Alycia cooper biography of abraham lincoln

Lincoln served as a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad as its company attorney. Success in several court cases brought other business clients as well, including banks, insurance companies, and manufacturing firms. Lincoln also worked in some criminal trials. Lincoln referred to an almanac and proved that the night in question had been too dark for the witness to see anything clearly.

His client was acquitted. As a member of the Illinois state legislature, Lincoln supported the Whig politics of government-sponsored infrastructure and protective tariffs. This political understanding led him to formulate his early views on slavery, not so much as a moral wrong, but as an impediment to economic development. In , Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act , which repealed the Missouri Compromise , allowing individual states and territories to decide for themselves whether to allow slavery.

Lincoln joined the Republican Party in In , the Supreme Court issued its controversial Dred Scott decision, declaring Black people were not citizens and had no inherent rights. Lincoln decided to challenge sitting U. Senator Stephen Douglas for his seat. Senate campaign against Douglas, he participated in seven debates held in different cities across Illinois.

But the central issue was slavery. Newspapers intensely covered the debates, often times with partisan commentary. In the end, the state legislature elected Douglas, but the exposure vaulted Lincoln into national politics. With his newly enhanced political profile, in , political operatives in Illinois organized a campaign to support Lincoln for the presidency.

Chase of Ohio. In the November general election, Lincoln faced his friend and rival Stephen Douglas, this time besting him in a four-way race that included John C. Lincoln received not quite 40 percent of the popular vote but carried of Electoral College votes, thus winning the U. He grew his trademark beard after his election. Following his election to the presidency in , Lincoln selected a strong cabinet composed of many of his political rivals, including William Seward, Salmon P.

Chase, Edward Bates, and Edwin Stanton. In the early morning hours of April 12, , the guns stationed to protect the harbor blazed toward the fort, signaling the start of the U. Crushing the rebellion would be difficult under any circumstances, but the Civil War, after decades of white-hot partisan politics, was especially onerous. From all directions, Lincoln faced disparagement and defiance.

He was often at odds with his generals, his cabinet, his party, and a majority of the American people. On January 1, , Lincoln delivered his official Emancipation Proclamation , reshaping the cause of the Civil War from saving the Union to abolishing slavery. And the Union victory at Antietam on September 22, , while by no means conclusive, was hopeful.

It gave Lincoln the confidence to officially change the goals of the war. On that same day, he issued a preliminary proclamation that slaves in states rebelling against the Union would be free as of January 1. In the far reaches of western Texas, that day finally came on June 19, —more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect.

Congress subsequently passed the Thirteenth Amendment, also promoted by Lincoln, in , which put an end to legal slavery in the U. Meanwhile, throughout the next couple of years until the spring of , the Civil War raged on. Lincoln delivered several well-known speeches at battle sites, including the Gettysburg Address in November, President Lincoln won re-election and delivered his second inaugural speech in March This time, he tapped Andrew Johnson to be his vice president.

A month later, General Robert E. Lee, head of the Confederate forces, conceded defeat, and the war was over. The president died the next morning. As a self-educated man who rose from humble beginnings to the highest office in the nation, Abraham Lincoln's personal life story is a powerful inspiration to others throughout history. As a politician who led the country through its most trying times since its inception, President Lincoln stands as an icon of resolve, wisdom and compassion.

His legacy remains just as influential as it was in the post-Civil War era following his untimely death. Historians view Lincoln's greatest contributions as president to be preserving the Union throughout the war between the states, his championship of democracy and the abolishment of slavery. Through his courageous leadership in a time of extreme crisis, Abraham Lincoln showed strength and determination.

Through his notable addresses to the nation, often on the sites of bloody battles, the president demonstrated his commitment to the Union and compassion for the loss of life. Despite his own losses, including a son who died during his presidency, Lincoln managed to keep the welfare of the nation at the forefront of his political actions.

Lincoln's humanitarian commitment to the emancipation of American slaves earned him the enmity of many and certainly contributed to death. However, it is this commitment, along with his solid leadership through crisis and accomplishments in the face of the nation's strife, that keeps his legacy alive throughout the world and makes him the most admired U.

The best way to predict the future is to create it. Abraham Lincoln. A Love of Learning Abraham Lincoln preferred reading and writing over farm work, which many around him at the time considered to be laziness. Life and Politics After moving to Springfield, Ill. Voters elected Lincoln in November The reputation he gained on the campaign trail and speeches on the East coast caused him to be put forward as a candidate for the Republican nominee for President in Lincoln was an outsider because he had much less experience than other leading candidates such as Steward, Bates and Chase, but after finishing second on the first ballot he went on to become unexpectedly nominated.

