...among itself cannot stand” - Abraham Lincoln. A country divided among itself will not survive. A government divided among itself will not function. The Civil War divided our country into what was perceived as right and wrong. However, both sides were caught together, stuck in an endless spiral downward. When Lincoln was assassinated restoring the nation was left to Johnson. A difficult task even for a strong man like Lincoln, but when Johnson, inexperienced in politics takes over the task become more or less impossible. Lincoln's assassination had a negative impact on the country after the Civil War because the South would have been better off with Lincoln's plan and Johnson accomplished nothing during his presidency. Lincoln's plan for governmental Reconstruction was flawless, until Johnson came along and ruined it. Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction was fair and peaceful; consequently he released the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863. He believed the proclamation would muster northern support for the war and meanwhile persuade tiring Confederate soldiers to give up (Coyne and Bolotin). The proclamation permitted full pardons to all Southerners - except high-ranking...
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...On April 14, 1865, a Confederate sympathizer known as John Wilkes Booth, entered the Ford’s Theater with the intent of killing the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. Hoping to create chaos within the United States government, Booth and his co-conspirators fatally shot the president and stabbed Rathbone, a young army officer. American rejoicing over the end of the Civil War came to end as news spread of Lincoln’s assassination. With Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan created, Andrew Johnson now took on the role of president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination created animosity between Johnson and Congress and an unhappy white population, all whilst paved the way for blacks to vote. Following Lincoln’s assassination, animosity was brewing between Johnson and Congress. Johnson intended to carry out Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction. His views reflected his steadfast Unionism and his firm belief in states’ rights. In the beginning of his presidency, Johnson wished to have Southern states return to the Union. He granted immunity to former...
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...rebuilding period in American history following the Civil War. After winning the war in 1865, the Union states began the exhausting process of reconstructing the United States, as well as each side's belief system. The two main goals of this era in American history was to ensure basic civil rights to former slaves, as well as reunite the North and the South to form one Union again. However, with each side having it's own agenda, accomplishing those goals proved to be quite a task. During the Reconstruction Era, several factions of American politics formed within the Republican and Democratic parties. The most noted include the Radical Republicans, Southern Conservatives, and the Southern Freedmen. Radical Republicans demanded extreme policies be put in place for Confederate states, and stressed the civil rights and liberties of former slaves. Although their agenda compared well to Lincoln's, the Radicals wanted to make re-entry into the Union a difficult one for the Confederate states. Another faction formed, the Southern Conservatives, believed the south would rise again to its former economic status, and wanted little to no rights for African-Americans. The last faction, the Southern Freedmen, saw the greatest success for ensuring the basic civil rights to former slaves. Made up of former slaves and supported by whites who believed African-Americans should have equal rights and civil liberties, the Freedman's Bureau, initiated by Abraham Lincoln, helped this faction achieve success...
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...High School What Influenced Abraham Lincoln Submitted To Mr. Douglas In Partial Requirements For HISP United States History Lili Quevedo December 19th, 2014 It was a glorious day on April 14, 1865, for the Unites States of America—the states were united once more. The North had won the Civil War five days ago and everyone was still celebrating victory. The people had one man to thank for leading them through the war: President Abraham Lincoln. Not only had he lead the Union to victory, but he had also set the slaves in the South free. The celebration would be short-lived, however, because one Southern man was not happy with the outcome of the war. It was on that day that actor John Wilkes Booth entered Ford’s Theatre shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head. The next day the President died, leaving the country mourning for one of the greatest Presidents that ever lived. There is no doubt Abraham Lincoln was an accomplished person, so how did one man leave such a legacy and mark on the United States of America? Although he was a great man, Abraham Lincoln did not just come out of his mother’s womb and suddenly know what he wanted to do in life. Like most humans, it can take months, years, or even decades for one’s beliefs and ideals to form. How we choose what we like and do not like does not occur randomly, but through people and events that leave a great impression and influence on us. Abraham Lincoln's greatest influences in his life...
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...Abraham Lincoln on the Challenge of Equality On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech disapproving the Kansas-Nebraska Act at Peoria, Illinois. He believed that it was too modified and that it went against the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase. Lincoln had said earlier, “For although volume upon volume is written to prove slavery a very good thing, we never hear of the man who wishes to take the good of it, by being a slave himself” (Mason/Baker, 436). The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the territories popular sovereignty, the direct opposite of the previous decision. “I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world; enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us as hypocrites; causes the real friends of freedom to doubt our sincerity; and especially because it forces so many good men among ourselves into an open war with the very fundamental principles of civil liberty, criticizing the Declaration of Independence, and insisting that there is no right principle of action but self-interest” (Mason/Baker, 463). In 1854, Abraham Lincoln protested that both blacks and whites had the same right to enslave each other and neither had more superiority. He used a theory to prove all of the whites' reasons for slavery were incorrect and could be turned around to enslave them. "You say A. is white, and B is black. It is color, then; the lighter...
