president of the United States, the country had been struggling with the

question of slavery for years. Kansas was bleeding from it, laws had been

broken over it and in early February, seven southern states had finally seceded

because of it and formed the Confederate States of America. In Kansas,

pro-slavery and anti-slavery partisans engaged in a bloody war for control of

the territorial government. Prior to these events, the voters who supported

Lincoln in 1860 preferred preserving the Union rather than abolishing

slavery; however they both became major issues of his presidency following his

Contrary to many beliefs, the election of Lincoln was not the result of

his followers, the majority of them being Republicans, wanting to completely

remove slavery. He was known as the "Great Emancipator" and yet he did

not publicly call for emancipation throughout his entire life. Actually, Lincoln

denied continuously that he was an abolitionist. In two separate debates, he

refused to believe that blacks should enjoy the privileges of American

citizenship (Marrin 63). Secondly, much as he hated slavery, he accepted its

the leader who they believed was going to solve all the issues in the best

is apparent after studying the actions taken by certain groups. Clearly there

Civil War, Lincoln's, along with the Republican Party's paramount object

extending the vote to African Americans (Oakes 199). The Thirteenth

lawful right nor the inclination to do so (135). His speech plainly states

Even though the abolition of slavery and the preservation of the Union

really had no intention of advocating emancipation. Lincoln insisted he had

Some common words found in the essay are:
Actually Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's, America Kansas, Douglas Bell, Union Oakes, Emancipation Proclamation, Thirteenth Amendment, Abraham Lincoln, Republican Party's, Election Day, thirteenth amendment, civil war, abolishing slavery, inaugural address, emancipation proclamation, freeing slaves, question slavery, save union, abolish slavery, save freeing,
Approximate Word count = 1039
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)