After a hard-fought, divisive campaign of , Lincoln was elected the first Republican President of the United States. The election of Lincoln as President in , sparked the South to secede from the North. Southern independence sentiment had been growing for many years, and the election of a president opposed to slavery was the final straw. However, Lincoln resolutely opposed the breakaway of the South, and this led to the American civil war with Lincoln committed to preserving the Union.

Lincoln surprised many by including in his cabinet the main rivals from the Republican campaign. This helped to keep the Republican party together. The Civil War was much more costly than many people anticipated and at times Lincoln appeared to be losing the support of the general population. Lincoln oversaw many of the military aspects of the war and promoted the general Ulysses S Grant to command the northern forces.

Initially, the war was primarily about the secession of southern states and the survival of the Union, but as the war progressed, Lincoln increasingly made the issue of ending slavery paramount. On September 22, , Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared the freedom of slaves within the Confederacy. The Proclamation came into force on January 1, Towards the end of the year, many black regiments were raised to help the Union army.

After a difficult opening two years, by , the tide of war started to swing towards the Union forces — helped by the victory at the Battle of Gettysburg in July Lincoln felt able to redefine the goals of the civil war to include the ending of slavery. Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address November 19, Eventually, after four years of attrition, the Federal forces secured the surrender of the defeated south.

He is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history. The family through subsequent generations migrated west, passing through New Jersey , Pennsylvania , and Virginia. Lincoln's mother Nancy Lincoln is widely assumed to be the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Thomas Lincoln bought multiple farms in Kentucky, but could not get clear property titles to any, losing hundreds of acres of land in property disputes.

Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptist Church , which "condemned profanity, intoxication, gossip, horse racing, and dancing. Overcoming financial challenges, Thomas in obtained clear title to 80 acres 32 ha in Indiana, an area that became known as Little Pigeon Creek Community. On October 5, , Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness , leaving year-old Sarah in charge of a household including her father, nine-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks.

Lincoln was largely self-educated. It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read, but probably not to write. In Indiana at age seven, [ 32 ] due to farm chores, he attended school only sporadically, for a total of fewer than 12 months in aggregate by age When Lincoln was a teen, his "father grew more and more to depend on him for the 'farming, grubbing, hoeing, making fences' necessary to keep the family afloat.

He also regularly hired his son out to work He became county wrestling champion at the age of In March , fearing another milk sickness outbreak, several members of the extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois, a free state, and settled in Macon County. Speculation persists that Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge , whom he met when he moved to New Salem.

However, witness testimony, given decades afterward, showed a lack of any specific recollection of a romance between the two. Lincoln sank into a serious episode of depression, and this gave rise to speculation that he had been in love with her. In the early s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky. Owens arrived that November and he courted her; however, they both had second thoughts.

On August 16, , he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied. In , Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois , and the following year they became engaged. Mary kept house with the help of a hired servant and a relative. Lincoln was an affectionate husband and father of four sons, though his work regularly kept him away from home.

The eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln , was born in , and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker Lincoln Eddie , born in , died February 1, , probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, "Willie" Lincoln , was born on December 21, , and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln , was born on April 4, , and survived his father, but died of heart failure at age 18 on July 16, Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children" [ 60 ] and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own.

Herndon would grow irritated when Lincoln brought his children to the law office. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. Herndon recounted, "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks, and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done.

The deaths of their sons Eddie and Willie had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from " melancholy ", a condition now thought to be clinical depression. During and , Lincoln worked at a general store in New Salem, Illinois. In , he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives , but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War.

As licensed bartenders, Lincoln and Berry were able to sell spirits, including liquor, for 12 cents a pint. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners. But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself. In his first campaign speech after returning from his military service, Lincoln observed a supporter in the crowd under attack, grabbed the assailant by his "neck and the seat of his trousers", and tossed him.

He could draw crowds as a raconteur , but lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Lincoln's second state house campaign in , this time as a Whig , was a success over a powerful Whig opponent.

He was admitted to the Illinois bar on September 9, , [ 76 ] [ 77 ] and moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart , Mary Todd's cousin. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan , and in , began his practice with William Herndon , "a studious young man". On January 27, , Abraham Lincoln, then 28 years old, delivered his first major speech at the Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois , after the murder of newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy in Alton.

