley’s Comet. The comet was seen as an omen of troubles to come to Pope Callixtus III so he just got rid of all of its affiliations from the church. Lincoln sees this as a chance to make it seem like a difference is being made in America with some slaves being set free but none really are. Lincoln also pointed out the problem if a mass amount of slaves started to come to the North for refuge. How could the North support all the slaves

Although Abraham Lincoln wanted to free African American slaves and thought slavery was wrong he did not believe they should have the same social and political rights. The mid 1800s was a time that separated the black and white race immensely. The northern states and the southern states of the United States was divided on the issues of slavery among other reasons which led to the civil war. The civil war was the beginning of struggling African American slaves journey to freedom with the help of Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation. Slavery in the northern states never reached the severity in most plantations that it did in the South, and it was common knowledge that being a slave in the South was, in a way, more harsh than the North, leading to a much larger number of slaves being held captive in southern states. Many people in the southern states used biblical passages to justify slavery and said that if slavery was abolished there would be unquestionable chaos and unemployment. Despite all of the people that did not think that slavery was wrong, one man stood and took the blunt of the judgement by the people named Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln viewed slavery as wrong, but knew that the nation’s founding fathers struggled with how to address the issue of slavery. There were several ideas on how abolish slavery during the 1800s, including colonization and the Emancipation Proclamation, but these ideas were not introduced into law because the general public

Lincoln was always against slavery. He never thought of slaves as better than white Americans, but still thought they should be considered as equal to the law. Lincoln agreed with the founding fathers' phrase “All men are created equal,” which he also thought that it should have applied to black and white people. “The Declaration and the Constitution enshrined these rights: the right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’. In essence, to Lincoln this implied the right to be free, to enjoy the fruits of his labour, to have a family and to acquire property.”

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.

Lincoln states "If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that." Lincoln was strictly for the Union and if he could save the Union and end slavery he would, but his first thoughts were for the Union, and only the Union. He deals with slavery in this manner because he does not want to upset or cause turmoil in the South. Even though the Civil War was going on, he wants it to end and the Union to be whole.

In American History the civil war can arguably be described as one of the most influential and pivotal moments for the United States of America because for the first time since the nations creation the country was divided. Many people consider this war to be Lincoln’s war to free the slaves. However, upon further review, Lincoln did not have such a positive attitude towards slaves. Lincoln was more concerned with keeping the country which he presided over together and tried to keep the issue of slavery up to the states. Nevertheless, slavery, having long been the backbone of American society, was undeniably going to play a huge role in the civil war. Lincoln understood that slavery was important and over time his views that slavery was an issues

Lincoln is worthy of the title “The Great Emancipator”, as he advocated, first for the confinement of the institution of slavery, and then for its extinction, and as President, brought about its end. However, it must be acknowledged that he is not the champion of rights for African- Americans he is connotated to be today, as he viewed whites as superior to blacks and did not support their acquiring of equal rights. While campaigning to be the U.S. Senator for Illinois in 1854, Lincoln gave a speech in Peoria, calling slavery a “monstrous injustice”, which clearly states that he is strong opposition to the institution. He then advocated for the confinement of slavery to only the Southern states, stating, “letting slavery into Kansas and Nebraska—and wrong in its prospective principle, allowing it to spread to every other part of the world”. Long before this, the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 declared that the Northwest Territory would be free territory and later, in 1850, the Missouri Compromise drew a line which established free lands in the north, and lands where slavery was permitted to the south.

The article, Lincoln: A White Supremacist (1968), was written during the Civil Rights movement, when African Americans were fighting for racial equality. The movement is at its height, as the Civil Rights Act gets passed later that year. This may have influenced the author to think negatively towards Abraham Lincoln. The article’s main idea is that Lincoln was not the believed Great Emancipator, as he believed in the racial prejudice of the time, while the purpose of the article is to argue that Lincoln was not as supportive of black people’s rights as myths say he was. The point of view in the article is that Lincoln was not as good of a person as he is believed to be. The author of the article, Lerone Bennett graduated Morehouse College with

Even though he naively believed that white men were the supreme race, he was staunchly against slavery as an institution and felt that the Declaration of Independence included black persons. In the same debate, Lincoln goes on to state that he “[does] not perceive that because the white man is to have the superior position the Negro should be denied every thing” (Lincoln). He believed that ‘the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ as outlined in the Declaration of Independence, applies to all men, regardless of their color, ethnicity, or culture. This may be attributed to the fact that he had not had many encounters with Black slaves until when he was in his late teens, where it had a profound impact on him (Foner 8).

Lincoln believed that he had “no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.” Lincoln continues and says, “I believe that I have not lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so” (Majewaki, pg. 70). Lincoln was a humble politician. He in no way wanted to endanger the unity of the nation.