Abraham Lincoln

1 Abraham Lincoln is without a doubt, one of the most important persons in American history, and has even been labeled as “the greatest American of all time” by a number of historians and laymen. To America, Lincoln was much more than a president, he was also the man that led the nation through one of their greatest crisis of all time; “The Civil War”.

2 Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in Kentchuky, and later on moved with his family to Knob Creek. This was followed by yet another relocation, to the backwoods of Indiana, five years later. During his childhood, Lincoln experienced the remorse of taking another beings life, as he shot a wild turkey in a hunting game, and never attended in such an event again. At an age of seven, this gives us a good impression of what kind of a person Lincoln was growing in to. At an age of twenty-eight, Lincoln moved to Springfield Illinois, to work as a lawyer. He soon won a good reputation, and went by the nickname “Honest Abe”: Lincoln served justice. Throughout his life, Lincoln showed a great compassion for all human beings, and was, in the latter part of his life, known as “the Great Emancipator”. How he earned this title, is a story I will tell later in the text.

3 With a background of law practise and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Lincoln was nominated to be the candidate for President of the United States in 1860. He took the presidency with 39% of the vote, and ventured, without knowing it, in to one of America’s greatest crisis in history, with himself leading the nation.

4 "Oh, well, I guess we'll manage to keep the house." This was Lincoln’s reaction when roumers that the South was preparing for war, reached his ears. If this was because he did not fear the Southerns, or because war already was expected by the majority of the nation, is hard to tell, but I choose to believe both of these reasons to be right. Lincoln already knew about the risk of Civil War when he accepted presidency, which was made clear through his speach as he left Springfield for Washington, D. C, three months after he was elected: “I go to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved on General Washington”. With this we also get to know that Lincoln did not take The South lightely as a foe, but fear and acknowledgement is two different issues.

5 The South had already, before the president ellection, vowed not to accept a possible Republican president, and as Lincon made this possibility a reality, South Carolina, followed by six other Southern states, answered by seceding from the U.S. and forming the Confederate States of America. At that moment Lincon’s main goal in the Civil War was brought to life: Preserving the Union.

6 The seven Southern states that seceded from the Union, had their reasons for doing what they did. A majority of the South where of the opinion that slave labor was necessary for the nation's progress, and with Lincoln as the American president, they feared for the future of slavery. Lincoln had already in a speach, in 1854, made it clear what he felt about slavery. He said: “Slavery is founded on the selfishness of man’s nature”, and once again uttered his feelings in a speech in 1858: "All I ask for the Negro is that if you do not like him, let him alone.”. There is no wonder why the Southern states feared Lincoln as a president, but as the Civil War was commencing, he soon made it clear, that slavery was not the issue he was fighting for.

7 "My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery.” This was Lincoln’s own words in a public letter to the editor of the leading newspaper New York Tribune; Horace Greeley. Even though Lincoln meant what he said, slavery was in fact, an important factor in the war, and Lincoln knew this too. He knew the Union could not last with tension between the North and South caused by slavery. “I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” These words from Lincoln’s “A House Divided Speech” in 1858, reflected on the difficulties and confusion that were a result of the slave- and freestates. There was an endless fight whenever a territory was to join the U.S as a state: Would slavery be legal or not? The idea was to have as many slavestates as freestates, but this proved hard, and the Missoury Compromise is an evidence of this. Lincoln was not fighting against slavery, but to preserve the Union, something had to be done.

8 Yes, something had to be done, and Lincoln did it, killing more than two birds with one stone. Waiting for the Union to have the