Abraham Lincoln Essay

To Free the Slaves When the nation was founded, the southern stated favored slavery and the northern states did not. Had the presidents that came before Abraham Lincoln stood up and made the much needed change, then it would not have fallen on Lincoln’s shoulders to stand up and free the slaves. Because this duty was laid upon him, Lincoln took many steps to abolish slavery. Among the many things that he did was to stand up during the Civil War, enact the emancipation proclamation, and pass the 13th amendment. Had he not taken these steps to abolish slavery, history would have been completely different, and the road to civil rights would have been delayed longer than the hundred years that it took to begin achieving equality. On November 6, 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected the President of the United States; this event caused outrage among the southern states. Because Lincoln had run on anti-slavery, the southerners believed that they no longer had a place in the Union. By February 1st, 1861 seven states had seceded from the Union. The seceded states collaborated to create the Confederate States of America and elected Jefferson Davis as their president. Lincoln decided to fight because he felt that it was his duty as the president to preserve the union. During his first inaugural address he appealed to the rebellious states to rejoin the union. (Civil War) The Civil War began on April 12th, 1861 in South Carolina at Fort Sumter. The Civil War was not entirely caused by the election of Lincoln. However, it was the primary reason the war broke out when it did. It also in my opinion set the stage for abolishing slavery. At this time Lincoln upheld that blacks could not join the army, however they were allowed to fight for the navy. Many blacks rushed in to fight because; although Lincoln stated that the war was not about slavery, but instead about the union. The African Americans knew this war was about slavery (Handlin). Slaves were escaping in masses, and because there was no consistent law regarding fugitives, commanders could make their own decisions on what to do with them. Some were put to work for union forces, some returned to their owners. Then on August 6th, 1861, the fugitive slaves were considered to be â€Å"contraband of war,† and it was decided that if they fought, and they were found to be contraband of war then they were declared free. As they continued to move south many slaves flooded the north. As a result both white and black northern citizens pulled together, providing aid, and organizing relief. And throughout the war they also organized schools to teach the African Americans to read and write (McPherson). Then in 1862 Lincoln began considering emancipation as a stepping stone toward winning the war. In the south they began to force blacks to build forts, work as blacksmiths, nurses, boatmen, laundresses, and work in hospitals, armories and factories. However, in the north the African Americans who wanted to defeat the slaveholders the most were being turned away from the military, because in the beginning of the war Lincoln did not want the south to believe that the war was about slavery not the not the Union. At this time, if Lincoln declared that the war was about slavery, European public opinion would back the north. On September 22nd, 1862, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation warned that if the Confederate states did not surrender by January 1st, 1863, their slaves would be freed. Many believed that this was the beginning of the end of slavery. But, they also feared that Lincoln would give into pressure and fail to keep his promise. Then on January 1st, 1863, he issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, freeing all slaves in states that were not part of the union. At this point, the purpose of the war changed; they were not only fighting to protect the union, but also fighting to end slavery. After the final draft was issued, the federal army began to officially accept black soldiers into ranks (Goodwin). A new chapter of history began, when the Thirteenth Amendment passed in January 1865. This Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, and provided that â€Å"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. (McPherson) The Amendment was passed at the end of the war, before Confederate States had rejoined the Union, making it easy to pass. Finally, on April 18, 1865, the Civil War ended with the surrender of the Confederate army. The southern landscape was destroyed, and four million slaves were freed. Former slaveholders faced emancipation with rage, concern, and despair. The sl aves were freed and began to attempt to rebuild their lives. The country then began reconstruction, which held many promises and tragic disappointments for the people of the United States. As part of the reconstruction there were two new amendments added to the constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment, which granted to all people born or naturalized in the United States. And, the Fifteenth Amendment, which said that no American can be denied the right to vote on the basis of race (McPherson). The Civil War paved the way for President Lincoln to abolish slavery in the United States. First he took a stand; he enacted the Emancipation Proclamation, and finally he was able to pass the Thirteenth Amendment. Had Lincoln not taken these steps to abolish slavery, History would have been completely different, and the road to civil rights and equality would have been delayed much longer. We will never know who would have finally stood up if he hadn’t, nor how long it would have taken. However, we do know it would have been different. Would we have had Martin Luther King? Or would we have President Obama? Bibliography 1. Tried by War – McPherson M. James. 