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Lincoln's Position In 1864 Research Paper

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Before 1864 Lincoln thought the best way to win the Civil War was to use a soft war strategy. General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign and March to the Sea were the beginning of a new era of warfare. He swayed Lincoln’s opinion to believe that the only way to win the war was to fight a total or hard war. This new war tactic was a major component of assuring Lincoln’s reelection in 1864. Without this, the outcome of both the election and the end of the war may have been much different. Lincoln had many powerful opponents going into the election of 1864. Many of them were much more likely to be the next president than he was. The most likely candidate was nominated by the peace democrats. It was George B. McClellan, Lincoln’s former commander of the Army of the Potomac. Even Lincoln thought he was going to win the election. The Radical Republicans form a third party and …show more content…

He didn’t want to punish the south or make them any angrier because he thought there was a chance that they would voluntarily come back into the Union. In order to do this he didn’t free their slaves, that would have crippled both their work force and their economy; there is no destruction of private property by the Union Army, that would have been seen as a war on the civilians which wasn’t their goal; and prisoner of war exchanges were arranged between the two sides. There are three main reasons why this policy failed: the South showed no repentance, they didn’t wish to come back into the Union, and the Union Army soldiers didn’t agree with it. If the people fighting for a cause don’t agree, it probably won’t happen. In mid-1863 General Sherman suggested a new plan to Lincoln, hard war. Also known as total war, hard war is a type of psychological warfare. Sherman wanted to make war on the South and “make them hurt.” At this point, Lincoln decided it was the best plan of action and approved Sherman’s Atlanta

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