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...into the back Lincoln’s head. Rathbone had immediately rushed at him, however, Booth stabbed him in the shoulder after shooting Lincoln and leaped off of the high balcony shouting, “Sic semper tyrannis!” (“Thus ever to tyrants!”-which was the Virginia state motto)....
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...INVESTIGATIVE TEAM MEETING 1 WAS SLAVERY THE PRIMARY CAUSE OF THE CIVIL WAR? During the nineteenth century, slavery was the leading cause of the Civil War, due to differing views on this subject between the Northern and Southern states. The whole debate on slavery began during the Lincoln-Douglas Debate time period when Lincoln and Douglas debated on the Kansas-Nebraska Act stating that the state could choose for themselves the position their state was in for slavery. However, he was countered on his opinion when the Dred-Scott Decision passed through court that denied African American rights to be a citizen. This divided the country into further political parties which included Radical Abolitionists and “Fire-Eaters”, two extreme groups that fought for their beliefs on slavery. These political parties drove citizens to form strong beliefs and therefore split the country into two sides – the North and the South, the Free and the Slaves States, and the Republicans and the Democrats. INVESTIGATIVE TEAM MEETING 2 DOES LINCOLN DESERVE TO BE CALLED THE “GREAT EMANCIPATOR?”...
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...Unfortunately, in 1865, the United States was struck with a tragedy to the nation, which was Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. He was an outstanding president, a great man, and could not be replaced. However, now he needed to be replaced because the country needed to be ran and the next in line was Lincoln’s vice president, Andrew Johnson. He was forced into a leading position during one of the nation’s most difficult times, the Reconstruction period after the Civil War, and received a lot of attention, mostly negative. Many suspected him of being very biased towards the South and this ultimately lead to a lot of conflict between Johnson and Congress. The Republicans of Congress at the time, mostly the Radicals, wanted to remove Johnson from office as soon as possible for a number of reasons. First, his plan for reconstruction after the Civil War was much too lenient towards the South. Johnson’s “laid back” plan gave many opportunities for Southern states to move around the rules because none of his terms were even requirements. States chose not to follow his...
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...Post Civil War Growing Pains 1865 to 1900 Robert Ryals Contemporary U.S. History Professor Terry Hammons October 23rd 2012 Abstract This paper is going to incorporate the key elements that contributed to the early revolution within American History. We are going to discuss the Presidential and the Congressional Reconstruction which occurred between 1865 to 1867, and how it laid the foundation to the dramatic changes of governmental ordinances and political ethics. Following that, we will discuss the ratification of the 15th amendment, enactment of the “Jim Crow” laws, Civil Rights Act, Wounded Knee, and the Spanish American War. This essay will attempt to illustrate the events that wrought change to the Americas, the key fueling factors in the momentum of change. The Presidential Reconstruction began with Andrew Johnson’s impeachment. Johnson possessed a background that mirrored Abraham Lincoln’s. Johnson was raised in poverty, which fueled his drive for prosperity and aided in his development into a businessman. Johnson was also a very qualified candidate for the presidency and boasted a politically accomplished resume.(Jenkins, 2003) Unfortunately, Johnson’s extreme disdain for the slavery lead to his demise, this was often translated into the belief that his plans for American restoration and reconstruction would be extremely detrimental to southerners, even worse then Abraham Lincoln’s plans...
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...important and influential figures in American history is too long and numerous to list. Yet there is always one name, one man who stands above all the rest. Abraham Lincoln has come to define the American experience. His beginnings as a poor farmer in Kentucky to his rise in politics to his Presidency, his story fascinates everyone who reads and studies it. Abraham Lincoln is the epitome of what America is. He is Americas most cherished and beloved President and he may be the most well known American President in the world. Despite all the praise bestowed upon Abraham Lincoln there are those who do not buy into the ‘official’ Lincoln legacy. A small, but growing group of Lincoln detractors claim that Lincoln was not the father of freedom and liberty, the great emancipator and the savior of the union; they see Lincoln as a diabolical dictator. A man who took advantage of America in its darkest hour, a man who had no respect for the Constitution, he instead sought to destroy and undermine it every chance he got. Abraham Lincoln was President during America’s darkest hour; he saved the union and kept the country together. Lincoln was justified in the actions he took, despite attempts to paint Lincoln as a tyrannical dictator there is no question that Lincoln’s status as America’s greatest President is deserved and true. During his Presidency Lincoln met fierce opposition. This is not uncommon among Presidents; they are commonly held in higher regard after they leave office than when...
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...Abraham Lincoln Through the course of American history there are names that stand out, names that represent more than just a person, but represent an era in American history. The list of important and influential figures in American history is too long and numerous to list. Yet there is always one name, one man who stands above all the rest. Abraham Lincoln has come to define the American experience. His beginnings as a poor farmer in Kentucky to his rise in politics to his Presidency, his story fascinates everyone who reads and studies it. Abraham Lincoln is the epitome of what America is. He is Americas most cherished and beloved President and he may be the most well-known American President in the world. Despite all the praise bestowed upon Abraham Lincoln there are those who do not buy into the ‘official’ Lincoln legacy. A small, but growing group of Lincoln detractors claim that Lincoln was not the father of freedom and liberty, the great emancipator and the savior of the union; they see Lincoln as a diabolical dictator. A man who took advantage of America in its darkest hour, a man who had no respect for the Constitution, he instead sought to destroy and undermine it every chance he got. Abraham Lincoln was President during America’s darkest hour; he saved the union and kept the country together. Lincoln was justified in the actions he took, despite attempts to paint Lincoln as a tyrannical dictator there is no question that Lincoln’s status as America’s greatest President...
