Reference no: EM133686855
Assignment:
Abraham Lincoln
One hundred and fifty - nine years after its conclusion, the Civil War remains the central event in our history. And no period has been as persistently fascinating to Americans. The reasons for the war's continued relevance lies not only in its great accomplishments -- the preservation of the Union and the destruction of slavery -- but in the fact that it raised so many questions that remain central to our understanding of ourselves as a nation. What should be the balance of power between local authority and the national government? Who is entitled to American citizenship? What are the concrete meanings of freedom and equality in the United States? These questions, central to the meaning of the Civil War, remain subjects of controversy today. In that sense, the Civil War is not yet over.
In the physical destruction it brought to the South, the economic changes it produced throughout the nation, the new technologies it diffused, and the new ideas it spawned, the Civil War permanently affected the future course of national development. The war produced a loss of life unprecedented in the American experience. The 700,000 or so combatants who perished in the conflict nearly outnumber those who died in all other American wars combined. For those who lived through it, the Civil War would always remain the defining moment in their lives.
Central to the war's meaning was the abolition of slavery. Slavery lay at the root of the crisis that produced the Civil War, and the war became, although it did not begin as, a struggle for emancipation. Union victory eradicated slavery from American life, bringing the entire nation, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, a "new birth of freedom." Yet the war left it to future generations to confront the numerous legacies of slavery and to embark on the still unfinished quest for racial justice. Please read Lincoln's first Inaugural Speech and The Emancipation Proclamation and think about the Discussion below.
Many blamed Abraham Lincoln for the destruction of the South, its economy and its culture. Lincoln's sudden death left many questions unanswered.
Was Abraham Lincoln the Great Emancipator or the Accidental one? Support your argument.