Abraham+Lincoln+During+the+War

=__Abraham Lincoln__=

Introduction:[[image:Abraham_Lincoln.jpg width="201" height="257" align="right" caption="Abraham Lincoln "]]
The Civil War was fought for many reasons, but in the eyes of Abraham Lincoln, it was fought mainly for the securing of the Union of the United States of America and for the freedom of the African-American slaves. Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He grew up on the "American Frontier." While he worked hard in the fields laboring on tasks such as splitting fence rails and working in general stores, he educated himself from books that he borrowed. He later worked his way up to becoming a lawyer, studying from law books in his spare time. Lincoln served in the Illinois General Assembly for eight years and then in the US House of Representatives for one term, from 1847-1849. In 1860 he would be known as the first Republican president of the Unites States of America.toc

Republican Party:
The Republican Party for political campaigns was founded in the Northern states by former members of the Whig Party, the Free-Soil Party, and even the Democratic Party. It was established in 1854 at Ripon, Wisconsin, a Northern state. The Republican Party would serve as the opposition to the Democratic Party. This opposition and constant battle between the two parties would remain even up to today. Though the battle between the two parties remained the same, their customs have changed over time. In the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party was campaigning for the freedom of African-American slaves, the abolition of slavery, and, in Lincoln's mind, the preservation of the Union. The party disagreed with the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska Act, laws that encouraged and supported slavery.

After the 1860 election, the party became a large power in Congress. Some members of this party were known as the Radical Republicans, some of which includes Frederick Douglass and Henry Wilson, abolitionists who disagreed with slavery and the secession of the South. The Radical Republicans had disagreed with some of Lincoln's ways and decisions. They wanted harsh punishment for the South during and after the war, while Lincoln had tried to avoid further violence. During the war Lincoln had intended to end the war as quickly and cleanly as possible after it had broke out with the gunfire at Fort Sumter. Lincoln would fire officers who had not followed his direct orders and replaced them. If Union officers had gone too far with their authority or had not gone far enough, they would be replaced, and the Radical Republicans had not agreed with these tactics of Lincoln. On August 30, 1861, Major General John C. Fremont had declared all slaves owned by Missouri Confederates to be free, and when he refused to redact it by Lincoln orders to free only slaves owned by working Missourians, he was fired and replaced with General Henry Hallack. Lincoln's actions were viewed by the Radicals as, "a weak and unjustifiable concession in the Union men..." and,  "  to have the power of a god and not use it godlike," as said by Radical Republican Charles Sumner. The Republican Party was anti-slavery during the Civil War, and the Radical Republicans had wanted equal rights for all even after the war had ended.

Lincoln's First Election:
The election of Abraham Lincoln is considered a key factor in events to trigger the tensions between the Northern and the Southern states that would cause the Civil War. As the newly elected 16th President of the United States of America, Lincoln was the first member of the Republican Party that would be appointed to office and into presidency. Abraham Lincoln had won the title of presidency over the Democrats, Stephen A. Douglass in 1858, who represented the Northern Democrats, and John C. Breckinridge, who represented the Southern Democrats. On Tuesday, November 6th, 1860, Lincoln was officially appointed President of the United States. Lincoln had received 1,866,452 popular votes and 180 electoral-college votes, while Douglass had received 1,376,957 votes with 12 electoral-college votes, and Breckinridge received 849,781 votes and 72 electoral-college votes. Lincoln held every free state but no slave states, which had created an obvious split between the North and the South.

During Lincoln's inaugural address, he had proclaimed that he had no intention to end slavery where it was located and did not want to repeal the Fugitive Slave Law. This outraged many abolitionists, African-Americans, and the white allies. They thought that Abraham Lincoln would had done these things in his time as Commander-In-Chief. Though Lincoln may have not agreed with his statement intended to get the affection of the South, in the beginning of his time in office he had mostly anticipated on preserving the Union that had previously fallen apart. In his time observing a reporting on the war he had realized that slavery was one of the largest factors being fought over. He had then focused on abolishing slavery as well as preserving the Union.

