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UNIT 2 Abraham Lincoln
Amid all these disturbances and conflicts, America held its presidential election of 1860. The democrats, who represented wishes of the slave owners, split in the nomination of a Democratic candidate for the presidency. This was partly due to their disagreement on concrete policy and partly due to the effect of the famous Lincoln Douglas debates in 1858. The scattering of their votes caused their failure in the presidential election. The republican party nominated Lincoln, a dark horse and state senator of Illinois. For the presidency. The democrats tried hard to defeat Lincoln. They even heaped slanders upon his beloved mother, calling her and innocent and loose woman. But Lincoln ignored the malicious indignities. He put forward political slogan for the people, and won wide support. He was elected with forty percent of the total popular vote cast. His induction speech embodied his ideas:” A house divided against itself cannot stand .i believe this government can not endure permanently half slave and half free. I don’t expect the union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided. Each civilian has the liability to uphold nation peace. Licoln had not openly declared he would free all the slaves, but the southern states were alarmed at his election. They feared that he would take more drastic measures against slavery than his predecessor. On February 4,1861, representatives from some southern states met and agreed to form a government for a new country that they named the confederate states of America. They publicly declared that the “ union is hereby dissolved” When Lincoln swore as president on march 4, 1861, he faced and extremely critical situation. Should the southern states be won back, through negotiation or by war? The whole nation, both the south and the north, anxiously awaited the decision of the new president that would decide the future of the country. Lincoln was regarded, by many Americans, as an unassuming, kindhearted person, but he was firm. In his inaugural address he made his last attempt to avoid civil war by expressing a kind feeling for the south, but at the same time he solemnly declared that he would “preserve, protect, and defend” the union. This left no room for suspicion as to what his policy would be. Hence, the southerners decided to go to war. The situation came to the critical point. The military struggle in the civil war began on April 12 ,1861, when the southerners bombarded Fort sumter in the Charleston harbor. Many northerners were enraged by the intrusion. Although the dove exaggerated the difficulties and disapproved of war, Lincoln cleared away obstacles at last. After deliberate thought. He issued a decree for 75 thousand volunteers under the banner of reunion, hundreds of thousands responded instantaneously. They took an oath to defend the union and defeat separationism. In terms of strength, the north enjoyed predominant superiority. It had 23 states with a population of 22 million while the south had only 11 states with a population of about 9 million. Though many of the experienced army officers went to join the south , the whole Navy remained loyal to the union. The north controlled most of the factories .the middle west could produce enough foodstuffs for the north while the south, relying on cotton for wealth , had to solve the problem of food supply. The southerners seemed inferior in strength, but they had their own advantages, they were fighting a defensive war and could keep close to their sources of supplies. They had many experienced officers and soldiers from planters’ families who were skilled in shooting and horseback riding .the notion that they werE fighting in defense of their vital interests was of great psycho logical value to them .and lastly , they entreated aid of England and france who needed cotton from the southern states. They thought the two countries had correlative benefit at slavery. The advantages of the north were potential rather than actual. So at the first onset, the federal army was passive .the southern troops occupied many areas and nearly captured Washington. The federal army felt ashamed of the repeated setbacks. Lincoln had already proclaimed a blockade of the southern coasts after the war broke out, but its immediate effect was small, for the federal navy was still small and the south had not been exhausted, the year 1863 was a turning point when the blockade stopped all foreign trade with the south soon after, the northern troops went on the offensive. The prospect of victory for the south was fast diminishing. The changed military situation prompted Lincoln to take his decisive step. He had been considering the advisability of repealing the slavery in the South. But he would not take a rash action lest his opponents considered it as “the last shriek on the retreat.” After the North won big victories, Lincoln belived the time had come and on September 22 , 1862 , he discarded the old beliefs and announced the notable Emancipation Proclamation. It provided that all the slaves in the rebelling states were freed, with an appendix welcoming the slaves bursting their bonds to join the armed forces of the North . The proclamation thus declared the slave embargo to be an objective of the Union .Today ,racial discrimination isn’t exterminated yet ,but it has been turning better. The effect of the Proclamation was great. It also won broad support in England and france. This made the governments of the two . countries remain neutral, for they could no longer find a proper pretext for interference with a war that was against social evils, The South envoy sent to England for help had to return back, The South was thus greatly discouraged and became more worried of slave revolt. In the face of the slow but inexorable advance of the Federal troops under grand who was the commander ,the Southern troops were forced to retreat, Some Federal troops were forced to retreat. Some Federal troops from the Mississippi River Valley was detached into the very heart of the south, They did much mischief to whatever could be used to serve the war. They sabotaged factories , trampled crops and leveled Atlanta to the ground .The southern states suffered a severe shortage of supplies .Even their soldiers did not have enough provisions . The novel Gone With The Wind reflects part of the situation in the south , although it is a progressive novel so far as its viewpoint if concerned. On April 2, 1865, the Northern troops dynamited the defense fortress and captured the South capital, A week later, the Southern troops were hemmed in a marsh. They had no alternative but to surrender. The Northerners got the mastery over the whole situation. The war ended with victory for the North at last. Lincoln played a very important role in the war. Without his firmness , keen insight , wise leadership, warmth and imperial generosity , American history would perhaps have been rewritten, The victory made the man with bristly beard gain high reputation. In 1864, his brilliant feat made him be elected president for a second term by a unanimous vote. On Thursday night , April 13, 1864, Washington was illuminated and hurrahed to celebrate the final victory , and joyous crowed paraded in the street, Lincoln feasted a galaxy of generals on the lawn before White House ,The following evening, Lincoln and his wife attended a performance at Ford theatre, Before the first interval of the play, he was shot in the head by a crazy actor named John Wilkes Booth, who sprang from the presidential box to the stage and then fled swiftly in uproar. The assassin, Booth, a sympathizer of the South, was captured by irritated people some days later in a barn in the Virginia countryside. The strong reaction of the nation to Lincoln’s death was almost unbelievable . The people were in deep melancholy . Newspapers were edged with black. Churches stopped their normal sermons and sang the hymns for the great egalitarian . The train which took his body back to his former home in Springfield, Illinois , traveled 12 days before reaching his destination, for all the towns , villages and even the railway itself were thronged with people mourning , Tens of thousands attended his funeral, American schools now still hold annual ceremonies to celebrate the martyr’s birthday, Lincoln is immortal in the hearts of Americans . |
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