Ahmed III Leoncio Alkamel D. Abella

Professor Rory Duffy

USSO 101

12/04/2019

 

THE US President

 

The United States started on July 4, 2019 when the thirteen colonies agreed to the Declaration of Independence, this was the time where America was free from their oppressors and had a fresh start. There are 44 Presidents that have served the country, these presidents may or may not have been the best for the country but have done the best that they could. Each president has their unique achievements and wrong doings. This essay will focus on who is the best president that ever governed the United States, because of what he did. This essay will also inform the readers on how he has been able to do these things.

 

 

The 16th President Abraham Lincoln was a statesman and a lawyer. Abraham Lincoln have served this country for nearly 6 years from February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865. Lincoln’s political career began when he was elected to the state legislature as a member of the Whig Party on 1834. It was by this time when he decided to become a lawyer, as he was self-studying the law by reading the book William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. After being he moved to Springfield, Illinois, he began to practice in John T. Stuart law firm. Lincoln made a good living in his early years as a lawyer, as he found out that Springfield alone didn’t offer enough work to support hit income, he followed the court as it made it rounds on the circuit to the various county seats in Illinois. Lincoln was married to Marry Todd on November 4, 1842. Todd was a high spirited, well-educated woman from a distinguished Kentucky family. The couple had four sons Robert Todd, Edward Baker, William Wallace and Thomas, Only Robert Todd survived adulthood since his brothers died from different kinds of illness. When Lincoln was assassinated his son, Robert Todd was a witness. Lincoln died when the country needed him the most, it was the greatest task of reunifying the nation again. But his eloquent support of democracy and insistence that Union was worth saving embody the ideals of self-government that all nations strive to achieve. (Snee) As Lincoln’s distinctively humane personality and incredible impact on the nation gave endowed him with an enduring legacy.

 

Abraham Lincoln decided to challenge the sitting U.S Senator Stephen Douglas for his Seat. In his nomination acceptance speech, Lincoln Criticized Douglas, the supreme court and president James Buchanan for promoting slavery and declared “a house divided cannot stand.” These words alone showed the people on how Lincoln was trying to combine the country together again as he foreshadows all the plans he’s working on. In 1860, with his newly enhanced political power and profile, Lincolns presidency campaign was supported by Illinois political operatives, throughout these campaigns he eventually surpassed the other candidates who was also running for president. Lincolns nomination was due in parts to his views on slavery, his support for improving the nations infrastructure and the tariffs. Lincoln won the election by carrying 180 of 303 electoral college votes.

 

As he also wants to Abolish Slavery since the Southern states are against this idea, since they want slavery to continue for their businesses. Abraham Lincoln as he is a member of the Illinois state legislature in 1834, Lincoln supported the Whig Politics—were a political faction, and later became a political party in the parliaments of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland and the UK. This was between the 1680’s and 1850’s, as they contested power with their rivals, the Tories. The origin of the Whig’s lay in the constitutional monarchism and opposition of absolute monarchy. – of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. People might say that, his political understanding would lead him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as bad moral, but as an impediment to economic development. But In 1854, the congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which would repeal the Missouri Compromise, allowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery. As the law would provoke any violent opposition in Kansas and Illinois, which gave rise to the Republican Party. As these actions would awaken the political zeal of Abraham Lincoln once again, and his views on slavery will be moved toward moral indignation, hence he joined the Republican Party in 1856 to abolish slavery. In 1857, the Supreme Court issued its controversial Dred Scott decision, declaring African Americans were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Though Lincoln felt African Americans were not equal to whites, he believed America’s founders intended that all men were created with certain inalienable rights.

 

 

Right before Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration in March 1861, the seven Southern States had seceded from the Union, and by April the U.S. military installation Fort Sumter was under siege in Charles Harbor, South Carolina.

April 12, 1861, where the guns at the harbor blazed toward the fort was signaling to start of the United States Civil War, this war was the bloodiest war that America was in. The United States lost more lives than the first and the second world war combined. At this crisis Lincoln responded by distributing $2 million from the Treasury for war material without an appropriation from the Congress, this move was to show his power that he is serious on this current situation. He also suspended the writ of habeas corpus —The U.S. Constitution specifically includes the habeas procedure in the Suspension Clause (Clause 2), located in Article One, Section 9. This states that “The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it”. – (Wikipedia) arresting and imprisoning suspected Confederate States sympathizers without warrant. As this shows how serious he was on merging the country together again, by defeating the confederate state.

 

 

On January 1, 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation was issued by the 16^th President Abraham Lincoln as the nation approached its third year of bloody Civil War. The Proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and hence forward shall be free”. Although the nations slavery did not end when the Emancipation Proclamation, these words captured the hearts and imagination of the country, thus it made a huge difference and transformed the character of the civil war. After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued every advanced federal troops expanded the domain of freedom. Furthermore, Black men were accepted into the Union Army and Navy, enabling to be the liberators. Throughout the civil war, there are almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors that fought for the Union and for their freedom. Because of the proclamation emancipation slaves on the south had acted to secure their own liberty. Their support would add moral support to the Union, and it would strengthen them since they know they are fighting for freedom. As these was a huge milestone along the slavery’s final abolishment, the slaves assured their freedom because of the Emancipation Proclamation.

As the Civil War ended after the great effort that the Union has made, these was possible because of Lincolns plans, which gradually improved the norths war effort, hence winning the war. Lincoln was convinced that he’s going to be a one term president, but the former confederate commander challenged him for the presidency, but the election was won with a landslide with 212 of 243 Electoral Votes. Thus, the Reconstruction has started during the civil war as early as 1863 in areas where the Union has fully control over, but as these plans were good Lincoln can’t continue to govern it since he was assassinated before a political debate had a chance to develop.

 

In conclusion, President Abraham Lincoln may not be a prefect president, he sure was the best President by far. As president Lincoln was the president the that combined the country together and ended slavery which was one of history’s worst events. All the plans that he had made were truly memorable as he gave everyone freedom and gave everyone a chance to live a better life. He gave people hope when they are being oppressed, He also made America What it is today since he kept the nation as a whole. This also contributed to which the America was beginning to become a mixed raced country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cited pages:

 

Snee, Brian J. “Saving the Emancipator.” Rhetoric and Public Affairs, vol. 18, no. 1, 2015, pp. 141–146. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/rhetpublaffa.18.1.0141.

 

McCandless, George T. “Money, Expectations, and the U.S. Civil War.” The American Economic Review, vol. 86, no. 3, 1996, pp. 661–671. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2118219.

 

6. N. “ABRAHAM LINCOLN.” The Journal of Education, vol. 47, no. 1 (1160), 1898, pp. 5–6. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44046955.

 

A&E Television Networks, Abraham Lincoln Biography. https://www.biography.com/us-president/abraham-lincoln

 

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln