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Why Did Abraham Lincoln Become A Great President?

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Abraham Lincoln is perceived as one of the most distinguished presidents in American History. Through his great leadership, he was able to guide America through a time marked by social unrest and eventual civil war, terminating with his assassination. Before his inauguration, the Union was already dissolving, and Lincoln chose to preserve this Country and the freedom it guarantees by waging war with the rebellious South. These efforts, along with his relentless drive toward creating a slave-free country, clearly lead the United States toward being what it is today. The conditions that enabled Abraham Lincoln to become a great president were both that he had been reared as a common person, was of high intelligence, had a strong work ethic, and, of equal importance, he became president during a time of great upheaval in our nation. It is clearly these conditions …show more content…

A bloody civil war then engulfed the nation as Lincoln vowed to preserve the Union, enforce the laws of the United States, and end the secession. The civil war lasted four years with the staggering loss of over 600,000 Americans.” (University of Virginia) Shortly after the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg), Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which became law on January 1, 1863, and freed all of the slaves in the rebellious states, but left those in the states loyal to the Union in bondage. Although, he was against slavery, the wisdom he had gained as a lawyer allowed him to realize that not permitting the states loyal to the Union to have slaves would result in a balance of power resulting in the South winning the war. Later, when the time was right, Lincoln argued for the passage of a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery, which eventually passed as the 13th Amendment after his death in

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