Lincoln and Good Politics Essay

The appellation, “The Great Emancipator” is not granted to just any person, but rather it highlights a courageous, respectful, and driven individual. Abraham Lincoln’s contribution to the United States is so grand and captivating, that he is deservingly recognized as America’s greatest president. For example, he abolished slavery, led America through the Civil War, and prevented the Union from splitting apart. Abraham Lincoln is America’s greatest president and was the forceful leader that manipulated America from a state of turmoil into a state of justice and harmony.

Lincoln used his background as an outlet when making most of his decisions. During two occasions, he addressed his respect for Kentucky and its citizens, but needed them to stand behind his vision. In Sept of 1859, he addressed how he believed slavery was wrong and wish for it not to spread . In 1860, Lincoln wanted to succeed Pennsylvania. In Feb of 1861, he had the same speech. Many people were concerned about what Lincoln could actually do. They did not forget that Lincoln had little to no experience with law. He only had up to eighteen months of formal schooling. Despite these facts, Lincoln was regarded as “Candidate of pride, wealth and aristocratic family distinction”. Better than most union leaders he appreciated conditions in the south… and the advantages of being able to call on the old southern leaders. He was very generous and considerate. Lincoln was for the North but he was also connected to the South fundamentally and emotionally. In 1864, a northern delegation conferred with him concerning escaped slaves coming within union lines. Lincoln was once again facing issues he did not see coming his way. From left to right, people were expecting him to back up his word. He had to prove to them he could get the job done, regardless of the obstacles he may

After the defeat at Fort Sumter there were some northerners that tried to get Lincoln to let the south go. When deciding weather to take Fort Sumter by bombardment, one of Davis's ideas was a bargain with Washington , maybe purchase, for the peaceful turnover of the fort and other federal holding in the seceded states. Thinking Confederate independence was inescapable, Davis prayed that they would slow down long enough to recognize that they could save millions of dollars and many lives by stopping this. He believed that the honor of the Confederate States of America (CSA) would be reestablished if everyone seen Davis challenge Lincoln successfully. While dealing with all of this he still was ready to take Fort Sumter. Davis just wanted peace and to be left alone. The South was fighting a defensive war, which gave it inherent advantage.

Abraham Lincoln’s presidential career was full of questionable actions. Thomas DiLorenzo author of, The Real Lincoln discusses Lincoln’s actions regarding racism, his refusal to emancipate the slaves, his continual tendency to act independently of Congress, and his radical reconstruction after the Civil War. DiLorenzo attacks each of these topics in his book and proves that Lincoln had his own agenda, and was not the picture perfect president everybody thought that he was.

Lincoln’s new found political passion helped him decide to challenge Stephen A. Douglas in a race to be senator. He criticized Douglas, President Buchanan for supporting slavery, and the Supreme Court in his nomination acceptance speech. Lincoln also, stated “a house divided cannot stand.” This is saying the union needed to work together to accomplish bringing it back together. Abraham Lincoln awoke the people’s interest in slavery and other important political

History records Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator, yet ardent abolitionists of his day such as William Lloyd Garrison viewed him with deep suspicion. That the 16th president eventually achieved the abolitionists' most cherished dream, says biographer Allen Guelzo, happened through a curious combination of political maneuvering, personal conviction, and commitment to constitutional principle.

Many Americans believed that the election of 1860 would decide the fate of the Union. The Democratic Party was the only party in the national scope. The convention in Charleston, South Carolina in 1860 split the Democratic Party. Stephen Douglas wanted his party’s presidential nomination, but he could not afford to alienate northern voters by accepting the southern position on the territories. However, "Southern Democrats insisted on recognition of their rights, as the Dred Scott decision had defined them and they moved to block Douglas’s nomination"( Bialy, 2007, p. 383). Douglas obtained a majority for his version of the platform, delegates from the South walked out of the convention. After compromise efforts the Democrats presented two

2.North’s success in outlasting the south is credited to its superior leadership. “As a wartime president, Lincoln was unquestionably superior to confederate President Davis, a master politician, Lincoln was able through a combination of tact and forcefulness to hold together the bitterly antagonistic factions of the Republican party. But perhaps Lincoln’s greatest successes came in his role as commander in chief of the armed forces.” (Source-1) Lincoln inspired the North. Davis the confederate President constantly fought with his

When the southern states had two representatives that really helped Lincoln’s chances of winning. After Lincoln’s win that was when 7 of the lower southern states decided to seceded from the north and it caused a lot of turmoil. The war began on April 12th, 1861 when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard led a bombardment on Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina after Anderson refused to surrender Sumter. This lasted two days and ended with Anderson surrendering it to the Confederates. After this battle Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined the confederacy (Brinkley

hand, Davis was both admired and hated. Lincoln had a different view of how the

In the series of seven debates that took place all over the state of Illinois between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln tensions began to rise amongst the union. In a pursuit to be elected into the Senate, Douglas and Lincoln expressed their strong beliefs and outlooks on critical issues during the debates. For instance, one of the nationally significant topics discussed was slavery, which eventually became a major election issue. After the 1857 Dred Scott Case that stated neither Congress nor the people had the right to pass laws to keep slavery out of any U.S. territory. Leading the complexion of slavery in territories to become a major election issue. During this time, Douglas was the leading enthusiast of the "popular sovereignty" concept. According to which the citizens of a territory would have the right to vote on whether the territory would be a free or slave state. Meanwhile, Republicans such as Abraham Lincoln continued to hold onto the idea that Congress should have a say in a territories decision. Lincoln strongly stood with the concept of Congress voting to ‘prevent the expansion of slavery into the territories, while leaving it alone in states where it existed’ clinging on to the hope that those states in time would decide to end slavery themselves. Similarly stating “I have my mind very distinctly made up. I should be exceedingly glad to see slavery abolished in the District of

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States was elected president on November 6 in the year 1860. Not even on the South’s ballot, Lincoln received 40% of the popular vote. As a strong republican, Lincoln believed in the abolition of slavery. Lincoln became president in the highest conflict between North and South in history and wanted to preserve the Union. He believed that the South should not be punished after the Civil War because he thought that they had already been punished enough from the war. Abraham Lincoln’s lenient policies caused him to be hated by both the North and the South. He believed that all should be treated with respect and wanted to find a compromise between the feuding sides of the Civil War.

The Election of 1860 was a major political event. The four presidents running were Abraham Lincoln, J.C. Breckenridge, Stephen A. Douglas, and John Bell. Since Abraham Lincoln was the only Republican amongst the four running for office, he was basically promised to win the election because he would be getting all the republican votes while the democrats’ votes would be shared between the three democratic officers. Analysing the map of the Election of 1860, the northern states were very republican and the southern states were mostly democratic (Document 11). Lincoln was very anti-slavery, which made the southerners upset when he became president. Along with the Election of 1860, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the biggest political dispute between the north

Both sides the Union and the Confederacy were preparing to go to war. Neither side wanted to but that’s what it had to come to. President Abraham Lincoln felt that the Union had to win and outlaw slavery to reunite the nation. President Jefferson Davis had other thoughts. Davis felt that the Confederacy would either be a separate nation or the same nation just with slavery.

2. Given this outstanding success, why did the internationalization thrust of the late 1980s and early 1990s fail?