The American Civil War

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The U.S History
Introduction
The American Civil War
The American Civil War was one of the costliest wars in the history of the world. The war that occurred after a sectional conflict arose in the United States of America led to the death of many people. The war occurred after a section of 11 Southern states declared their secession from the American union forming the Confederate States of America. This was after the election of Abraham Lincoln as the president of the United States of America in 1860 (Hardesty, Book 4: Sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction (1837 - 1877), para 2). The war originated due to complexity in issues that were related to slavery, politics, disagreements that arose due to differences in views over the scope of the states rights versus the federal power, sectionalism, mob wars, economics, modernization and the competing nationalism of the Antebellum period. This essay needed the student to choose one of the 19th century historical figures in the American history from a given list. The essay will thus discuss the contribution of Abraham Lincoln to the 19th century American history. Focus will be on his contribution to sectionalism that had dominated the American landscape that lead to the civil war. His specific accomplishments that directly or indirectly impacted to the sectionalism will be discussed also. The purpose of his accomplishments on whether he aimed to alleviate the crisis or exacerbate the crisis will also be revisited.
Sectionalism
Sectionalism refers to the excessive concern that one has for the interests of a certain section, a certain group or area to the disadvantage of the whole. Before the occurrence of the civil war, there was a change in the political power within the federal government. The northern and mid western states were becoming more powerful than the southern as their population density continued to increase (Donald and Randall, “Sectionalism wedges of separation in the civil war” para 2). The southern states of the country began to lose their political powers due to low population increase in the region. The differential growth of the states in terms of political power thus led to sectionalism which included; the west, Midwest, South and Northeast. This thus led to sectionalism. The southern states saw the need for their freedom from the whole federal authority thus they started to petition for their self independence. This thus led to conflicts starting from the congress to the grounds thus leading to the civil war (Hardesty, SCWR, para 10).
Abraham Lincoln and Sectionalism
Abraham Lincoln was a key figure in the sectionalism and the occurrence of the American civil war. He played key roles in the sectionalism era.
One of his major achievements was in his anti-slavery advocacy. Slavery in America remained a significant injustice of age from the 1700s to the 1800s. The southern states of the nation were the most notorious in slavery. These southern states and the western territories depended on slave labor for economic growth. Majority of the Americans especially those who believed in Judeo-Christian principles of which Abraham Lincoln was one of them found slavery as inhuman and against the social morals thus were against it (Hardesty, SCWR, para 18).The resistance to the slavery was a very big issue since most of the states that benefited in the slavery were against the anti-slavery movements. Abraham Lincoln was always in the front row in the advocacy for the abolishment of the slave trade and slavery. Since slavery formed the economic base of the southern states, calls for its abolition led to the separation of the southern states from the union. This thus led to the sectionalism. The southern states formed the confederate states of America. The calls for the end of slavery by Abraham Lincoln were as a way of deliberating the slaves from the inhuman treatment that they got as slaves. Though this led to sectionalism, it was not a major intention for Abraham Lincoln (Hardesty, SCWR, paras 21& 22).
Liberty, work and justice were the central concepts of concern to Lincoln. He fought to liberate the black slaves from slavery, for good work terms and justice for them. Despite his sentiments, Lincoln’s opposition to slavery received all the difficulties due to the laws that existed in the United States of America. He did not believe that the law that existed those times could liberate the slaves and end slavery. Thus, he based his anti slavery views on the declaration of independence and not on the constitution. Lincoln’s interpretation of the constitutional roles allowed him to act during the Civil war. Since he had been elected as the president and he was very much opposed to the slavery, he signed the emancipation proclamation that sought to free all the slaves especially those in the southern states. This emancipation received all the criticisms from the political class in the southern since they saw it as a way of kicking their economic base. This exacerbated the sectionalism since it denied the southern states their calls for self determination and thus the war continued (Browne, “The every-day life of Abraham Lincoln: A narrative and descriptive biography with pen-pictures and personal recollections by those who knew him” p 45).
Lincoln was always sensitive to the loyalty of the Border States and the attitudes that these states had towards his nation. Since these Border States were positioned in points that were economically viable to the United States such as rivers and rail networks, Lincoln always saw the need for the union to control these states. This thus made him omit some sections of the proclamation which had provisions for the independence of these states since it meant that all the control that the union had in these states and the rich resources that the union controlled in these Border States would be lost. He did not seek to reveal all the contents of the proclamation since it contained the notorious fugitive slave Ac...