Lincoln warned that no trans-Atlantic military giant could ever crush the U. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher", said Lincoln. Louis , Missouri. Zann Gill describes how these two murders set off a chain reaction that ultimately prompted Abraham Lincoln to run for President. True to his record, Lincoln professed to friends in to be "an old line Whig, a disciple of Henry Clay".

In , Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois's 7th district seat in the U. House of Representatives ; he was defeated by John J. Hardin , though he prevailed with the party in limiting Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only pulled off his strategy of gaining the nomination in , but also won the election. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line.

Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for the owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He dropped the bill when it eluded Whig support. Polk 's desire for "military glory — that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions.

The war had begun with a killing of American soldiers by Mexican cavalry patrol in disputed territory, and Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil". One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincoln had pledged in to serve only one term in the House.

Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, he supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the presidential election. In his Springfield practice, Lincoln handled "every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer". As a riverboat man, Lincoln initially favored those interests, but ultimately represented whoever hired him.

Rock Island Bridge Company , a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. The idea was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent. Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in cases; he was sole counsel in 51 cases, of which 31 were decided in his favor. After an opposing witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing the Moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility.

Armstrong was acquitted. In an murder case, leading up to his presidential campaign, Lincoln elevated his profile with his defense of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison, who was a third cousin; [ g ] Harrison was also the grandson of Lincoln's political opponent, Rev. Peter Cartwright. Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and was not subject to the hearsay rule.

Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal. The debate over the status of slavery in the territories failed to alleviate tensions between the slave-holding South and the free North, with the failure of the Compromise of , a legislative package designed to address the issue.

Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners, who sought to prevent the spread of slavery that could result, but Douglas's Kansas—Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May Lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his " Peoria Speech " of October Lincoln then declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated en route to the presidency.

I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world Nationally, the Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas—Nebraska Act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party, Lincoln wrote in , "I think I am a Whig, but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an abolitionist.

I do no more than oppose the extension of slavery. In , Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature, but before the term began the following January he declined to take his seat so that he would be eligible to be a candidate in the upcoming U. Senate election. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull. Trumbull was an antislavery Democrat and had received few votes in the earlier ballots; his supporters, also antislavery Democrats, had vowed not to support any Whig.

Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson. Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas—Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention , where the Illinois Republican Party was established.

The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in the territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise.

After Scott was returned to the slave state, he petitioned a federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in Dred Scott v. Sandford Taney wrote that black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional for infringing upon slave owners' "property" rights.

While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end the dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. In , Douglas was up for re-election in the U. Senate, and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in , and Lincoln's campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor.

For the first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition. Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech , with the biblical reference Mark , "A house divided against itself cannot stand.

I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. These were the most famous political debates in American history; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew crowds in the thousands.

Lincoln warned that the Slave Power was threatening the values of republicanism, and he accused Douglas of distorting the Founding Fathers' premise that all men are created equal. In his Freeport Doctrine , Douglas argued that, despite the Dred Scott decision, which he claimed to support, [ ] local settlers, under the doctrine of popular sovereignty , should be free to choose whether to allow slavery within their territory, and he accused Lincoln of having joined the abolitionists.

Douglas's argument was more legal in nature, claiming that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U. Supreme Court as exercised in the Dred Scott decision. Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas.

Alycia cooper biography of abraham lincoln

However, Lincoln's articulation of the issues had given him a national political presence. Seward , Salmon P. Chase , Edward Bates , and Simon Cameron. While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. Over the coming months Lincoln was tireless, making nearly fifty speeches along the campaign trail.

By the quality and simplicity of his rhetoric, he quickly became the champion of the Republican party. However, despite his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States , he was less appreciated in the east. Horace Greeley , editor of the New York Tribune, at that time wrote up an unflattering account of Lincoln's compromising position on slavery and his reluctance to challenge the court's Dred Scott ruling, which was promptly used against him by his political rivals.

On February 27, , powerful New York Republicans invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union , in which he argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. He insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong".

Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience". Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as "a superb political move for an unannounced presidential aspirant. Appearing in Seward's home state, sponsored by a group largely loyal to Chase, Lincoln shrewdly made no reference to either of these Republican rivals for the nomination.

At times he was presented as the plain-talking "Rail Splitter" and at other times he was "Honest Abe", unpolished but trustworthy. On May 18 at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot, beating candidates such as Seward and Chase. A former Democrat, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket.

Lincoln's success depended on his campaign team, his reputation as a moderate on the slavery issue, and his strong support for internal improvements and the tariff. As the Slave Power tightened its grip on the national government, most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party. Throughout the s, Lincoln had doubted the prospects of civil war, and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession.

