Abraham Lincoln's Attitude Towards The Civil War

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Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States; he reigned between March 1861 and April 1865. He was born in February 1809 and died in April 1865 at the age of fifty nine years. Abraham Lincoln came from a poor background that could not afford his education, as a result, he self-educated himself. Abraham Lincoln reigned during the American Civil War, the conflict between the North and South. He was a Republican in support of the Federal government of United States commonly referred to as “The Union”. The Union consisted of twenty Free states and five border slave states. The Union’s foremost opponent was the Confederacy, formed by secession southern slave states. Abraham Lincoln is famous for the Emancipation Proclamation,…show more content…
Lincoln declined to free slaves in the beginning of the war; a matter that he and the then Major General John C. Fremont disagreed upon. General Fremont proclaimed all the slaves free, but Abraham Lincoln opposed the decision, agreeing only to free those slaves in areas where the Union had no power. Freedom was not granted those slaves owned by the loyal slave states and those in parts of the confederacy under the union control. The disagreement between Lincoln and Major General John C. Fremont got the major relieved from duty for proclaiming all slaves…show more content…
He leaned towards the support of the Union, frequently citing that slavery was a political and constitutional issue rather than a morality one. Critics argue that if “the Republican truly believed that slavery was morally wrong, they would have abolished slavery in all of the Union”. Slavery continued to persist even in the reign of the Union. This was because the Union was committed to restrict the expansion of slavery but not abolish it. In his views, Lincoln saw slavery as an unavoidable social evil that was essential to the economy . To the blacks, it was immoral and inhuman, but the Border States relied on the slave trade for their economic production. Abolishing slavery only meant altering the economic system in the slave Border States and this could only result in less support. Lincoln believed that slavery was destined to fade away with time but could not just be terminated abruptly. He advocated for a gradual termination of slavery but not a direct confrontation; first was the introduction of the Emancipation Proclamation, then the compensation of slave and finally colonization of the freed slave. All the three approaches only offered the slave illusionary freedom while preserving the

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