How Did Lincoln's Efforts To Preserve The Union

Primarily, America’s opulence initiated with Lincoln’s determination to preserve and to strengthen the moral cause of the Union, starting off with focusing on abolishing

The Civil War that took place in the United States from 1861 to 1865 could have easily swung either way at several points during the conflict. There is however several reasons that the North would emerge victorious from this bloody war that pit brother against brother. Some of the main contributing factors are superior industrial capabilities, more efficient logistical support, greater naval power, and a largely lopsided population in favor of the Union. Also one of the advantages the Union had was that of an experienced government, an advantage that very well might have been one of the greatest contributing factors to their success. There are many reasons factors that lead to the North's victory, and each of these elements in and

Lincoln’s main goal for his presidency was to unify the Union after the Civil War had torn the North and the South apart. In Lincoln’s “Second Inaugural Address” he says, “While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war...” (Lincoln 68). When Lincoln was elected for his first term, he wanted to unify the Union even before the war had

When Abraham Lincoln won the presidency in 1860 the Union was divided. He accepted his presidential duties knowing that he was working with a nation that no longer remained united. Seven of the southern states had already seceded from the Union and were beginning to refer to themselves as the Confederates. What he had now were free states and slave states. When Lincoln gave his Inaugural Address he attempted to do so in a way that would not dissuade his chances of gaining support in the southern states, especially when it involved the institution of slavery. However, he also made it clear in his address that he believed a secure and united nation was of utmost importance and he rejected the ideas

Abraham Lincoln believed that to preserve the union, he would need to free slaves, but it was more than that, he needed to find a way to bring the country together as one rather than separation. He said himself, " if I could save the union, without freeing any slave I would do it...", that shows that the abolition of slavery was not Lincoln's number one priority, but he believed it needed to be done in order to preserve the Union.

Although James McPherson presents Lincoln as having numerous qualities that defined him as a brilliant leader, he wastes no time in revealing what he believes to be Lincoln’s greatest strength. In his Introduction, McPherson states regarding Lincoln’s political leadership: “In a civil war whose origins lay in a political conflict over the future of slavery and a political decision by certain states to secede, policy could never be separated from national strategy…. And neither policy nor national strategy could be separated from military strategy” (McPherson, p.6). Lincoln could not approach the war from a purely martial standpoint—instead, he needed to focus on the issues that caused it. For the catalyst of the war was also the tool for its solution; a war started by differing ideologies could only be resolved through the military application of ideology. This non-objective approach to the waging of the war almost resembles the inspired approach McPherson brings to his examination of Lincoln himself.

Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech on March 4, 1861. It reiterated his promise not to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States and affirmed the rights of states to order and determined their own institutions. According to document A by Abraham Lincoln (First Inaugural Address) says “Exist among people of the Southern States that by the accession of a Republican Administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered”.In his First Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln explained why his duty as the newly-elected president required him to treat secession as an act of rebellion and not a legitimate political action. Nothing less than the survival of self-government was at stake. As the duly elected president, Lincoln believed that majority rule constrained by “constitutional checks” and informed by public opinion was “the only true sovereign of a

     The South’s dominating strategy in winning the civil war was attrition. They believed they could wear down the political will of the North if they held out long enough to make the Northerners tired and question value of the means to achieve the ends. Military stalemates, guerilla war tactics and inconclusive battles would help the South achieve this goal. “Confederate armies did not have to invade and conquer the North: they needed only to hold out long enough to force the North to the conclusion that the price of conquering the South and annihilating its armies was too high, as Britain had concluded in 1781 and as the United States concluded…” (Why Did the Confederacy Lose?, pg 117)The South really enjoyed McClellan’s performance in the Southern theatre with his tendency to retreat when he could have won. This was another helpful hand the South would need to cause attrition. In response, Lincoln knew he had to do two things to prevent attrition and win the war more quickly. He needed to fire McClellan, and shift the theme of the war in the view of the North so that it would not lose its thunder. He did this by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and converting the war for unionism into the war for morality. The