Emancipation Proclamation:
//Whereas on the 22nd day of September, A.D. 1862, a proclamation was issued// //by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit: "That on the 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. "That the executive will on the 1st day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States." Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-In-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this 1st day of January, A.D. 1863, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the first day above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense; and I recommend to them that, in all case when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages. And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.//

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared that if the "rebellious" states had not rejoined the Union of he United States of America, he would emancipate all of the slaves in the South. Though the proclamation did not address the slaves in the border states in the Union, the majority of the slaves were located in the South, providing an large income from crops such as cotton and tobacco. The Emancipation Proclamation was vital because it announced that the Civil War was being fought for slavery and preservation of the Union. The Union was important to Lincoln and the country, this is because if the Southern states had seceded, America would be nearly have the size it is today. The was also the case in 1860, when Lincoln was elected president, America was divided into two halves when the first state of South Carolina voted to secede from the Union on December 20, 1860, and was soon followed by the other Southern states.

On September 22, 1862, President Lincoln made a preliminary proclamation that the emancipation would come to effect on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation was possible because of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed on December 18, 1865. It stated that: **Section 1.** "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." **Section 2.** "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." The Emancipation Proclamation was a goal and an accomplishment of the war for President Abraham Lincoln. The Constitution had offered advantages over the South in the time of war for Commander-In-Chief Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln felt that in a time of great need using these advantages were necessary in order to end the secession and enforce the Union, and creating the emancipation was one of the first steps. The emancipation declared over 3,000,000 African-American slaves free and military and naval authorities would see to the slaves being free. The freed men slaves would be enforced into the Union Army. This created an uproar in the South, and by the end of the war only 200,000 African-American men had fought for the Union. The Emancipation was a key factor leading to the assassination of Lincoln.

// Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. // // Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. // // But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. //

Abraham Lincoln's address was on the battlefield of Gettysburg, the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. The battle was considered the turning point in the American Civil War. The three day battle took place in the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and had the largest number of casualties in the Civil War. The battle occurred when Union Major General George Gordan Meade's Army of the Potomac defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, ending the invasion of Lee.

After the carnage had passed close to 50,000 bodies of men and over 5,000 bodies of horses lay of the fields of Gettysburg and land to the South. The humidity of the summer had expanded the stench of the fallen soldiers, and had began to attract swarms of flies and swine to the former battle field. Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin appointed David Wills, a prominent Gettysburg lawyer, to oversee a project demanded by Lincoln, that the bodies have a proper burial. The thousands of coffins were provided by the federal government, and an interstate commission was formed to raise money that would be used to pay for seventeen acres of land for a burial ground. Abraham Lincoln had addressed over 15,000 people the day of November 19, 1863 at 9:30 a.m. with his Gettysburg Address. The president wanted to speak of the matter to the state of Pennsylvania in hope of both raising political support for his election and to respect those many thousand who had fallen in the humid, murky July air. Even though the honors of the day had fell to Edward Everett, a noted orator from Massachusetts, Lincoln's two minute speech had set a large impact on all of those present that day, and all of those to hear. Previous to Lincoln's speech was Everett who had held the attention of the audience for nearly two hours about courage of those men who had died in battle at Gettysburg, and Lincoln then got up to deliver his two minute speech. Many were in awe at the brevity of Lincoln's speech, but it was poetic and understandable, leaving many impressed and respectable to President Lincoln. He increased his campaign popularity for the next election he intended on winning.

1864 Re-Election:
The election of 1864 was a major factor to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln ran against former top General of the Union, George B. McClellan. Lincoln ran for the Republican party while McClellan ran for the Democratic party. The Radical Republicans were not pleased with he way Lincoln had dealt with the slaves' freedom ticket and the post war plans, so they had made John C. Fremont their first Republican nomination. Even though this was done Lincoln had easily won the election with 55% of the popular vote and 212 electoral votes. Some say that this victory was an easy win because most of the Southern states had seceded and were not able to take part in the Union elections, and the war was not yet over. The people of the North would vote for Lincoln so he could lead them to the end of the war. The re-election of Lincoln was the final straw for few in the North.

