Preview

Ap Us History Dbq 6

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
789 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ap Us History Dbq 6
APUSH
DBQ 6

All throughout the 1800's, slavery was a very controversial topic. During the 1860 election, Abraham Lincoln was asked about his views on slavery. He simply stated that he would do anything with slavery to preserve the union. A few months later, Lincoln issued the Emancipation and this went slightly against what he had said earlier. Once this was issued, the preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery became the main goal in the war. I believe that Lincoln's main goal was to preserve the Union and although he felt that slavery was morally wrong, he was willing to do anything to keep it together.
There were many instances where Lincoln made his beliefs on slavery very clear. Although he believed that it was morally wrong, he still did not believe that blacks should have the same rights as an american. He wanted them to be free. Just free somewhere else. During his presidency he tried very hard to do whatever needed to be done to preserve the Union. Lincoln restated this again in August of 1863 when he reminded people of the democratic party that the civil war was being fought in an effort to put the Union back together. Feelings on slavery did not matter but freeing slaves would make things easier because Confederate war effort would become more difficult.I march of 1862, Lincoln decided that it would be best to award states that freed their slaves with money. With this, people were not able to say that they didn't receive money for getting rid of slavery. This was simply a bribe though. He was not forcing anyone to abolish slavery and it was completely the state's decision.
Although that made the thought of abolition seem less awful to the confederates, they were still unsure. When speaking to a Committee of Religious Denominations of Chicago in September of that same year, Lincoln admitted that slavery was a big part of rebellion. He also stated that emancipation would prove to Europe that the U.S. had morals (image of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Though President Abraham Lincoln was cognizant that slavery was indeed erroneous, he strongly emphasized that the war was fought, not for the abolishment of slavery, but for the salvation and conservation of the Union. Mr. Lincoln was aware that many northerners would support a war to preserve the union but not a war to free slaves, this is one ethical reason, in sense, that he didn’t want to spread slavery where it didn’t exist as stated in Source B.…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln supported the abolition of slavery. This was most likely due to the fact that he grew up going to a church that strongly opposed slavery. Being morally opposed to the idea of having African Americans as slaves, it was no question that Booth, a man who was opposed to abolition of slavery, planned to assassinate him. Lincoln also stated, while giving a speech, that he supported the idea of enfranchising former slaves, which Booth was immensely infuriated by.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Source B states that Lincoln “challenged the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was essentially a pro-slavery bill… Ultimately he lost the nomination as its Vice Presidential candidate in 1856. However, he continued his campaigning against slavery.” This citation shows how though Lincoln lost all hope of getting power to stop slavery, he still encouraged the fight against slavery. During Abraham Lincoln’s youth, he strived to understand the talk of politics and what they are Source C depicts, “As a boy he listened to his father and friends talk about the issues of the day, and then worked the idea in his mind until he understood it… he would repeat things over and over until it was fixed in his mind.” Abraham Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union even though he knew other people disagreed with him. “He put in long hours attending to the countless details of running the country, including spending the entire night, sometimes, at the telegraph office, waiting for the latest news from his generals.” Source C portrays. Abraham Lincoln’s success shows us that determination leads to…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With many of the slave states no longer part of the U.S., Lincoln encouraged states with very few slaves to abandon slavery. He passed a law providing monetary compensation to any state willing to emancipate its slaves. During the war, Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which instilled fear in the Confederate states by stating that he would emancipate all slaves in the Confederacy, if they did not surrender by the end of the year. His attempt was futile, and the Confederacy did not let up.…

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lincoln fell into the idea of politics when he became a Whig to the legislature. Unlike Caesar, he had to debate against an opponent, Stephen Douglas. This became knows as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates after seven times. They agreed on many issues, except slavery. Lincoln did not agree with slavery. With that being said, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September of 1862. This allowed all slaves in the southern states to be free, but the southerners did not agree. This caused him to grow enemies from the southern states, much like Caesar. They did not…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Lincoln prevented free voting to allow for the states to decide their own fate. One could easily argue that Lincoln began an entire war, not over slavery, but over state's rights. Lincoln staunchly felt a strong, centralized government was necessary and he clearly wasn't…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to a book written by an expert on Abraham Lincoln, it states, "In late July 1682 he had assembled his cabinet and read a remarkable document to them. He called it the Emancipation Proclamation. In it, he proposed to free all the slaves in the seceded states. Lincoln's position had always been that slavery must come to an end." (Steele, pg 105) In this quote it explains how Lincoln never wanted slavery to exist from the start and how it must end. “And now by introducing the Proclamation it helped to fulfill his wishes.” (Steele, pg 105) The Emancipation Proclamation was a very important document during this time period started by Abraham Lincoln, and it still remains very significant during this time period, as many people are still thankful for this document. The importance of the Emancipation Proclamation was that it led to the TOTAL abolition of slavery in the United States, it was signed on September 22, 1862. It took Abraham Lincoln quite a while to try to convince everyone such as his advisors, who did not initially…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lincoln was acutely aware that slavery was protected under the constitution, yet he still expressed his discontent of it by saying he would be "exceedingly glad to see Slavery abolished in the District of Columbia." Lincoln only wanted this if it happened under certain conditions which he viewed as fair to the southern states. In the…

