Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, was born in February 12th, 1809, in Hardin County and Kentucky , who were Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks as farmers and carpenters. In December, 1816, Lincoln moved from Kentucky to Indiana, where belonged to Baptist denomination. That was a wild area, with many wild animals and bears.In 1830, his family moved to Illinois. In December, 1819, Thomas Lincoln married with the widow, Sarah Bush Johnston. “His stepmother provided the teenage Abraham with more affection and guidance than his natural mother or his father ever did. Thomas Lincoln chastised Abraham's "lazy" preference for reading over working.”(1) On the one hand, Abraham Lincoln was hard to accept any education due to move place frequently. On the other hand, his father restrained him reading; he would rather Lincoln working than reading. On the way of his education, only his stepmother gave him support and encouraged him to develope ambition of intellectual. Also, he borrowed books from his friends and neighbors because of his poor family. As he went to work with his father every time, he always brought books and read them under trees.
In 1842, Abraham Lincoln and Marry Todd married. They had four children, unfortunately, they just had a alive child . In 1860, he was elected successfully the sixteenth president of the United Sates. It took his 8 years in political.
The picture is about his family, Marry Todd Lincoln(left one), Robert Todd Lincoln(middle one), Abraham Lincoln(right one), and his others two sons.
When he was a lawyer, he still worked on protecting salves.“His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest.”(2) He relied on his ambition and endeavor; he was self-educated to become a famous and talent lawyer before he became a president. He had debated for a black girl about slavery and nonpayment. “Lincoln's years as a lawyer influenced his character, and that character eventually influenced our nation's history.”(3) The position practiced his logical thinking and skill of debating. Also, lawyer had to be judicial and equal which effected his character and his views of slavery.
Abraham Lincoln ‘s idea of freedom was based on his experience. Actually, he was an anti-slavery. Because he grew up in the south, he saw lots of oppressed slaves suffering and injuring. At the age of twenty-three, he left his house to New Orleans for doing business. When he was hanging out, he just saw a bunch of locked black slaves. Each of them was despair just like a hoggerel what could be trampled upon at will. There were cruel slaveholdings with whips and slaves with “thousand injuries”, including being separated from mother and little girl. Lincoln faced those kind of situation and realized that all of them were human being, why did they have to bear those brutalities? In the wide world, how could stand these to continue? He knew the biggest issue of the country was based on slavery; black and white was impossible to keep this kind of relationship for a long time. Since from that time, what he had seen and what he had heard in the South built his primary idea of slaves and freedom.
However, as a presidency was not that easy, internal controversies was the hardest challenge in Abraham Lincoln’s term of office. In the meanwhile, the society was chaos. One the one side, the North and South had strong conflicts. South sought to expansion of slavery into federal territories, but north had a lot of anti-slavery to inhibit development of slavery. However, before Lincoln became the president of the United States, there were seven states out of Union already. Those states set up a new government which was the Confederate of the United States to be independent. “The Confederacy needed to prove to itself, the Union, and the world that it could defend and control its national landscape. A subsidiary problem derived from the slave labor system, which Davis feared the Union would destroy in the areas it occupied. ”(4) At the beginning of the controversies, it was just internal problems which happened to two parts of the country. In the preamble of the constitution of the United States, it said “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice... ”(5)However, since seven states were out of the Union and built the Confederacy, it did not only break the fundamental of the United States and developed conflicts within a country anymore. It turned into the conflicts between two countries.Later on, several southern states were out of the Union in succession. On the other side, parties thought about slavery. “Most Republicans accepted the principles of the Declaration of Independence as assuring black people certain rights now. But they disavowed measures that would immediately bring about true equality between the races.” (10) In the Party, it also had proslavery or not, they more believed in morally protest slavery. Abraham Lincoln was elected the president in this circumstance.
The civil war was an unprecedented event in American history. Abraham Lincoln was responsible for his country and did his best to maintain it. In his mind, he preferred to unify the country better than abolishing slavery. If it was two countries, abolishing would not have any meaning anymore. After a year, the Civil War broke out and it had lasted for four years. In the war, the Confederacy had already prepared for a long time, but on the contrary, Abraham Lincoln did not advocate to intervene with force; he thought government could limit development of slavery first and abolished slavery step by step. At that time, he owned this attitude to meet a Armed Forces, and the reality proved his thoughts could not work, so the north did not have any preparations and everything assembled for a short time.