2008 2. Team of Rivals – Goodwin Doris Kearns. 2005 3. Abraham Lincoln and the Union – Handlin Oscar and Lillian – 1980 4. www. CivilWar. org Abraham Lincoln Essay Poetry is written to be heard the way a song is meant to be sung. Poetry has been around for ages and enjoyed from children to adults alike. Poetry is not just words on paper that imparts data; it is much more than that. Poetry is an art form that in order to be fully understood, one has to be able to analyze read between the lines. Analyzing poetry can be a daunting task. One may have to read the poem several times with a dictionary handy, just to get an idea what the poem is about. Some poems are made of elaborate statements while only using as few words as possible. The beauty of poetry is being able to visualize what the writer is trying to communicate to the reader and putting it into their own words and scenario. â€Å"My Papa’s Waltz,† by Theodore Roethke can be interpreted in many ways. At first, it can be construed as a child writing about his alcoholic father and the pain that was inflicted on the small boy by the father’s actions. After rereading the poem, the reader can actually see that the father is frolicking about with his son, he may have had a little too much to drink, but that does not depict alcoholism nor abuse. Roethke was shattered when his father died suddenly of a heart attack, when the young man was only fifteen years old. This poem shows him reminiscing about the good times he had with father. â€Å"White Lies,† by Natasha Tretheway is a touching poem about a young girl dealing with her skin color and trying to find acceptance in a judgmental world. A reader can feel the little girl’s pain, loneliness, shame, and fear as the poem is read. Tretheway mentions colors several times in the poem, which alerts the reader on the importance of color throughout. â€Å"I could easily tell the white folk/that we lived uptown, / not in that pink and green/ shanty-fied shotgun section/ along the tracks.† (7-11) for a little girl to feel so ashamed of whom she is and where she came from is heartbreaking and Tretheway put it into perfect detail. â€Å"My Childhood-Home I See Again,† by Abraham Lincoln is a two-part poem that  deals with the issue of memory and having a sense of ourselves in relation to the past. Lincoln used descriptive words to pull the reader into his life and see what it was like for him to grow up. Lincoln wrote the poem after visiting his home of Pigeon Creek, Indiana in 1844. Twelve years after the poem was written, Abraham Lincoln was elected the sixteenth president of the United Sates. Poetry can tell a story about many things. The poet has a story to tell. How the reader interrupts that story is up to them. The reader may not get out of the poem what the poet put into it. Works Cited: My Childhood-Home I See Again-Lincoln http://potw.org/archive/potw325.html A Short Guide to Reading Poetry http://garts.latech.edu/owl/literature/poetryguide.htm Kennedy, X.J. and Gioia, Dana. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 2nd Edition New York: Pearson Longman 2008 Abraham Lincoln Essay According to Abraham Lincoln, â€Å"Your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other thing. † (Mills 3). I was inspired by this quote that speaks of success, which I will describe as a golden star that everyone wants to reach. This quote is similar to most of the leadership quotes because it speaks of ways to reach success, but, this quote is special in a way that it could be related to the self-fulfilling prophecy. Simply put, the main road to success is the â€Å"will to succeed. † I’m sure each of us has experienced actually failing a task whenever our mind is embedded with the phrase: â€Å"I can’t do this! † If you believe that you will be successful in any endeavor you want to take, then, you have taken the first step to becoming a person who is the â€Å"king or queen of success. † I myself have noticed that whenever I put into mind that I will â€Å"win,† the outcome turns out to be truly positive. This essay can help readers realize that their goals can be achieved by first believing in themselves. If a person always expects that he/she will succeed in something specific, then his/her expectations will most probably turn into a reality as what the so-called â€Å"self-fulfilling prophecy† suggests. Rosenthal, in his book: â€Å"Experimenter Effects in Behavioral Research,† said: â€Å"Events tend to turn out as one has hypothesized, not because of some great insight but because one behaves in a manner to achieve this outcome. † Believing in this theory would mean that we would have to love ourselves more, believe that we have what it takes to win in this â€Å"game† called life, and, at the same time, because of our mind set, act in such a way that enables us to achieve our dreams. Bear in Mind: Success is in your hands, just believe! Works Cited Mills, Dawson A. â€Å"Continuing Education Offerings Abound. † The Virginian-Pilot [Virginia] 28 January 1996:3. Rosenthal, Robert. Experimenter Effects in Behavioral Research. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1966. Abraham Lincoln Essay Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 to Thomas and Nancy Lincoln. He grew up in Hodgenville, Kentucky, and lived out in the wilderness. He was brought up doing chores, and had a special talent of using an axe at a young age. Upon attending an ABC school, Abraham learned how to read, write, and solve arithmetic problems. He and his family constantly had problems with the milk sick disease, which was the cause of the death of Abraham’s mother. One of Abraham’s first jobs as a young adult was to build a flatboat and take it down the Mississippi River loaded with cargo. From then on, his occupations seemed to be constantly changing. Some of the other jobs he became involved in were a clerk in a general store in New Salem, served three months as a private, opening a general store in New Salem once again which failed after a couple months, state legislator of Illinois, and a series of other more political jobs. Abraham Lincoln married twice; first to Ann Rutledge and later as a result of her death e married Mary Todd Lincoln. They had four children, and only one reached adulthood. Lincoln’s first real successful career was as a frontier lawyer, in which he earned about $1200 to $1500 a year. Eventually seeking higher political positions, he became a powerful young congressman. At this time in his life, her first began to have the opportunity to voice his opinions about slavery. He was very much against it, and supported Wilmot Proviso, which proposed that slavery be abolished from Mexico, and he formed other antislavery programs in Washington. Upon returning to his former job as a layer upon the end of his political term, he was able to become a master at the occupation. Around 1854, Abraham began to research the Kansas-Nebraska Act, for he was held an opposing viewpoint of what is stated. He believed the Act did not address how important it was that slavery be abolished, for it allowed people in these two territories to decide for themselves whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Right after this, Lincoln began involving himself in more debates about slavery, while at the same time trying to get into a political position. He was finally granted his wish to become president on November 6, 1860 defeating Douglas, John Bell, and John C. Breckinridge. Re-elected in for the next four years after this term had ended, he was all the while serving during the Civil War. His view on the war was that he hoped to create a plan to join the nation together, and give the South more right to the slaves. Eventually the Civil War’s end was exactly how he had wanted to terminate, with General Lee surrendering to General Grant in Virginia. The death of President Lincoln was tragic, and was soon following this victorious end of the war. Upon a third re-election as U.S. President, he angered many people who did not like the way he served their country. John Wilkes Booth was one of such people, and he expressed his anger during a performance of â€Å"Our American Cousin† at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, when he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. Throughout Abraham Lincoln’s life, he was succ essful in politics aided in the progress of our nation. Abraham played many extremely important roles in this particular time period of history, while his most prominent position was undoubtedly President of the United States. During his role in presidency, many Southern states were against his election, including Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Later four more states were angered and all ten succeeded and left the Union around 1860. With no decision but war, the northern and the southern states were allowed to fight over issues dealing with slavery, rights, and preserving the Union. On January 1st, 1863, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which entitled that all citizens who were slaves up to now are free. The importance of this declaration was not that it freed many blacks in the South, but that it showed Americans that the present war was being fought to end slavery. Besides this major point, the Emancipation Proclamation allowed black men to feel accepted and equal during the war, for they were allowed to hold better positions and could enroll in the Union Army and Navy. The Gettysburg Address was later given by President Lincoln as well, which where he defined the Civil War as a rededication to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence. This was one of his most well known speeches, for the site at which he announced it was a memorial for the death of soldiers. President Lincoln was indeed a significant person to the history of the United States and its overall development. He is probably the President with the most information documented about his life, and he is remembered today as a man who gave touching speeches and who fought endlessly for what he believed in. He always put forth his efforts into ending wrongs and never giving into what is morally wrong. Because he was committed to preserving the Union no matter what the consequences were to himself, it was saved, and because of his patience, timing, calculations, and keenness at solving problems he was able to kill what was left of slavery. Through transforming the president’s role as commander-in-chief and as chief executive of his nation into a more powerful position, presidents from his term in office on were granted supremacy over both the Congress and the courts. His perseverance as a person brought him to have such an influential remembrance of him today, as he started out as a poor boy brought up in the wilderness in a log cabin to obtaining the most revered position of the country in the White House. Although he ended a tragic death, America will never forget his efforts at making America a better place, and will always look towards him as the father of our country. Bibliography: http://216.132.160.230/KoTrain/Courses/AL/AL_Impact_and_Legacy.htm accessed 9/18/03 http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761577113&pn=6#s67 accessed 9/18/03 http://www.cr.nps.gov/logcabin/html/al6.html accessed 9/18/03