    • 987 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lincoln began the civil war claiming to want only to preserve the union, and I think that saving the union was his main goal, but I think even from the beginning, slavery played a part in the start of the war too and another one of his goals was to gradually get rid of slavery. I think as time went on, it started to have a bigger and bigger role in the war, but I don’t think the goal of ending slavery every surpassed his goal of saving the union. He did whatever he thought it would take to save the union, and he also managed to end slavery while doing it.…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lincoln was making attempts to mend the Union without war and the South knew that this was impossible. “All admit that an ultimate dissolution of the Union is inevitable, and we believe the crisis is not far off.” (Doc. 1). The South could see war coming and they were ready for it. Although war is an extreme measure to take when trying to solve disagreements, it is perfectly feasible when you are being deprived of rights and under the control of a region who is attempting to take away your property simply because they believe against it. So while slavery may have been viewed as an evil thing, it was still property of the South and if the North wanted to take it away, they would have to go about it in a very cautious way.…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Abe Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was the leader of the North. Lincoln didn’t advocate racial equality, but he hated slavery. According to Oakes, Lincoln said he hated slavery three times in his first big antislavery speech at Peoria in 1854. He went on to quote Lincoln, “I have always hated slavery, I think just as much as any Abolitionist” (Oakes 41). As a child, his preacher and parents instilled in him that slavery was wrong and he could not ever remember a time when he didn’t hate slavery. Although Lincoln hated slavery, he never thought of it as being an issue for discussion. In 1854 however, he…

    • 1773 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln is widely believed to be the fabled liberator of slaves. However, Lincoln showed time and time again that he only cared about the fate of blacks as it served him and the interests of his administration. The major objective of President Lincoln’s administration was to preserve and sustain the Union. The southern states’ insurgence started as a result of disputes over states rights and representation in Congress; it was coincidence that most of the disputes in congress revolved around slavery. Lincoln’s political career was based on the opposition of the expansion of slavery. This theme was Lincoln’s first step towards ending slavery. From the time of Lincoln’s return to politics up to the time he was elected president, Lincoln gave several speeches where the central issue was slavery.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A House Divided

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lincoln’s statement in 1858 correctly predicted that the United States could not exist forever torn between the issue of slavery. His statement continues to be valid, even in today’s world, more than one hundred and fifty years later. When the country was divided about the existence of slavery, it was not able to cooperate. Proper authority could not be executed, because the leader had to choose a side. If he was pro-slavery, the north would not be devoted to his leadership. If he was pro-abolition, the south would refuse to acknowledge him as their leader. This enormous dilemma wreaked havoc throughout the country, leading to the south’s eventual secession from the Union.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emancipation Proclamation

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the first document, “Lincoln Expresses Misgivings (1862)” President Abraham Lincoln discusses his concerns against signing the emancipation proclamation arguing his fear of it having little to no effect or results. Though Lincoln states that from a constitutional and legal standpoint he has no objections to the fact that he has the power to take all steps necessary to win the war by weakening the enemy, in which the emancipation proclamation would do to the South, he fears the potential massacre that could be a result of freeing the slaves. Lincoln expresses his fear of the freed slaves being put into harms way if he does go through with the order and not being able to keep them armed or protected. He ends the document on the point of uniting the people remaining a fair enough principle to remain the topic of the war.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abraham Lincoln’s experience as a lawyer in Illinois and a member of congress for a short time could not have fully prepared him for the challenges of his presidency. His main obstacle was the disunity of the nation, and his main goal during his presidency was to reunite the country. In his own words “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. He also faced the challenge of slavery, which was a problem that had plagued America since its early days, and a major cause in starting the civil war. Lincoln believed that slavery should be abolished, more importantly though he believed in the preservation of the union, and in the end he issued the emancipation proclamation in order to preserve the union.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays