American History Exam Question 3

Following the election of Abraham Lincoln, some of the southern states seceded from the Union.  Discuss the process of secession and the president’s reaction to this development.  Also, explain Lincoln’s position on slavery.  Considering the gradual nature of emancipation, was he justified in taking a cautious approach towards the abolition of slavery?  How did slavery eventually end in the United States?  Do you agree with McPherson’s claim that Lincoln freed the slaves?  Should educators and historians continue to venerate President Lincoln?

The election of 1860 led to many fateful events. In the months prior to the election, during the Douglass-Lincoln debates, Lincoln delivered one of his most famous speeches “ A House Divided”. In it he mentioned, “this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free”. This statement made southerners view Lincoln as a radical abolitionist despite assurances by Lincoln himself that he would support a constitutional amendment to preserve slavery in states where it already existed. But, southern states refused to believe him and he wasn’t even on the ballots in southern states. On Election Day, Abraham Lincoln received only 39.5 % of the popular votes. However, he won 180 Electoral College votes, 57 more than all the other opponents combined. Lincoln’s decisive win in the Electoral College demonstrated to southerners their minority status.

As a result of his victory, South Carolina legislature unanimously called and approved for secession in December of 1860. Within the next six weeks, 6 more southern states : Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida, Louisiana) seceded. These 7 states are known collectively as the Deep South. They decided to form an independent nation called the Confederate States of America. Northerners were relieved and mostly happy to let them depart while others like Senator Crittenden felt that an amendment should be passed that would promise no future restrictions on expansion of slavery. Eventually in 1861, four more states (Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee) seceded after shooting broke out at Fort Sumter in Charleston which soon led to all out war between the North and the South.

Although Lincoln had not yet been sworn in office, some of his reasons to oppose secession were:

1) Legal Precedent- If you let even one state go then others would follow. Bad example for the nation and set a bad precedent. Unconstitutional.

2) Slavery dilemma  – Since most of the states were in the Deep South and if they weren’t part of the Union then how could he abolish the institution

3) Belief in national destiny – Lincoln believed that if he let the nation secede then it would serve as an example of a democratic failure to the rest of the world. Solidarity created power and influence and secession tarnished the reputation and image of the U.S.

However, despite these oppositions he decided to do nothing until he was President mainly because 8 slaves states still remained in the Union at that time and any controversial statements could lead them to secede as well.

March 1861, in Lincoln’s inaugural address he delivered powerful words to the nation. “The Union was perpetual and secession was illegal”

A gradual nature of emancipation was necessary because Abraham Lincoln quickly recognized that no matter how many thousands of slaves came into Union lines, the ultimate fate of the millions who did not, as well as the fate of the institution of slavery itself, depended on the outcome of the war. Most of the slaves were in the southern states so declaring slavery abolished would not do much good. To that effect, Lincoln's chief was to first win the war, then abolish slavery.

To do this he considered it essential to define the war as being waged solely for Union, which united this coalition, and not a war against slavery, which would fragment it. Had it not been for Lincoln’s prudence and his steadfastness to save the Union and win the war, African American liberty could have been short-lived.

By July 1862, Lincoln to decided to use his powers as commander in chief to free all slaves in the states then at war with the U.S. He justified his policy by calling it a “military necessity”. However, he delayed the announcement on the advice of the Secretary of State to wait for a victory that came two months later at the Battle of Antietam.

Emancipation was achieved in three phases. In the first phase, Lincoln issued a Proclamation that slaves in all states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863 would be “forever free”. This excluded the 4 slave states loyal to the Union and was done on purpose as an incentive for the South to lay down their arms. However, they rejected this so in the second phase Lincoln enforced the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. However standing in the way of full emancipation were phrases in the U.S constitution that seemed to legitimize slaves. In the third phase, Lincoln realized that to free the slaves in the Border States a constitutional amendment was needed. With most southern states seceding from the Union, not many Democrats were left to oppose in Congress and the Thirteenth Amendment had enough votes to pass. By December 1865 (months after Lincoln’s assassination), this amendment abolishing slavery was ratified (3/4 states) stating, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude...shall exist within the United States”.