Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was committed to ending slavery as well as preserving the Union. In his first year in office, President Abraham Lincoln had stubbornly rejected the idea of abolishing slavery. But by 1862 he recognized that the best path to preserving the Union was by freeing the slaves. The Emancipation Proclamation played a central role in achieving this goal. It was the most revolutionary pronouncement ever signed by an American president, impacting four million black slaves and setting the nation's face toward the total abolition of slavery within three more years.

Lincoln believed that if he could prevent the expansion of slavery into the federal territories and prevail upon state legislatures to accept gradual, compensated emancipation, he could shrink slavery, making it uneconomical and place it back on the road to extinction. The outbreak of war derailed the original version of his grand scheme, but even after the war began, Lincoln believed that if he could convince the legislatures of the loyal slave states to agree to compensate emancipation, he could end the rebellion, restore the Union, and begin the end of slavery.

In Document A, Abraham Lincoln recommended the adoption of a joint resolution by Congress. He wanted the complete cooperation from the United States to any state who wanted to adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery. The U.S would provide pecuniary, financial aid to compensate for the change of the system. Lincoln used this tactic to free the slaves as well as preserve the Union, offering them financial freedom in hopes of changing their forced labor system.

In Lincoln's 10 sentence, 272 word Gettysburg Address, Document C, he captured the American essence of the Civil War. He asserts his position regarding slavery; that all men are created equal. Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality drawn by the Declaration of Independence, and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as a "a new birth of freedom" that would bring equality to all citizens.

In the Second Inaugural Address, Document G, Abraham Lincoln delivers a meditation on the origin of the War, its cost in human life, its origin in the institution of slavery, and a call to forbearance and charity. In this particular excerpt Lincoln's seems to spell out the claims made by the Union and