Role That Lincoln Played In Abolishing Slave Trade

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Role That Lincoln Played In Abolishing Slave Trade
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Role That Lincoln Played In Abolishing Slave Trade
Introduction
Statesmen are leaders who positively impact the community through their actions, and Lincoln did not fall short of this description. When he first campaigned for his bid for the presidency in 1861, slavery was widely practiced and many people who were pro slavery saw him as a threat to their way of life. Lincoln assured them that he will not abolish it. After his election, he started his long fight by declaring slavery illegal in places where it was not practiced. He had courage to rebuke the act by saying it is immoral and against human dignity. His partner said that Lincoln despised slavery, especially when he saw blacks being auctioned. His moral courage helped him fight slavery when he got a chance as he had earlier stated to his law partner William Herdon. In addition, Lincoln was able to unite the fragile country after the civil war by being forgiving and tough. He showed a great act of statecraft by pardoning people and army who asked forgiveness through their relatives. Moreover, the president had a great respect for the constitution and this acted as a guide in helping him liberate the blacks from slavery and this cemented his statesmanship character. Finally Lincoln humbleness also acted as a pillar in his fight for slavery. He grew under hardship and this made him to be sympathetic to people and is the attribute that guided him through his presidency term. He won the admiration and haters almost in the same measure, but he proved to be a great statesman.This study tries to show how Lincoln used his statesmanship and statecraft to liberate the blacks from slavery and how his idea has been used by other minority like gays to demand for their rights.[LR, "Literature review"]
Literature review
Leadership may be viewed by many as same as statesmanship, but they are entirely different. Although they share most of the attributes, but the statesman is always guided by the moral character. Statesman action is always guided urge to provide action that serves the best interest of the nation, but not on the basis of selfish motives. It is evident that statesmen are courageous and they always urge the fellow citizens to adopt what is worth living for. For example, Lincoln once stated that, "…. Malice toward none; with clarity for all". He was encouraging the nation to adopt what is right and abandon what is morally wrong. In addition, for statesmen be successful in the political field, they must possess wisdom that cannot be merely taught in class, but rather be gained through experience and a long apprenticeship.The impact of the statesmen should be long lived and appreciated by the generation to come. Lincoln contribution in fighting slavery is still celebrated and appreciated by the entire world. In addition, leaders like Anthony played a crucial role in liberating women to participate in the politics and social reform.[LR] [LR]
Abraham Lincoln first came to power in 1861 at a time when there was great tension between the southern and northern population. The northern people were industrialized and did not see the need of the slavery. On the other hand the southern population had big chunks of land and mainly depended on the slave for labor. The majority of the population in the southern side did not own the slaves, but they could loan them when need be. Before Lincoln rise to power most of the politics in the USA was controlled by southern population. His rise to power posed a lot of threat to the majority of the southern population because of his antislavery stand. In his campaign, he promised that he will not interfere with the way of life of people who practiced slavery, but on the other hand, he was against it spreading to other territories that never existed. For this reason the soother’s new soon or later the slaves will be abolished and this to the large extent contributed to the civil war between southern and northern. The southern wanted secession from the Northern so they can continue with their way of life. In order to avert the looming secession Lincoln signed a constitution to protect slavery in southern so that he can keep the country together. This was a great stand on Lincoln on coming to power because he was able to maintain the nation together in a time of need, and he waited for the right time to strike and abolish the slavery. His statesmanship is portrayed by his wisdom to have a good calculative move.[Terry, Newell. Statesmanship, Character, and Leadership in America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013." PDF files for book "Newell_Preface [ignore the chapter on Washington]", and "Newell_Chapter3Lincoln", and "Newell_Chapter8FosteringStatesmanshipinPublicLife, p.53] [Hopkins John " Abraham Lincoln and Slavery" retrieved February 18 2015, from http://abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/abraham-lincoln-in-depth/abraham-lincoln-and-slavery/] [Mackey, Thomas C. ""That All Mankind Should Be Free": Lincoln and African Americans." OAH Magazine of History 21, no. 4 (2007), p.24.] [Newell (2013, p.55)]
In 1965 he had achieved his long fight and he was about to sign into the constitution the freedmen bureau act that would abolish slavery in USA soil. He had conquered his critics at south, he had won the war and able to unite the nation at least three quarter of it, but he was faced with a task to unite all Americans, regardless of their stand and ensure that people live in harmony without any grudge whatsoever among his/her fellow citizens.[Joseph Fornieri, R. "Lincoln's Reflective Patriotism." Perspectives on Political Science 39, no. 2 (2010), p.108.] [Newell (2013, p.57)]
Lincoln was true statesman and this can attributed to his non-partisan, as a first step to unite Americans, he accepted a running mate that came from the southern part of America, Mr. Andrew Johnson, who was chosen independently by the convection without any influence from the president. In his inauguration speech he knew that he had to address all the issue that surrounded the country in order to build a prosperous nation. In his opening speech he regarded citizens as fellow countrymen this was meant to create an intimate connection with the people and at least earn their support. This was a great skill that Lincoln had in trying to build a nation that their citizens had affection and love among themselves. By addressing people as fellow countrymen he set an example that everybody should accept each other and try to rebuild their country together.
Lincoln was a tough leader and at the same time very forgiving. In his fourth and fifth paragraph he stated "with malice toward none; with clarity for all; with firmness in the right……." This was a clear indication that he was ready to build a country without having a grudge on any person, no matter the stand they had on the civil war. This was a character that he received from the almighty God being a forgiving man. He pardoned army and civilians who asked for forgiveness via their wife, mother or children. This move was criticized by some of his followers, but he stack to it and once her wife said that he was very firm on issues that he had made up his mind. In his letter to Louisiana he said that "I shall do nothing in malice. What I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing". Lincoln understood that due to losses and anger of the people, not only peace will make the county prosper, but also people doing things without any element of malice.[Newell (2013, p.65)]
Lincoln was humble, and his humility was contributed by his early life. He was raised in a poor background. In addition, his humility was enhanced by misfortune that he encountered in his life. For example, he lost his mother at the age of 9 years and his sister and brother before his 21st birthday. In later days he used humility as a political tool to connect with his followers. In 1958 in his campaign for a senatorial post he rode in a passenger car and wore simple clothes in order to identify himself with the common people. Furthermore, after election to the white house he welcomed even the black people to white House which earned him respect. His humbleness leadership strategy helped him to convince his followers to be humble and lower their emotion on matter of vengeance. His humility was a skill that he had well-crafted so that he can make people to be humble and build a nation together no matter the stand they took in the civil war.[Ibid]
Lincoln was a true statesman, he had captured the art of using stories in passing his message and at the same time passing wisdom to listen so that they can be on the same level of reasoning. In his speech he tries to ask the citizens if they know what caused the war and in his last statement he gives his own understanding. In his story people could understand why he did certain things, for example, he decision to return the two general who had freed the southern territory And the war that followed to save the union changed to be a war to abolish slavery. His fight for slavery attracted criticism from all quotas, the black felt Lincoln did not do enough to bring equality, those who fought for union never did it to free the slaves and the southern wanted a return to the status quo. In an attempt to explain the war Lincoln used religion to convince the masses. As he must make everybody feel responsible for the war he did not choose sides as God does not.[Hebrews 13:7]
In his inauguration speech Lincoln acknowledge that God is the author of everything and he does everything at the right time to manifest his might. He said that it was through God will that there was slavery and it was his will to b...