Abraham Lincoln's First Priority During The Civil War

Independent study
The statement this report looks over is that Abraham Lincoln’s major priority during the civil war was not the abolition of slavery. Firstly it will discuss whether Lincoln’s first priority was the union. Then it will discuss what Lincoln thought about slavery. Then lastly it will discuss the outcome for the Black Americans under Lincoln’s presidency.
Now for the first question, was Abraham Lincoln’s first priority the union? To start this off Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to an editor from the New York Tribune in august 1862. It wrote ‘ if I could save the union without freeing any slaves, I would do it and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others
Although Lincoln argued about the phrase that white humans are the superior race and said that all men are created equal he still didn’t think the Black Americans should have the same rights the white Americans did. In a debate at Charleston, Illinois on September 18, 1858 he said he opposed blacks having the right to vote, to serve on juries, to hold office and to intermarry with whited. He also said “I will say then that I am not nor ever have been, in favour of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races.” This shows that yes he did want to end slavery but still didn’t want the Black Americans to have as much freedom and the white Americans did. And when Lincoln finally got to the stage off ending slavery, it was as a military measure. Therefore it didn’t apply to border slave states. Some included Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland which had all remained devoted to the
Five days after the war ended, the 14th April 1865, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head and killed as he sat with his wife and two guests in presidential box at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor ( ). So yes Abraham Lincoln was assassinated but what did he achieve in helping the black Americans before his death? Although Abraham Lincoln’s didn’t free all of the slaves he definitely start something big. He gave black Americans racial harmony and accepted them into the country. He might have only freed 4 million slaves out of the million more but that led to a brighter future we live in today where every man and woman is equal no matter what colour they are and this is thanks to Abraham Lincoln one of the greatest American presidents. If it wasn’t for Abraham Lincoln the world would be a very different place and who knows there might have been no black Americans if he wasn’t around to free them and racism would be a casual thing most children would talk about in the school