Abraham Lincoln's A Nation At War

Words: 1746
Pages: 7
Open Document
A Nation at War
“A house divided against itself cannot stand. “ (Abraham Lincoln) After decades of disagreement and division, the southern states couldn’t take any more. The South split off and formed a Confederacy with their own president and fought for their independence. Both sides of the nation fought for 3-4 years, after the many years of fighting both had enough conflict and war. The country finally joined together again in 1865. After the newly found country settled down conflict arose in the peaceful looking nation. The war between the North and South over slavery and religious divisions, both annihilated and created a better country.
A common misconception about the Civil War, is that the north went to war to end slavery. “They wanted …show more content…
“... the idea that this was a war, not just to bring the nation back together, but it was a war to end slavery, to bring equality to black people, and to make them part of American society.”(Yancey 41) This quote focuses more on the part of the war that wanted blacks to be a part of society. Although slaves wanted acceptance, they weren’t able to speak out until after the war. America had been suffering from disagreements for years, when Abraham Lincoln became president the nation spit because they feared man and the law they control over people. “Although the freedom that the Emancipation Proclamation symbolized was generations away, progress toward racial equality through the next century was built on the foundation laid by black and white abolitionists and soldiers and sailors fighting for the expansion of that vision of liberty that had called the nation into existence almost a hundred years before its Civil War.” (Noonan 189) The war did reduce slavery quite a bit, but it didn’t get rid of it utterly and completely. While the war was going, even before the war started, slaves were known to escape to the north looking for freedom. Even after millions of attempts and hundreds of thousands of slaves that were freed during this time, it still took the nation years until slavery was completely abolished and racial equality was in effect. Even though a reason the war started was to end slavery, it didn’t get …show more content…
“At the onset of the Civil War, free black men rushed to volunteer for service with the Union forces. Although African Americans had served in the army … they were not permitted to enlist because of a 1792 law that barred them from bearing arms in the U.S. Army. Free black men were finally permitted to enlist late in 1862…” (“African Americans in the Civil War”) Slavery was a bigger part of the civil war, more than people think. The war wasn’t just to end slavery, though there have been many other reasons the war started. Many slaves who were in the south looked towards the north for freedom. Free slaves in the north wanted to serve in the war and help fight for the union, but lots were not able to serve but helped in other ways. “The South refused to arm blacks but used them to build fortifications and perform camp duties; many Northern officers refused to believe black troops would fight, and so they were often assigned
Show More

Related Documents: Abraham Lincoln's A Nation At War

Abraham Lincoln Essay examples

Abraham Lincoln’s Effect on Our Nation Throughout American history, there have been many prestigious people including Abraham Lincoln in particular. He defined the American experience and what it meant to be a free American with his actions. Lincoln grew up poor, however, through hard work and dedication he rose to the nation’s highest office. Some groups though believed that Abraham Lincoln was not the father of freedom. They believed he was becoming a dictator and took advantage of America in…

Words 1304 - Pages 6

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis Essay

Abraham Lincoln, although often revered as a common man, displays excellent rhetorical skill in his Second Inaugural Address in 1865. When approaching this speech he faced the challenging task of addressing the nation after one of its bloodiest and most damaging wars in its history. Lincoln’s use of rhetorical strategies such as tone, juxtaposition, and Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals help to make his concise address into a tool that enabled America to join as one once again after the grueling…

Words 821 - Pages 4

Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

the, “Second Inaugural Address”, author Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States, asserts that he hopes that the citizens of America will unify which suggests that this will create an end between the North and South disagreement, leading to the end of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln backs up this claim by the following: first, Lincoln uses repetition to present the topic clearly; next, and finally, he uses God to state how the unification of the nation will occur. Lincoln appears to write…

Words 658 - Pages 3

Harriet Tubman Obstacles

their 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, which caused them to question the corruptibility of their government. In addition to the sudden tragedy, Americans also endured the courage and determination of Harriet Tubman, who gave a sense of right and equality for everyone. Lastly, Americans were introduced to the illuminating invention of the incandescent light bulb which advanced the movement of modernization ("Division, Reconciliation, and Expansion: Literature of the Civil War and Frontier, 1850-1914"…

Words 1606 - Pages 7

Gettysburg Address Parallelism

Critical Analysis of the Gettysburg Address Abraham Lincoln was one of our nation’s greatest presidents to date; having delivered more than ten speeches in his time as president. One of his most influential speeches and shortest to date is the Gettysburg Address. He moved a nation with just ten sentences and a total of 272 words that would resonate throughout history. In order to grasp the full meaning of this speech and what type of speech it was we have to remember that the Gettysburg Address was…

Words 1044 - Pages 5

Abraham Lincoln's Assassination Research Paper

Abraham Lincoln's assassination On the day of April 15, 1865, at 7:22 a.m., President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. You might wonder why Booth wanted to kill him and what if he had not killed what would have been if that event had happened. Well, I'm going to tell you why and what if this event never happened. First John Wilkes Booth life.Booths was born on may/10/1836 into a prominent family of actors.He became a famous actor known for his dramatic roles on the American…

Words 298 - Pages 2

How Did Reconstruction Achieve Its Goals

Reconstruction was the time period after the Civil War. This is the time period which the United States began to build and bring unity to the the north and south politically and economically. Reconstruction also took place to rebuild the south completely both physically and economically. Ideals were also was in the process of reconstruction for example, the idea that everyone no matter what race was seen as an equal. Reconstruction did not achieve its goals as easily and most likely drove the north…

Words 488 - Pages 2

2009 Lincoln Supplement Lesson Essay

LINCOLN SUPPLEMENTAL LESSON ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809–1865) Sixteenth president of the United States. Photographed by Alexander Gardner at Washington, D.C., on November 8, 1863, eleven days before delivering the Gettysburg Address. (Photograph with oil paint colorization.) ▼ WHAT WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S LEGACY TO AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM AND CITIZENSHIP? The two hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 1809, provides an occasion for teaching and learning about this great…

Words 4701 - Pages 19

Essay on Lincoln's Efforts to Preserve the Union

Lincoln’s efforts to preserve the Union To what extent did Lincoln’s economic, military, and political policies from 1861 to 1865 contribute to the preservation of the Union? Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. As a president of the United States, Lincoln’s goal was to keep the Union together. The problem of slavery and the secession by the South are mainly the two issues that lead to the dissolve of the Union, in which Lincoln put all his efforts to deal with during his presidency…

Words 1383 - Pages 6

Abraham Lincoln Bystander Or Strategist Essay Final Draft

Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most influential politicians and certainly one of the best writers in American politics. Nonetheless, his carefully crafted language in works like The Gettysburg Address, his First and Second Inaugural Addresses, the Emancipation Proclamation, and his many public and private letters has been the target of both deferential praise and harsh criticism. Mark E. Neely Jr., Lincoln scholar and Pulitzer Prize winning historian, is the author of The Last Best Hope…

Words 2419 - Pages 10