Hesitant Emancipator- Lincoln
BU
WR 150
Paper 3 The Hesitant Emancipator Never boring: simple words that describe the simple life of one of the greatest American Heroes of all time. Over the years we have come to understand the Great Emancipator’s struggles and his determination to push for a better future for his nation. In the blink of war, Lincoln came to the nation’s rescue. But was Lincoln really the Great Emancipator? Was Lincoln actually opposed to the slavery movement? Or did he not consider the blacks to be an equal race? Did he make an active effort to free the slaves? Or was the emancipation a never Lincoln’s priority? In my opinion, although freeing the slaves was never Lincoln’s top priority during his tenure as president, Lincoln was sympathetic towards them. His main issue was the war and the probability of the union getting split into two. I believe that Lincoln may not have always seen the black race as equals and that the emancipation came about as a by-product of the Union getting saved.
In this essay, I came across a large number of sources. Many of which were directly related to my topic, which left me with a lot of information to process and a large number of examples to prove the point I wished to prove. My selections of sources reflect the examples that I chose to use, and help me establish clear points.
My view of Lincoln has always been that of a strong and wise statesman. His arguments have been fair and logical and they reflect his intellectual nature. Scholar David Lightner writes about Lincoln’s intellectual attributes his work, ‘Abraham Lincoln and Equality, which is mentioned in the Journal of the Historic Society of Illinois. Lightner mentions in his journal that Lincoln was “far more enlightened that commonly supposed” [9]. This supports my claim of Lincoln’s rather logical take on issues of his time. This logicality of Lincoln’s thoughts is even more evident in his note, ‘Fragments of Slavery’. Here, Lincoln breaks down the entire
WR 150
Paper 3 The Hesitant Emancipator Never boring: simple words that describe the simple life of one of the greatest American Heroes of all time. Over the years we have come to understand the Great Emancipator’s struggles and his determination to push for a better future for his nation. In the blink of war, Lincoln came to the nation’s rescue. But was Lincoln really the Great Emancipator? Was Lincoln actually opposed to the slavery movement? Or did he not consider the blacks to be an equal race? Did he make an active effort to free the slaves? Or was the emancipation a never Lincoln’s priority? In my opinion, although freeing the slaves was never Lincoln’s top priority during his tenure as president, Lincoln was sympathetic towards them. His main issue was the war and the probability of the union getting split into two. I believe that Lincoln may not have always seen the black race as equals and that the emancipation came about as a by-product of the Union getting saved.
In this essay, I came across a large number of sources. Many of which were directly related to my topic, which left me with a lot of information to process and a large number of examples to prove the point I wished to prove. My selections of sources reflect the examples that I chose to use, and help me establish clear points.
My view of Lincoln has always been that of a strong and wise statesman. His arguments have been fair and logical and they reflect his intellectual nature. Scholar David Lightner writes about Lincoln’s intellectual attributes his work, ‘Abraham Lincoln and Equality, which is mentioned in the Journal of the Historic Society of Illinois. Lightner mentions in his journal that Lincoln was “far more enlightened that commonly supposed” [9]. This supports my claim of Lincoln’s rather logical take on issues of his time. This logicality of Lincoln’s thoughts is even more evident in his note, ‘Fragments of Slavery’. Here, Lincoln breaks down the entire
Cited: [1] Lincoln, Abraham. Fragments on Slavery. Selected Speeches and Writings. 1854? Library of America Paperback Classics [2] Lincoln, Abraham [3] Lincoln, Abraham. First Inaugural Address. Selected Speeches and Writings. 1861 Library of America Paperback Classics [4] Lincoln, Abraham [5] Stauffer, John. Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass & Abraham Lincoln (Warner Books, 2008) [6] Lincoln, Abraham [7] Lincoln, Abraham. Address at Gettysburg. Selected Speeches and Writings. 1863. [8] Belz, Herman [9] Lightner, David. “Abraham Lincoln and the Ideal of Equality.” Journal of the Historical Society of Illinois, Volume 1-77, 1908-1984. University of Illinois Press [10] Paludan, Phillip Shaw [11] Lincoln, Abraham. Letter to Joshua Speed. Selected Speeches and Writings. 1855 Library of America Paperback Classics [12] Lincoln, Abraham