Lincoln's House Divided Speech After The Civil War

When elected, President Lincoln vowed to prevent the extension of slavery. As a result, the Southerners chose secession, while Northerners believed that the collapse of Union would destroy the possibility of a democratic republican government. This resulted in the Civil War, which lead to the end of slavery in the United States. Throughout the war, there was much debate over whether or not the Civil War was about slavery or the Union. Lincoln first rejected the end of slavery as a goal of the war, but slave escapes in the South bothered Lincoln. The Union’s fate was at stake and Lincoln’s major goal of the war was to save the Union. Lincoln finally surrendered to the pressure of antislavery republicans, making the Civil War mainly about slavery, and seeing slave abolition as a way to end the rebellion and protect the Union. Abraham Lincoln created the proclamation of emancipation in July 1862, which called for an end to slavery. The proclamation was issued on September 22, basing its legal authority on his responsibility to suppress the rebellion and was signed by Lincoln on January 1, 1863. After the war, abolitionists were concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be forgotten about, so they pressured the congress to pass a law that would finally abominate slavery. In January 1865 the Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to ending slavery, and sent it to the states

The Civil War had revolutionary effects on American society, the most important of which was the destruction of slavery, the fundamental institution of southern society. The emancipation of America’s 4 million slaves, in numbers, scale, and economic value, was far greater than any other emancipation of slaves or serfs (in Russia) in the world. At the war’s beginning, Lincoln identified the North’s cause with the cause of free labor. But Lincoln also initially stated that the conflict was not being fought to end or limit slavery, but to preserve the Union. He wanted to keep the border slave states of Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri in the Union and build the broadest possible base of support for the war in the North.

The Civil War was a trying time in American History; societies crumbled, lives were lost, and a nation was torn apart in order to be made whole. However, was this conflict inevitable? Were the North and the South destined to battle out their differences? Were the decisions made by President Abraham Lincoln to make war on the CSA justified? While there is much deliberation on this topic, the final answer is yes to each and every question. The North and the South, though they shared many similarities, were irreparably divided over the slavery issue, such that conflict could not be avoided. Lincoln’s deliberations on the situations of the day were the only acceptable response to the issues at hand. Disagreement caused by the slavery issue

This fear would grow and lead to the South leaving the Union and going to war. The Emancipation Proclamation would be the document that finally abolished slavery in America. Emory M. Thomas and Marilyn Elizabeth Perry describe the situation for the president at the time, Abraham Lincoln. The Emancipation Proclamation, while being one of his greatest achievements, was a hard decision for him to come to as the North was in support of abolishing slavery but the South depended on it (Thomas and Perry). Abraham Lincoln was president in the 1860s when the conflict over slavery hit its peak.

H.L.Mencker once said, “The American People, North and South, went into (Civil) war as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects… what they thus lost they have never got back.” April 12, 1861, was the day an unavoidable war was started, the Civil War (The Civil War Begins). The dispute over slavery was an ongoing issue between the North and South since as early as 1858. As the controversy between the North and South continued over slavery continued, the south had discussion about secession. When delegates from the slave states meant, the “Ordinance of Secession” declared that “ Union was now subsisting between South Carolina and other states, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved.”

Historically, Lincoln was mainly focused on the idea of keeping the Union unified and he felt that the only way to accomplish it was through abolishing slavery. Lincoln believed that slavery was morally wrong and how it was the reason for the war because: “One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves… [and they were] localized in the Southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest (Stanza 3).” With regard to Lincoln’s speech, he always chose his words carefully to portray the purpose of the Civil War referring that the slaves were part of the nation and all the government had a job to keep all the slavery together and not spread. On the contrary, Lincoln was against slavery because he didn’t want it to expand further and not let it spread to the newly formed state of America which was

To be begin with, the civil war brought slavery to an end by Abraham Lincoln. In his speech, “Gettysburg Address”, says, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” (Lincoln, 2). With this in mind, he (Abraham Lincoln) wants to show that this nation is dedicated and willing to do anything to get it. In other words, Lincoln tells the crowd that the war has meaning behind it and that it’s worth fighting for to end slavery along with other things. Additionally, “it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us...” (Lincoln, 4). The words “ a great task remaining before us” means the banishment of slavery. Also, the main purpose for the civil war was banning slavery. To summarize, slavery was brought to an end by the civil

The American Civil War began in 1861. This war was fought over the preservation of the Union rather than the abolition of slavery. But in 1863, Lincoln changed the course of the war and issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln figured the Emancipation Proclamation was a strong military strategy, as well as the morally correct decision. The Emancipation Proclamation also changed the Civil War into a war fought over slavery rights. The American Civil War ended in 1865 with a clear Union victory.

After being nominated to run for the Senate, Lincoln gave his renowned “House Divided” speech which brought about a lot of grief between the North and the South. Lincoln’s “House Divided” speech set his position on slavery. He believed if slavery was to continue, that it should stay in the Southern states. This would cause the eventual destruction of slavery because it would not be allowed to spread. A short while after he was nominated, Lincoln challenged Stephen A. Douglas to a series of debates. Douglas accepted Lincoln’s request, and selected several cities in Illinois for the debates to take place. The debates overall received a ton of national attention, which led people to understand and accept Lincoln’s beliefs on slavery.

President Lincoln became president in 1860, causing the secession of South Carolina and many other states from the Union. They didn’t believe in the same rights as President Lincoln was going to put into action. Fort Sumter of South Carolina (a confederate state) was still held down by the union and their troops because the confederate states were such a new dynamic. Because of this, South Carolina decided to bombard and fire on Fort Sumter, which began a thirty-four hour battle. The confederates just wanted their land filled with people that shared the same belief system as everyone else. They wanted the union out of their harbor and they believed the way to do that when denied their wish, was to attack. Sydmonds explains my view on this issue very well, “Lincoln did not seek or expect a military solution. He had no intention of forcing the issue, believing as he did that the majority of Southerners retained some latent loyalty to the old flag and that they had simply been swept up by the emotion of the moment. He hoped that a period of quiet resolve would bring most of them to their senses and allows a national reunification without the shedding of blood. Time, he hoped, would be the great healer.”2 This all happened out of a sort of emotional

In the effort to secure their own appointments to the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas squared off in a series of seven debates in 1858. In the 1850s, America was facing a political crisis, and slavery was threatening to tear the nation apart. There were seven debates that took place between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. The two candidates for Senate challenged the other's ideas about many topics but the most import was, slavery and its future in the United States. Before the first debate took place, Abraham Lincoln addressed a crowd in Chicago, which is known famously as the House Divided Speech. In his speech, Lincoln attacked the doctrine of popular sovereignty. He said that it had clearly failed in its goal of ending

Lincoln supported the Whig Party, was frequently asked to speak at various events and was often sought out for advice. He had definite opinions and people that knew him knew well where he stood on political topics. The scope of the country was changing and the opinions of slavery and sectional tensions were growing. The passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 allowed residents to decide if they wanted their state to be free or accept slavery. Even the Supreme Court was getting involved and ruling that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution did not apply to African Americans. Our nation was dividing right before Lincoln’s eyes. Lincoln was not in favor of slavery, but he also did not favor abolitionists. He is quoted as saying “In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.” “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” In 1850 he delivered a speech about the issue of slavery and his personal opinion. “We must not disturb slavery in the states where it exists, because the Constitution, and the peace of the country both forbid us – We must not withhold an

“President Lincoln justified the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure intended to cripple the Confederacy. Being careful to respect the limits of his authority, Lincoln applied the Emancipation Proclamation only to the Southern states in rebellion” (Larkin 1). This meant that slavery was going to be abolished in the majority of the South. Those areas that weren't allowed to have slaves where, “Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth” (Lincoln 1). Even though slavery wasn't completely abolished, this played as a key stepping stone. December 18, 1865 was when slavery was completely illegal in America. However, if it wasn't for the Emancipation Proclamation we could still possibly have slavery

“One eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was, somehow, the cause of the war.” With that being said, in the beginning of the war, Lincoln completely tried to lessen the issue of slavery and stating that the war was just basically about ‘preserving the Union.’ On the other hand, during Abraham Lincoln’s election as the first ever Republican representative to run for Presidency in 1860, he provided a platform and pledges to keep out slavery of the territories. Well, technically, the war was said to have been about religion and state rights as well for both sides. Another factor of the cause was territorial expansion because the Southerners wants to expand slavery into the West, while the North plans to keep it open to white labors. As a result, there had been seven slave states in the Southern part of the country that decided to finally secede and create a new nation which would commonly be called “The Confederate States of America.” However, President Lincoln and his administration refused to recognized the legitimate secession of these states because they feared that it would compromise to the theory of democracy. In total there were about 2.75 million that fought in the

The House Divided Speech was addressed by Abraham Lincoln on June 1958. He delivered the speech upon his acceptance of Illinois Republican Party’s nomination as the senator of the state. Thus the speech became a very important launching campaign for his success in politics thus giving him a national limelight that saw him in the elections to the presidency in 1860.The speech primarily addressed on the issue of slavery in America. Abraham Lincoln delivered his speech aimed at establishing his strong beliefs towards the acts of slavery. The speech was also meant to point out a differentiating factor of beliefs from Stephen Douglas and the rest of the top governmental