Age of Lincoln
Age of Lincoln
1850
- Clay’s Compromise of 1850: California entered as free state and land gained from Mexico granted slavery based on popular sovereignty; strengthening of the Fugitive Slave Act – obligation of Northerners to return slaves that escaped and more power to Southerners to enter North and falsely claim right to slaves
- Strengthening of Fugitive slave act infused abolitionists (including William Lloyd Garrison)
- Slave trade was abolished in Washington D.C. As part of issue, Virginia reclaimed part of D.C.
- John Calhoun, Stephen Douglas, Daniel Webster involved in Compromise
1854
- Kansas-Nebraska Act: overturned compromise of 1820, left slavery up to popular sovereignty.
- Dred Scott decision (1857): milestone that led us closer to conflict; Supreme Court under Tawney
- Birth of Republican party in response to Kansas-Nebraska Act
- First Republican Candidate was Fremont
- Republican party carried on legacy of Whig party and largely regional, Northern party (almost exclusively so)
- Democrats had pockets of strength in the North but increasingly contained to the South
1858
- Lincoln-Douglas debates influenced Lincoln’s victory
- Douglas alienated South and opposing Southern Democrat emerged: Breckenridge and John C. Bell
- Breakdown of Jackson era
1860
- South threatens secession if Lincoln is elected and secede once he is elected
- Lame duck period creating problems again: South organizing rival center of power; lost half of the country
- South create own constitution similar to Union’s; Jefferson Davis becomes president of South
- Opening months of Presidency: increases army and size of navy – powers within prerogative of Congress; suspends writ of habeas corpus; imposes naval blockade (eventually deemed congressional because Congress “would have acted” that way);
- Preservation of the union and territories that had seceded
- Letter to South Carolina -- ????
The War
- Bull Run believed to be quick battle
o civilians thought it was going to be entertaining
o Union’s loss at Bull Run caused war to continue
- Lincoln did not war due to military prowess; ground South into submission
- Battle of resource bases
- Compromise of 1850 gave union ten more years to increase industrial base
- Clinton did allow electoral politics to continue
- Don’t view Lincoln as a dictator ( even though he did bend the rules): did not take it to logical conclusion, he viewed war as single case; did not take out all politics
- Lincoln moderate in prosecution of war and view of South
- Robert E. Lee
o Approached originally by both sides to lead; stuck with Virginia and joined Confederacy
o Union didn’t have strong leader until later in the war with Grant (who still wasn’t great)
o Lee’s decision to lead South caused his mansion in Arlington to be taken from him and made into Arlington National Ceremony
Emancipation Proclamation (went into effect in January 1863)
- freed slaves only in South – blatant attempt to damage economy and gain anti-slavery forces in North
- slaves in south could rebel and join northern forces
- propaganda value made domestic and international
- man power gain for north and loss for south
- made nuance clear: slaves not freed in border states in fear of losing them
- could not free slaves in states that weren’t rebelling – respected the constitution and we see his limits; believed it required constitutional amendment; this was special case for rebelling states
- only acted unconstitutionally in “arena of conflict”
- Lincoln used war to gain further power
- Conflict and rhetoric of conflict drives change especially when it comes to presidential power – Lincoln is first figure where we see this happening
- Done in context of military leader trying to damage enemies economically
- International law (Treatise of 1855) held that war leader could do whatever he could to hobble opponent’s resources
- Argument about property
Actions Lincoln took in response to Southern secession
- Suspends habeas corpus, martial law
- Naval blockade hobbled Southern economy
- Led South walk into civil war – Fort Sumter
Lincoln’s Legacy
- Did not prevent elections from taking place
- Aimed to get rid of slavery showed his good nature
- Tried to frame his actions around a broader interpretation of the constitution
- Reluctance to step beyond constitutional rights – stressed that reading of constitutional elasticity did not go beyond national crisis
- Framed as war to protect rule of law and constitution; he sidestepped constitutional bounds in order to protect constitution
Why such a good reputation?
- Martyr: died on high note and not enough time to tarnish his reputation
- Lincoln lived above mistakes that he made
- Lincoln saved country from splitting apart
- As person, great American figure: log cabin to the White House;
- Fits into national story
- Overcome splits within own party and administration—Dark horse candidate
- Lincoln not prone to dominate or engage in conflict and yet handled opponents very well
- Greatly exceeded all expectations due to his previous lack of accomplishments
- President between poor presidents
- Divisive figure but still great
................
................
In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.
To fulfill the demand for quickly locating and searching documents.
It is intelligent file search solution for home and business.
Related download
- the presidents the constitution internet scavenger hunt
- the progressive era exam
- lesser known facts about our presidents
- was abraham lincoln an only child
- amgovx 02 03 the presidency and dpl main lecture 2 en
- it is often argued that voters rarely monitor the behavior
- age of lincoln
- ap government chapter 13 notes the presidency
- history enhanced scope and sequence whi
- generic volunteer orientation manual
Related searches
- rating of lincoln financial group
- map of lincoln county wyoming
- city of lincoln zoning code
- age of resolution of phonological processes
- city of lincoln alabama
- city of lincoln ne zoning
- city of lincoln zoning map
- city of lincoln zoning ordinance
- city of lincoln zoning
- end of the age of pisces
- timeline of age of exploration
- city of lincoln alabama water