In the year 1862, President Abraham Lincoln had only one goal which was to save the union in whichever way he knew possible with less concentration on slavery. Restoration of national authority was the fastest way to save the union. Lincoln’s actions towards slavery were, therefore, taken on the basis that they would help in saving the union.
Lincoln had always claimed that he was against slavery; however he said that his constitutional right did not allow him to stop it and ha had expectations that prevention of slave trade to new U.S. would terminate the slavery. However, he had realized that the only way to save the union, which was his main goal, was to abolish slavery. As a result, in 1983, he signed a formal public statement for liberation.
Due to this hindrance to abolish slavery in the union, Lincoln decided to do it from the southern states of America using his powers as the commander in chief of the United States. He came up with this decision when he realized that it was easier for the southern states to engage in a war because of the slave labor. The slavery immobilized the economy of the southern states therefore his plan was an action intended to further the union’s efforts in helping the south.
This act was a very simple one but formal as well since Lincoln revealed it to the cabinet and asked for their opinions. This move gave him constitutional authority to obstruct in the salve trade. After emancipation was proclaimed, all slaves were freed including those who were not under the Union. After emancipation, Lincoln established some settlements for the newly liberated slaves (Allard 1).
Lincoln had planned to colonize the freed slaves something which he commented on the emancipation proclamation. However, this plan did not work out as he had expected. This failure drove him to integrate the proclamation policies into the constitution to get rid of slavery completely throughout America. The freed slaves were used in the military as stated in the emancipation government policies.
Although Lincoln was initially not willing to implement the policy, he eventually started the enrollment of the military which were called the Negro troops. Surprisingly, he initiated the process of increasing black troops despite the fact that he was initially against racial equality between blacks and Americans. Lincoln became the first American against racial racism with over 50,000 black soldiers being enrolled under his directions. Reconstruction began at the time when the war was still happening.
Lincoln recommended that speedy elections should be done at the course of the war in his efforts to reunite the nation without any indifference to the south. With the intimidation of the southern states, a resolution on their leadership had to be made. He also appointed governors and general to put up plans to promote state restoration something which some citizens. Soon after the emancipation implementation Lincoln tried to influence the public to support the elimination of slavery and its implementation.
According to Lincoln, the amendment of the slavery law would be more effective. The union’s victory was achieved in September when it forced back Lee’s invasion of the northern states but with a stern warning from Lincoln that they should return before January 1, 1863 failure to which the northern slaves would be declared free. President Lincoln’s plan came out as a success especially with the positive response from the northern states (Foster, 1).
Worked Cited
Allard, P. “Civil War: Reconstruction”. 2006. Web.
Foster, D. “Setting the Stage for Failure: How Lincoln’s Public Discourse on Slavery Nullified the Effectiveness of his First Inaugural Address”. 2008. Web.