The assassination of Lincoln is one of the many US political assassinations to occur, and it is one that is most remembered. It was one of the last major events of the US Civil War. The Civil War was coming to an end and Lincoln had gone to Ford's Theatre to see the play "Our American Cousin" on April 14, 1865. He was sitting in the upper balcony with his wife Mary Lincoln, Major Henry Rathboneand Clara Harris,who had accepted the invitation from the Lincolns to attend the performance. Lincoln had angered many Confederate believers and some Union believers with the way he had dealt with problems of the war and slavery, and men, including assassin John Wilkes Booth had plotted to kill him. Booth had plotted with other men by the name of Samuel Arnold, George Atzerodt, David Herold, Michael O'Laughlen, Lewis Powell and John Surratt. They had plotted to kidnap Lincoln at first but then figured that assassinating Lincoln would be more efficient and easier.

Many questioned why the Officer John Frederick Parker was guard that night. During intermission he had slumped into a nearby cavern with Lincoln's footmen and coachmen, not to return, leaving and easy entrance for Booth with his 7 1/2 inch blade and Phildelphia Derringer. The Derringer is a small percussion hand-gun, at length of about 6" and .41" rifled bores. It was made by an American gunsmith Henry Deringer, and was produced from 1852 through 1868. About 15,000 of these Derringers were made during the Civil War. These guns sold for a usual price of around $15 to $20, with the silver-inlaid and engraved models selling at higher prices. It was considered the "perfect assassination weapon" because of its light weight, durability, and small size where it could be stored almost anywhere. Booth was an actor in his previous life and had known many plays by heart, includng the play being performed that night, "Our American Cousin." He had known the characters and waiting for a scene where actor Harry Hawk would be onstage as "cousin Asa", where there would be laughter to muffle the sound of a gunshot, and when the actor had announced a joke that made the crowd roar with laughter he ran up to Lincoln and squezzed the trigger, firing a shot into the back of Lincoln's head. Booth then stabbed Major Rathbone in the arm because he had tried to stop Booth from fleeing. He then jumped over the railing to the upper balcony but had his riding spur caught on the Treasury flag decorating the box and landed awkwardly on his left foot, fracturing his left fibula just above the ankle. He raised his knife to the crowd and yelled, "Sic Semper Tyrinnis," meaning, "Thus always to tyrants," the motto of the state of Virginia. He fled the theatre and met up with his fellow plotters to escape to Maryland. Lincoln suffered fatal damage to his head, and was carried across the street to the William Peterson's Boarding House by doctors and soldiers in the audience. He was laid down on a bed on the first-floor bedroom, but nothing else could be done for him, and at 7:22 a.m. on April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln died.

media type="youtube" key="6qAeFjCscRY" height="367" width="469"
Lincoln could be considered the greatest President of the United States of America of all time for preserving the Union and for emancipating the African-American slaves who were enslaved for more than 100 years on United States soil.



__Bibliographies:__
Bruner, Jerome. __John Wilkes Booth__. Spartacus Educational.com. 2010. PBS Online. May 9, 2010. []

Deringer, Henry. __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. May 13, 2010 []. Lincoln, Abraham. Enchanted Learning.com. 2001-2010. Lincoln Tech Institute. May 8, 2010. []

Lincoln, Abraham. The Library of Congress. 2009. April 29, 2010. []

McNamara, Robert. __Presidential Politics at a Time of National Crisis__. About.com: 19th Centruy History. 2010. About.com. May 8, 2010. []

Scheeren, William O. __Civil War Articiles: Election of Lincoln.__ 2010. Ohio State University. May 8, 2010. []