Breckinridge as their candidate. Lincoln and Douglas competed for votes in the North, while Bell and Breckinridge primarily found support in the South. Before the Republican convention, the Lincoln campaign began cultivating a nationwide youth organization, the Wide Awakes , which it used to generate popular support throughout the country to spearhead voter registration drives, thinking that new voters and young voters tended to embrace new parties.

As Douglas and the other candidates campaigned, Lincoln gave no speeches, relying on the enthusiasm of the Republican Party. The party did the leg work that produced majorities across the North and produced an abundance of campaign posters, leaflets, and newspaper editorials. Republican speakers focused first on the party platform, and second on Lincoln's life story, emphasizing his childhood poverty.

The goal was to demonstrate the power of "free labor", which allowed a common farm boy to work his way to the top by his own efforts. In the runup to the election, he took an office in the Illinois state capitol to deal with the influx of attention. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary, who would remain in that role during the presidency.

On November 6, , Lincoln was elected the 16th president. He was the first Republican president and his victory was entirely due to his support in the North and West. No ballots were cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states, and he won only two of counties in all the Southern states, an omen of the impending Civil War. The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March Attempts at compromise followed but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise as contrary to the Party's platform of free-soil in the territories.

Lincoln supported the Corwin Amendment to the U. Constitution , which passed Congress and was awaiting ratification by the states when Lincoln took office. That doomed amendment would have protected slavery in states where it already existed. On February 11, , Lincoln gave a particularly emotional farewell address upon leaving Springfield; he would never again return to Springfield alive.

Due to secessionist plots, unprecedented attention to security was given to him and his train. En route to his inauguration, Lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures across the North. He traveled in disguise, wearing a soft felt hat instead of his customary stovepipe hat and draping an overcoat over his shoulders while hunching slightly to conceal his height.

His friend Congressman Elihu B. Washburne recognized him on the platform upon arrival and loudly called out to him. Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension.

Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.

I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. Lincoln cited his plans for banning the expansion of slavery as the key source of conflict between North and South, stating "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended.

This is the only substantial dispute. We must not be enemies The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. By March , no leaders of the insurrection had proposed rejoining the Union on any terms.

Meanwhile, Lincoln and the Republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the Union could not be tolerated. Major Robert Anderson , commander of the Union's Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, sent a request for provisions to Washington, and Lincoln's order to meet that request was seen by the secessionists as an act of war.

Historian Allan Nevins argued that the newly inaugurated Lincoln made three miscalculations: underestimating the gravity of the crisis, exaggerating the strength of Unionist sentiment in the South, and overlooking Southern Unionist opposition to an invasion. William Tecumseh Sherman talked to Lincoln during inauguration week and was "sadly disappointed" at his failure to realize that "the country was sleeping on a volcano" and that the South was preparing for war.

But he had also vowed not to surrender the forts The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the Confederates to fire the first shot". They did just that. On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send a total of 75, volunteer troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union", which, in his view, remained intact despite the seceding states.

This call forced states to choose sides. Virginia seceded and was rewarded with the designation of Richmond as the Confederate capital, despite its exposure to Union lines. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas followed over the following two months. Secession sentiment was strong in Missouri and Maryland, but did not prevail; Kentucky remained neutral.

As states sent Union regiments south, on April 19 Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links attacked Union troops who were changing trains. Local leaders' groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital and the Army responded by arresting local Maryland officials. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in an effort to protect the troops trying to reach Washington.

Taney to issue a writ of habeas corpus. In June, in Ex parte Merryman , Taney, not ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court, [ ] issued the writ, believing that Article I, section 9 of the Constitution authorized only Congress and not the president to suspend it. But Lincoln invoked nonacquiescence and persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas.

Lincoln took executive control of the war and shaped the Union military strategy. He responded to the unprecedented political and military crisis as commander-in-chief by exercising unprecedented authority. He expanded his war powers, imposed a blockade on Confederate ports, disbursed funds before appropriation by Congress, suspended habeas corpus , and arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers.

Lincoln gained the support of Congress and the northern public for these actions. Lincoln also had to reinforce Union sympathies in the border slave states and keep the war from becoming an international conflict. It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success, and that any compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle, such as the appointment of Republicans and Democrats to command positions.

Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery. The Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. The law had little practical effect, but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery. In August , General John C. Internationally, Lincoln wanted to forestall foreign military aid to the Confederacy.

