Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln.
Remember always that he was the greatest president of the 19th Century, and literally saved the young Union from being inexorably torn in two. Abraham was a great politician. He was a decent, just, humble man, and in the most virtuous sense he was also a great politician. He used the power of his political skill and rhetoric to appeal to a nation, the Union in its entirety, to address the problem of slavery in a way that best preserved the natural rights of all men. He was not like the extreme abolitionist, John Brown, who murdered for the cause. He was not a slave holder who defended the practice as essential.
He was not a racist who saw Whites as superior to Blacks. But he was a great politician who had to appeal to the extremes on both sides; the abolitionists on one side, the slave states on the other. And he had to find common ground so that the Union could be preserved. For, without the United States of America, her Declaration of Independence and its statement of Natural Rights, and the Constitution with its Bill of Rights, slavery would not be eradicated. It would continue to exist in some form within and without the Union indefinitely.
Abraham Lincoln used his expert political skill to maneuver sentiment and popular opinion. He used his debate skills to trap Stephen Douglas and others dedicated to the protection and perpetuation slavery to expose their hypocrisy, and turn their Constitutional arguments against them. Lincoln spoke to a deeply divided America. Racism, superstition, fear, and economic necessity impelled the slave states to fight to the death for the practice upon which they based their culture. Ideology, human freedom, and Christian love impelled those who sought the immediate and unconditional abolition of all slavery. Only when he was unsuccessful in the political realm to heal the rent Union, did Lincoln resort to military action, and with the force of war, called the secessionist states back home. He hated the Civil War. Lincoln's skill as Commander in Chief did not match that of his political skill. Yet he persisted, in the name of freedom, and in the name of the indispensable Union, he persisted. He, at first, refrained from using the full force of the Union against the Southern states. And it was not until Ulysses S. Grant became the Commanding General of the Union Army, that victory over secession, and victory over the practice of slavery became possible.
Abraham Lincoln was a great politician, and a reluctant Commander in Chief. His love of all people is unquestionable. And he knew that for America, and the rest of the world to have a "Last, best hope," that the Union must preserved and its Constitution along with it. Happy Birthday Abraham Lincoln. Your memory and legacy blesses us still.
Comments
Right :
So violating His oath of office was OK if for the greater good.
The Constitution allowed for states to leave the union at will
South Carolina should have taken him to the supreme court instead of starting a shooting war that cost over 500,000 American lives !
Your understanding of history shows how well indoctrinated you are.
FYI the war of northern aggression was about economics not slavery !
This is well-reasoned document concerning the reasons the Civil War occurred.
Many people think the Civil War of 1860-1865 was fought over one issue alone, slavery. Nothing could actually be further from the truth. The War Between the States began because the South demanded States' rights and were not getting them.
The Congress at that time heavily favored the industrialized northern states to the point of demanding that the South sell is cotton and other raw materials only to the factories in the north, rather than to other countries. The Congress also taxed the finished materials that the northern industries produced heavily, making finished products that the South wanted, unaffordable. The Civil War should not have occurred. If the Northern States and their representatives in Congress had only listened to the problems of the South, and stopped these practices that were almost like the taxation without representation of Great Britain, then the Southern states would not have seceded and the war would not have occurred.
I know for many years, we have been taught that the Civil War was all about the abolition of slavery, but this truly did not become a major issue, with the exception of John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, until after the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, when Abraham Lincoln decided to free the slaves in the Confederate States in order to punish those states for continuing the war effort. The war had been in progress for two years by that time.
Most southerners did not even own slaves nor did they own plantations. Most of them were small farmers who worked their farms with their families. They were fighting for their rights. They were fighting to maintain their lifestyle and their independence the way they wanted to without the United States Government dictating to them how they should behave.
Why are we frequently taught then, that the Civil War, War of Northern Aggression, War Between the States, or whatever you want to call it, was solely about slavery? That is because the history books are usually written by the winners of a war and this war was won by the Union. However, after following my family around since I was just a year old to Civil War Living History scenarios in Gettysburg and elsewhere, I have listened to both sides of the story, from those portraying historical figures, both Union and Confederate. Through listening to these people and also reading many different books, including some of the volumes of The Official Records of the Civil War, Death in September, The Insanity of It All, Every Day Life During the Civil War, and many others, I have come to the conclusion that the Civil War was about much more than abolishing the institution of slavery.
It was more about preserving the United States and protecting the rights of the individual, the very tenets upon which this country was founded. I personally think that the people who profess that the Civil War was only fought about slavery have not read their history books. I really am glad that slavery was abolished, but I don't think it should be glorified as being the sole reason the Civil War was fought. There are so many more issues that people were intensely passionate about at the time. Slavery was one of them, but it was not the primary cause of the war. The primary causes of the war were economics and states' rights.
Slavery was a part of those greater issues, but it was not the reason
He was per history,and he would be very unhappy with wants going on now, but he did what was right for his time in history.We must now do whats right in our time,not go out and try to find another Lincoln or Ronald Reagan ,but someone who will do what right for us in today world. So thank you for keeping hope in our life by keeping knowledge of hope throw History.
I recommend the book "Vindicating Lincoln" by Thomas Krenawitter.