How Did Lincoln's First Inaugural Address Dbq

Abraham Lincoln's main goal of the civil war was not to free the slaves, but rather to preserve the Union. As said in a statement in 1858, he is not, and has never been in favor of bringing about racial reform. This is shown greatly in the Emancipation Proclamation which he later signed in 1862. This proclamation was not created as a victory for slaves, and anti-slave protesters, but as a form of propaganda to get more support from northern republicans. The proclamation did not free slaves in all states, and the United States government had no authority or power to enforce it in the states it effected.

However, since the confederacy was still a part of the United States Lincoln used the Emancipation Proclamation hoping that the South would end their ongoing war against the federal government. The North did not agree with the Emancipation Proclamation but still joined Lincoln because they wanted the same thing Lincoln wanted which was the south to reunite with the Union. Since the confederacy did not obey the government, Lincoln put his words into action by freeing all slaves who were in the rebellious states. Issuing this document also insured that Britain and France would not join forces with the Confederate Union especially since they were against slavery. Freeing the slaves gave the union an upper hand, because they came to the north and fought against the confederacy. It was, however, illegal to have blacks fight in the army so Lincoln fought to have them employed into the army. This gave hope to all slaves who were seeking freedom and one day becoming an American

During the Civil War President Lincoln announced freeing all enslaved people in the confederate state. As this happened about 4 million people were freed and guaranteed to be treated like whites were treated. The Emancipation Proclamation didn't free any slaves in the Union states, but it was a good step to abolish slavery. Lincoln hoped that the he could win the Union side. He also hoped it would weaken the Confederacy's effort in the war. The Proclamation announced that black men can fight as a soldier in the war. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

There is not enough evidence to believe that President Lincoln offered to evacuate Union troops from Fort Sumter, instead he tried to protect them. In his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, it showed that he planned for peace instead of war, and he declared that he “looked forward to a peace with malice toward none; with charity for all” (McPherson 59). He refused to take any action against the South unless the Unionists themselves were attacked first. Lincoln had three choices. The two extremes were either surrender Fort Sumter or start shooting and force an entry to the fort. He chose a third way as he did not want to start war against the Confederates but to keep Fort Sumter, navigating a middle course between the two. It is clear

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.

Some use this opportunity to point out Lincoln’s deceptive character, dethrone the illusion of honest Abe, or that he was, as some have said, the best president the Unites States has ever had. I do not see the importance of this argument, whether true or false and do not pretend to hold Lincoln accountable to a god-like standard of perfection or positively pure political and personal passions. In his letter to James Conkling, Lincoln himself states that he emphatically wishes the Negro to be free (Perman and Taylor 289). By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, some say Lincoln used his political office to satisfy a personal vendetta against slavery and those who supported it, falling back on his promises in his inauguration. However, that promise was not broken when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Once the war commenced, he was the head of the Union army. There are no campaign

Lincoln suggests that the institution of slavery be contained by preventing the spread of it to the new territories and Free states, although he had no interest in interfering with the already entitled slave states. He agrees that it was the right of the state to make its own decisions, not the federal government. Although Lincoln did not favor getting involved with abolishing slavery in the already declared slave states, he did favor total abolition in the distant future. He was first worried about stopping the expansion of slavery and then the next step to be taken would have been the "ultimate extinction" of it throughout the states. Lincoln did believe that every white man had no more equality than another. For this is one of the main reasons why at this time a resolution needed to be found in order to keep this equality in the new territories. Lincoln made a valid point in his speech that if slave holders were to settle in a new territory along with people opposed to slavery, which party has the right to decide what type of territory and future state it will be declared as? As for the rights of slaves, Lincoln agreed with Douglas that slaves did not have the same individual rights as everyone else, but he did believe that the liberties given under the Declaration of Independence involved such slaves. It is obvious that the Republicans of this time find slavery as being a "moral, social, and political wrong",

Another important decision by President Lincoln was to issue the Emancipation Proclamation which was not received well by the Southern States. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863. It changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved people in the designated areas of the south from slave to free.

As a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln opposed slavery. He believed it was unnecessary to everyone-including Negros and Whites. However, with his stand on slavery, he held back by declaring that he had no reason to disrupt slavery where it existed. The constitution had protected states where citizens wanted slavery to exist. Lincoln knew he would not get enough support and that the four slave-holding states in the North would turn against him. As a result, the Civil War began in 1861 with more of a political purpose in keeping the union together rather than a battle for human freedom. Slaveholders could not turn to the Union’s side because slaves were valuable and played a vital role to

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.

When the American Civil War began in 1861 until 1865, President Abraham Lincoln tried to carefully see the issue of the conflict as concerning the preservation of the Union rather than the abolition of slavery. Although he personally saw the practice of slavery abhorrent, he knew that the Northerners and residents of the border slave states would support abolition as a war aim. But by the mid-1862, thousands of slaves joined the invading Northern armies, Lincoln was sure enough that the abolition became more of a sound military strategy, than the morally correct path. On September 22, shortly after the Union victory at Antietam, he issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious

Abraham Lincoln's was elected on November 6, 1860 and gave his first inagural address on March 1861. Slavery was a major subject in Lincoln's speech. Lincoln was aware that the southern slave states werent so pleased about Lincoln being elected because they feared they will no longer have their property and peace. Lincoln then qouted "I have no purpose directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so." (First Inagural Address of Abraham Lincoln 1). Lincoln did not want to take part of slavery in the

Lincoln understood that bondage of the African race was inherently wrong, "a vast moral evil," one that he could not help but hate, but that it was indeed protected by the Constitution and in several national and state laws. In fact, Lincoln held no ethnic prejudices. Before the Civil War commenced, Lincoln was a strong advocate of the colonization of the blacks back in Africa after they were freed, not because he himself was racist, but because he was afraid that the white Americans were simply too discriminate to live peacefully along blacks. In the creating of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln was careful to ensure that the four slave states that had stayed in the Union – Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri – would not be offended and so join the Confederacy. Instead, he freed slaves only in the states that had rebelled, which

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered an executive order which was the Emancipation Proclamation. This order was issued when the civil war was occurring and the intent of this command was to grant freedom to the slaves in the south that were a part of the 10 rebelling confederate states. The civil war occurred due their conflict about expanding slavery. The north and the south was divided, and Lincoln wanted to make a change and see the nation united as one.

Abraham Lincoln became the President of the United States in 1861 (Current). He is known as the “Great Emancipator” for his act of issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in the Confederate States of America were no longer to be held captive (Lincoln). This did not actually free any slaves (Emancipation Proclamation Britannica), as there was no way to enforce the new laws. It did, however, rally the troops to fight for a just cause, and it allowed African American soldiers to enter the Union army. The Emancipation Proclamation was an edict issued on the first of January, 1863 (Emancipation Proclamation West). It proclaimed that “all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State… shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free” (Transcript). Despite being seen as a hero for freeing the slaves, Abraham Lincoln actually valued compromise with white Southerners over the freedom of slaves. The most obvious demonstration of this is the fact that Lincoln did not issue the Emancipation Proclamation until two years after the war had begun. Abraham Lincoln waited to issue the Emancipation Proclamation because he used it to bargain with the South and nulled any efforts of others to free the slaves, he cared more about the state of the Union than the freedom of slaves, he was worried about appearing too radical, and he did not listen to the arguments of “radical” African American abolitionists.