Navy illegally intercepted a British mail ship, the Trent , on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys; Britain protested vehemently while the U. Lincoln ended the crisis by releasing the two diplomats. Biographer James G. Randall dissected Lincoln's successful techniques: [ ]. Lincoln painstakingly monitored the telegraph reports coming into the War Department.

He tracked all phases of the effort, consulting with governors and selecting generals based on their success, their state, and their party. He worked more often and more closely with Lincoln than did any other senior official. Lincoln's war strategy had two priorities: ensuring that Washington was well-defended and conducting an aggressive war effort for a prompt, decisive victory.

Occasionally Mary prevailed on him to take a carriage ride, concerned that he was working too hard. Lincoln began to appreciate the critical need to control strategic points, such as the Mississippi River. In directing the Union's war strategy, Lincoln valued the advice of Gen. On June 23—24, , Lincoln made an unannounced visit to West Point , where he spent five hours consulting with Scott regarding the handling of the Civil War and the staffing of the War Department.

McClellan general-in-chief. McClellan's slow progress frustrated Lincoln, as did his position that no troops were needed to defend Washington. McClellan, in turn, blamed the failure of the campaign on Lincoln's reservation of troops for the capital. In , Lincoln removed McClellan for the general's continued inaction. Despite his dissatisfaction with McClellan's failure to reinforce Pope, Lincoln restored him to command of all forces around Washington.

McClellan then resisted the president's demand that he pursue Lee's withdrawing army, while General Don Carlos Buell likewise refused orders to move the Army of the Ohio against rebel forces in eastern Tennessee. The appointments were both politically neutral and adroit on Lincoln's part. Against presidential advice Burnside launched an offensive across the Rappahannock River and was defeated by Lee at Fredericksburg in December.

Desertions during came in the thousands and only increased after Fredericksburg, so Lincoln replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker. In the midterm elections, the Republicans suffered severe losses due to rising inflation, high taxes, rumors of corruption, suspension of habeas corpus , military draft law , and fears that freed slaves would come North and undermine the labor market.

The Emancipation Proclamation gained votes for Republicans in rural New England and the upper Midwest, but cost votes in the Irish and German strongholds and in the lower Midwest, where many Southerners had lived for generations. In the spring of , Lincoln was sufficiently optimistic about upcoming military campaigns to think the end of the war could be near; the plans included attacks by Hooker on Lee north of Richmond, Rosecrans on Chattanooga, Grant on Vicksburg, and a naval assault on Charleston.

At the same time, Grant captured Vicksburg and gained control of the Mississippi River, splitting the far western rebel states. The federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which before , was understood to reserve the issue to the individual states. Lincoln believed that slavery would be rendered obsolete if its expansion into new territories were prevented, because these territories would be admitted to the Union as free states, and free states would come to outnumber slave states.

He sought to persuade the states to agree to compensation for emancipating their slaves. In June , Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, which Lincoln signed. In July, the Confiscation Act of was enacted, providing court procedures to free the slaves of those convicted of aiding the rebellion; Lincoln approved the bill despite his belief that it was unconstitutional.

He felt such action could be taken only within the war powers of the commander-in-chief, which he planned to exercise. On July 22, , Lincoln reviewed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. Peace Democrats Copperheads argued that emancipation was a stumbling block to peace and reunification, but Republican editor Horace Greeley of the New-York Tribune , in his public letter, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", implored Lincoln to embrace emancipation.

My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union When Lincoln published his reply to Greeley, he had already decided to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and therefore had already chosen the third option he mentioned in his letter to Greeley: to free some of the slaves, namely those in the states in rebellion.

Some scholars, therefore, believe that his reply to Greeley was disingenuous and was intended to reassure white people who would have opposed a war for emancipation that emancipation was merely a means to preserve the Union. He spent the next days, between September 22 and January 1, preparing the army and the nation for emancipation, while Democrats rallied their voters by warning of the threat that freed slaves posed to northern whites.

With the abolition of slavery in the rebel states now a military objective, Union armies advancing south "enable[d] thousands of slaves to escape to freedom". By the spring of , Lincoln was ready to recruit black troops in more than token numbers. In a letter to Tennessee military governor Andrew Johnson encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, "The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once".

Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, He defined the war as dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality for all. He declared that the deaths of so many brave soldiers would not be in vain, that the future of democracy would be assured, and that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".

Defying his prediction that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here", the Address became the most quoted speech in American history. Responding to criticism of Grant after Shiloh, Lincoln had said, "I can't spare this man. He fights. Meade's failure to capture Lee's army after Gettysburg and the continued passivity of the Army of the Potomac persuaded Lincoln to promote Grant to supreme commander.