Union and Confederacy chose completely different strategies to reach victory. Northerners saw a point slavery had still existed many unstable factors which influenced the United States and slavery was not a good system in the United States. Those controversies were exposed, south and north owned their argument to struggle. Southerners just defended their own territory as well and depended on imports and exports to increase economy.“In 1861, the Confederacy had sold cotton to British, they believed they would hurt them and force British to recognize the South’s independence”“Southerners had counted on the global demand for cotton to help leverage independence.”(4)This was southern plan. Southerns tried to all kinds of way to be independent. In opposite, northerners’ purpose was different from southerners. They wanted to unify the United States and abolished slavery, thus they were offensive into the Confederate territories. “ When Congress assembled in December 1861, the radicals kept up a constant clamor on the issue of slavery. John Crittenden reintroduced revolution declaring that the war was being waged solely to save the Union. Republicans voted overwhelmingly against it, clear evidence that sentiment within Lincoln’s party was hardening against slavery”(8) Northerners seemed like incarnation of fair to eliminate the power of “devil” for peace of world. Lincoln’s party spared no effect to against slavery.“ The majority of the Missouri State Convention had considered the call for emancipating the slaves to be premature, believing that no necessity then existed compelling them to take such a radical step”(7) However, for southerners, the Union was an obstacle choking them to gain power and territories. They thought they were civilized; black was interior race; God created them to be slaves.
On January 1, 1863, the president, Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. “He annoucing, ‘that all persons held as slaves ‘ within the bebellious areas “are, and henceforward shall be free’”(10) The Emancipation Proclamation would published in the third year of the Civil War. From the first day of the Civil War, their purpose was pursuing liberty for black slaves. It also referred to restore the Union and end slavery. “Modem critics note that the Proclamation only freed slaves in rebelling territories, sheltering border state slave owners and not freeing Southern slaves until Union troops arrived.”(11) It showed Abraham Lincoln did all of those for a good prospect of the United States rather than a little benefits. He freed slaves in rebelling territories first, which meaned he wanted to make sure that others were loyal to him from those states near boundary. He had to make sure his country was safety and unified. The Emancipation Proclamation would be the best connection between the black slaves and the Union. Moreover, unless the Civil War was completely over, everything would be done. In other words, Lincoln encouraged those black slaves to join the army of the United States to fight for their country and liberty.
From the Emancipation Proclamation had been valid, Abraham Lincoln’s democracy was obvious. Firstly, black slaves could have more fundamental rights and have human rights. Firstly, “ In early October 1863, the War Department established a secret policy regarding the enlistment of slaves in the loyal border states allowing for more aggressive recruiting among free blacks and slaves”(7) The army of the United States allowed black joining into. Secondly, when government freed slaves, government also compensated to slaveholdings appropriately to get their consents. Although there were still some of slaveholding and governors resentful even resign, most of them were wiling to do it and accept compensate. Thirdly, after the Union won the civil war, slavery with it was end. Slaves became free men. But where could those Free Men stay? Abraham Lincoln did very well in arranging for them. Government advantaged of encouraged free men to migrant to Missouri to secure for the whole Union unified.
After Abraham Lincoln won the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln sent a letter to an politician of Illinois :“I believe the deceleration that’all men are created equal is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest; that negro slavery is violative of the principle; but that, by our frame of government, that principle has not been made one of legal obligation.”(4)Because he believe that, they fight for that. Everything was for emancipation. “When northern victory finally came in April 1865, it was clear that the president had saved the Union, but not the Union” (12) Abolishing slavery was necessary.That just had two choice for Abraham Lincoln: fight to unify or let it go-- separate. According to his past experience, he chose to fight for his country for liberty was not surprised.Indeed, the Civil War consumed lots of labors, money and others, but it got a wonderful ending.