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... "From a genuine abolition point of view, Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy, cold, dull and indifferent, but measuring him by the sentiment of his country - a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to discuss - he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined." Frederick Douglass, 1876 source? 1. INTRODUCTION He survived the tragedy and depression to become America's Greatest President. He had the courage to destroy slavery, but he took a Civil War and the loss of 600,000 lives; his beliefs cost him his life, but without him the United States of America would not exist today. Abraham Lincoln, America's model hero, was a man whose courage saved the nation from destruction. His early life was poor and brutal; he was born on the 12th of February 1809 in a one room cabin in rural Kentucky, a frontier state of America. His family were farmers, he was the first of his family to read; Abraham Lincoln was different to from his friends. The young Lincoln was a child of induce curiosity, he loved to hear people, gave well crafted, well delivered speeches. He would often go to places where such speeches were being made; he memorized parts of them and he would come back and give those speeches to his playmates. It was in Lincoln's nature to embrace new experiences and when he was nineteen he had the opportunity to travel 1200 miles down the Mississippi river. It was a journey that will change his outlook of life forever. He was confronted with the realities of slavery;...
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...Reconstruction and Race Relations XXXXXXXX Professor XXXXXX Contemporary U.S. History October 17, 2013 Reconstruction and Race Relations The Civil War consisted of several events during the Reconstruction period. Many complications occurred between white Americans and black people as the struggle for equality began. Prior to the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The Wade-Davis Bill was proposed by Congress to counter Lincoln’s 10 percent rule for support. The Wade-Davis Bill suggested that 51 percent of voters pledge support to the United States before being accepted back into the Union. Lincoln pocket-vetoed this bill in order to prevent it from becoming law (Reconstruction Following the Civil War, 1999). The ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 abolished slavery in the South (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). The Freedmen’s Bureau was established in 1865 by congress during the Reconstruction period and was designed to manage new schools, provide food and healthcare to the new freed African Americans. Led by Major General Oliver O. Howard, The Bureau’s most notable achievement was the establishment of education by building more than 1,000 black schools and expending over $400,000 on establishing teacher-training institutions. The greatest failure was the disbursement of abandoned lands to the freed slaves. The south was determined to make the transition to freedom very difficult for the...
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...Alex McKirgan DATE \@ "d MMMM y" 17 December 2014 Is Lincoln deserving of the title “Great Emancipator” In 1863, Abraham Lincoln passed both Emancipation Proclamations in Congress which saw the abolition of slavery. Many would refer to Lincoln as the “Great Emancipator” because of his role in the passing of such a profound bill and a common belief by many is that Lincoln was in favour of the abolition of slavery right from the beginning. However, there is much evidence to show that Lincoln was not opposed to slavery given his his support for the Crittenden Doctrine, which restricted the ability for Congress to ever intervene with slavery. In addition to this, Lincoln was paralysed as President as any substantive opposition to Slavery could see another wave of secession of the border and Southern states. Lincoln was not the only factor which lead to the Emancipation Proclamation being passed. There was the role of Congress in allowing the bill to pass and the role of the slaves themselves for making the abolition of Slavery a Union war aim. This essay will explore the roles played by these three factors and then deduce whether Lincoln is deserving of this title. It can be argued by many that the main reason why the thirteenth amendment was passed was because of the role of the slaves at the time. The civil war created a chaotic scene across the border and Southern states which allowed many slaves to flee to the North as refugees. Despite Northern racism and bigotry...
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...• Robert Livingston • War of 1812- Military conflict between US and Britain following revolution about unresolved issues: trade restrictions, etc. • Tecumseh- Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy; opposed US in war of 1812. • John Quincy Adams- sixth president; whig. • Empire of Liberty- theme developed first by Thomas Jefferson to identify America's world responsibility to spread freedom across the globe. Jefferson saw America's mission in terms of setting an example, expansion into the west, and by intervention abroad. • Transportation Revolution- early 1800s, development of steamboats, canals, and railroads. Faster transport of people, products, and knowledge. • National Road- First major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. Connection between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and a gateway to the West for thousands of settlers. • Communication Revolution- Samuel Morse invented telegraph. • The Market Revolution- improvements in how goods were processed and fabricated as well as by a transformation of how labor was organized to process trade goods for consumption. • Porkopolis- Cincinnati was the country's chief hog packing center, and herds of pigs traveled the streets. • Labor theory of value- The value of a commodity is only related to the labor needed to produce or obtain that commodity and not to other factors of production • Second Party System- 2 party system • Democrats-...
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