Impact Of Freedom And Equality In The Civil War

“Those who deny freedom for the others deserve it not for themselves” (Lincoln). Abraham Lincoln was a very brave voice in the abolitionist movement, who had no fear of standing up for what he thought was right. First, Lincoln believed slavery was wrong and that slaves were treated like animals. He also believed that slavery was against the constitution and that all men were created free and equal. Finally, Lincoln believed that slaves are just people and that whites are not superior to blacks. Abraham Lincoln believed that every part of slavery was wrong, from the constitutional aspect to his true emotions and thoughts on it.

Slavery, as Abraham Lincoln often noted, was the root cause of the Civil War. Tensions over slavery dated back to the contradictory nature of the American Revolution of 1776 that resulted in a republic simultaneously committed to freedom for whites and bondage for blacks (Barney W., p. 61). Within years North and South reached the point at which compromise was not possible. At that time Civil War had been started.

African Americans helped shape the civil war in many ways. In fact, they were basically the underlying cause for the war in the first place. African Americans were slaves and had been treated like property since they first arrived in America. Therefore, the possibility of freedom for these slaves caused a big uproar in the south. The issue of equal rights for African Americans, the country’s ignorance to African American’s abilities and willingness to learn caused a divide between the states. The strong differing opinions about slavery led to what is known as the bloodiest U.S. war of all time.

Abraham Lincoln addresses freedom in his speech by calling the nation to end the war and eventually ending slavery in America. According to The Gettysburg Address, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (Lincoln. Lines 1-3). Abraham Lincoln is citing the Declaration of Independence. It states that all men have the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and property. This was a promise that was given to all men, yet slaves were stripped of these rights. The

Many different issues upon the north and south caused the Civil War, but slavery was the main conflict. Due to slavery, different political beliefs and systems were created causing conflicts such as disagreements during Westward Expansion and the election of Lincoln. The Constitution tried to balance the inequalities with many compromises, yet failed.

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

One of the main causes of the Civil War was the argument over slavery. Though slavery was not the only reason why the civil war happened it is still considered as one of the main reason that led to the fighting between the North and South. Slavery was an important thing not only because of the cruel or religious reasons, but just from the fact that it’s

Lincoln wanted freedom and equality for everyone no matter the color of their skin or the race they were born. Lincoln wanted everyone to have the same rights because he didn’t believe in inequality. According to a speech give in July 1858 Lincoln stated,

People may believe that the civil war was fought over many other factors. However, the cause, events and results were more for the slaves and their benefits. Therefore, war was over African American’s freedom and equality. Every single choice Abraham Lincoln made has benefited the African American. African Americans were forced to follow unfair rules and regulation.They were forced to work on plantation without having a choice a to make. They were considered irrelevant. Abraham Lincoln did not like the idea of slavery at all If it did not

In the 19th century, political tensions over slavery and arguments over individual states rights had led to the seeds of the “Civil War”. The North and South quarreled over the pressing topic of slavery, regardless of whether slavery should be abolished or expanded since the North strongly believed that slavery was a “sin” (alongside with the fact that slaves could get into the North and steal industrial jobs for others in need) while the South believed that slavery was important for their economic system (and since that they thought they treated slaves much more better in the South than the North had treated their people) The causes that led to the creation of the Civil War was because of the topic over slavery, (if it should expand or be

Slavery was the main reason that the Civil War started. The North was fighting for NO SLAVERY. The South was fighting to keep slavery. Even though the North was fighting for no slavery they still did not treat former slaves very well. The North did not trust the African Americans with guns.

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

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).

When Lincoln spoke to Congress in December of 1864, he enhanced the idea of freedom for all by saying, "In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom for the free…" He was fully aware that the Civil War would change the course of the future of the United States of America, and that his choices during the war would tip the scale towards continued democracy, or the death of it. He strongly believed that if the Confederacy were to win the war, and the American experiment in democracy were to fail, that the ‘beacon of hope for oppressed humanity the world over would be destroyed.'

Once the Civil War came to a close, everyone began to ask themselves, “what now?” As we all hoped for change in our nation that would benefit us personally and us as a whole. However, during these reconstruction years, this wasn’t the case whatsoever. From clashing parties to constant rioting, people wondered when the peace would finally reach them. Certain men like, Jim Crow, couldn’t stand the sight of equality. He would try to do everything he could so that there wouldn’t be equality for both African Americans and whites. Situations like these that you have others like, Andrew Johnson, who wanted equality and showered God’s forgiveness to try and forgive the Confederate soldiers (Thomas, Lauren). Even though he tried to forgive these people,