Every president changed the United States, but not all of them did as unique as Abraham Lincoln. As the matter of fact, two president Abraham Lincoln was referred in the early United States. One of them was the 3rd president of the United States,Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson contributed in writing the Declaring of Independence best. “with five simple words in the Declaration of Independence-- ‘all men are created equal’-- Thomas Jefferson undid Aristotle’s ancient formula. ”It could show his idea of political, and also Political libertarianism of Thomas Jefferson gave Abraham Lincoln an idea to get library, but Thomas Jefferson did not follow that way at all. He did not “Jefferson denounced the slave trade as an ‘execrable commerce... this assemblage of horrors’”(13) How beautiful languages they were! Nevertheless, what he said were all inveracious. He had owned hundreds of slaves in his lifetime, even he did not need to do anything by himself. Under his language, he was such a liar. To determine differences between Tomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, we could not compare anyone with Abraham Lincoln, because they worked in different period and changed the United States to be prefect. When they were in the same position, Abraham Lincoln more realistic and he did the two important events was fully suited for the society in that time. Thomas Jefferson did the Declaration of Independence which was a very important step for the United States, but the only weakness was whatever Abraham Lincoln said, he achieved them.
The other one was the 7th president in the United States, Andrew Jackson. Abraham Lincoln admired Andrew Jackson very much. He had more stuffs than Thomas Jefferson. Andrew Jackson was famous of Jacksonian democracy. And he formed the Democratic Party of the United States. Furthermore, Abraham Lincoln absorbed some of Jacksonian into his term. But Jackson was a vainglorious person without any prospects for the nation, especially he was questionable which meaned his actions were illegal. He would not feel any uncomfortable when he was overstepping the law, even the constitution. As a president, he broke the law first; how could he manager his country and led every citizens to respect the law especially the constitution? “Jackson walked away from the event with two abiding convictions: one, that victory and the nationalism generated by it protected his actions, even if illegal; and two, that he could do what he wanted of he deemed it in the nation’s best interest.” That was so ridiculous. For instance, the Opposition of the Nation Bank in 1832. He always did anything what he wanted. In the case of bank, he gave six reasons to abrogate the First Bank of the United States, including his personal reasons. After a year, he just took funds away from the bank without having any process of withdrawing cash which belonged to the country. He always did everything what he wanted without any judicial process. Although he was a president, he totally broke the law. As the result, he destroyed the First Bank of the United States. The whole economic system fell into depression. Jackson was as a person who was admired by Abraham Lincoln, he also keep Jacksonian Democracy into the White House. As a president, although Jackson discovered Democrat system, his illegal action and questionable would have bad influences in the United States. Furthermore, although Abraham Lincoln had idea to encourage free men migrate to other country to avoid conflicts of race, but finally it was countermanded.
Abraham Lincoln was one of the best presidents, he had contributory enormously and he had almost prefect. For a country, unification was so important especially in that period of the United States; it was at edge of secession. Although when he used the way of war to deal with controversies between North and Soth, it cost a lot and died lots of people during the Civil War, eventually he won the Civil War to finish unification of the Union and abolished slavery. Between a president and a president was incomparable, they lived in different situation, but we could see what they did and how he did. Abraham Lincoln was a prefect example for offspring. When we saw today’s United States, we must be remembering the president of Abraham Lincoln who was created another new the United States. He was death, but he was alive. He was one of the best president of the United States in our heart.
Sources:
1. McPherson, James M. "American National Biography Online: Lincoln, Abraham." American National Biography Online: Lincoln, Abraham. N.p., Feb. 2000. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
2. "Abraham Lincoln." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013
3. Kalantari, Sara. "Lincoln: Lawyer before President." Lincoln: Lawyer before President. N.p., Feb. 1998. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
4. Fiege, Mark. Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books : Republic of Nature : An Environmental History of the United States. Seattle: n.p, 2012. Print.
5 Neely, Mark E.. Fate of Liberty : Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties.
Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, 1992
6."Preamble." LII. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
7. Boman, Dennis K.. Conflicting Worlds : New Dimensions of the American Civil War : Lincoln and Citizens' Rights in Civil War Missouri : Balancing Freedom and Security.
Baton Rouge, LA, USA: Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press), 2011. p 196.
8. Gienapp, William E.. Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America : A Biography.
Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, 2002.
9. "The Election of 1860." The Election of 1860. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2013.
10."Featured Document: The Emancipation Proclamation." Featured Document: The Emancipation Proclamation. By the President of the United States of America:, 1 Jan. 1863. Web. 08 Dec. 2013.
11. Sturdevant, Katherine Scott. FREDERICK DOUGLASS AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN ON BLACK EQUITY IN THE CIVIL WAR: A HISTORICAL RHETORICAL PERSPECTIVE. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
12. Carwardine, Richard. Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and
Power. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
13. Wiencek, Henry. "The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson." (2012): n. pag. Print.