In the time period of 1862 to 1865, when Lincoln takes office in March 4th to his assassination, the United States was dealing with the issues of preserving the Union. In determining whether Lincoln’s goals to preserve the Union by freeing the slaves, one must assess the knowledge of their relationship. Politically, President Lincoln tried to convince the political groups that abolishing slavery would help preserve the Union; intellectually, he gave the idea of ending slavery to the citizens through speeches; and socially, after Lincoln freed the slaves, they were pursued to join the war for the Union’s cause. In order for Lincoln to save the Union, he would find it inevitable to end the slavery issue.

When Abraham Lincoln gave his Cooper Union Address it is doubtful that he knew its impact on the country and ultimately the future of the Union. In his Cooper Union Address, future president Abraham Lincoln thoroughly rebuked the southern Democrats Stephen A. Douglas’ statements about the Republicans’ slavery stance by using not only the oppositions wording against them, he supported his arguments with true examples sited from the signatories of the Constitution and their past voting record, from information gleaned during his career as a lawyer, and from his sense of honor and ethics. Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party had some very strong constituents, mainly those with very strong Free Soil tendencies. For this reason along with personal beliefs on Lincoln’s part the Republicans, led by Lincoln in the presidential election, were strongly against the expansion of slavery into the territories

Many historians offer various reasons for the defeat of the South (Confederacy) in its battle against the North (Union) during the Civil War. Some of the theories historians offer include the overriding Union power in people, manufacturing, raw material and other reserves; financial failure, due to the Union blockade of ports and ruining the railway structure; political infighting among the Confederacy; and persistent loyalty to states’ rights causing opposition between the government in Richmond and the assorted Southern states. This paper’s purpose is to espouse a theory that a combination of these factors provides a thorough explanation as to why the South lost the Civil War (1861-1865).

As President Abraham Lincoln served his two terms at the most deadly and hardship moments of US history, he was faced with a record-breaking challenge to unite the two broken halves of what used to be the north and the south. Although Slavery became the overall cause of the Union splitting, it all distinguished into several factors. These included the lust for territorial expansion as well as the need to industrialize, exemplified immensely through the south as they competed to have as many advantages as the north had throughout the battle. However, this was not the case causing economic and political pressure with the south as they could not keep up with the north's abilities and utilities. The satisfaction of the north also brought fear 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.

The Civil War was a war between the union, and confederate states in the United States that occurred from 1861-1865. Many people believed that the Civil War was about slavery and southern states right to defend their states’ rights. The confederates were fighting for their liberty and independence under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, who they felt was a tyrant. However, the union, was fighting to preserve their territory, that was created by their founding fathers from chaos and dismemberment. President Jefferson Davis believed that the civil war was based on the confederate rights to secede from the union. Jefferson also felt that Abraham Lincoln was to blamed for the start of the civil war, since he was against slavery. Lincoln’s intended goal was to preserve the union, he claimed slavery was not the reason. “If I could save the union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all slaves I would do it, and if I could slave it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that (Shi &Tindall, 2015, pg.465)”. Lincoln told everyone that if the southern states were to return to the union that slavery would still exist. However, many people believed that Lincoln wasn’t being truthful.

At the beginning of the war the South seemed to have a political advantage over the North in that they were all united behind one cause and had a President, Jefferson Davis, with a large amount of political experience as well as other admirable qualities. While in the North, Lincoln was dealing with a country divided in three, the Northern Democrats, the radical Republicans, and the conservative Republicans. Leadership skills proved to be one of the most important traits during these trying times rather than political experience. Lincoln was able to show his knack for good politics in that "The Radicals frequently concluded that Lincoln was a prisoner of the conservative wing of the party, whereas conservatives complained that Lincoln was too close to the Radicals" (Enduring Vision, p. 410). By doing this he was able to stay on good enough terms with both sides to speak on his own behalf and squelch any ideas of a separation within the party. In the South Davis was struggling to hold things together, some say "he would rather have led