Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Lincoln Ch 2 by D. A.

1. Abraham Lincoln was a very respected man who had once started off in the position of the wrong party. His intentions, politically, were against the war against Mexico, in general, was unnecessary and claimed that it might have been the fault of America itself who started the war. His views on war caused others to see him as unpatriotic and affected his position in politics. After leaving Congress and returning to his home in Springfield, Illinois, he worked his way up to become a very wanted and respected man. Many of the citizens of Illinois saw how great of a man he was and sought to have him speak as a prosecutor and even a judge. Working his way up again, his views for antislavery had enlarged. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act came into play, it allowed the people in those territories to have the decision whether or not to allow slavery within their borders. Lincoln did not agree with this proposition, therefore causing his views on slavery to increase, wanting to put a stop to it all.
2. The purpose or point of view of the author was to describe Lincoln's position in the Whig party, in congress, and show where he stands. He was a very respected man, but his point of view on war and on the constitution and slavery caused him to lose some of that respect. Many saw him as unpatriotic but he believed in what he felt was right and he stood by those morals andI believe that is what the author is trying to describe as he explains Lincoln's political life and where he was and what he stood for.
3. In class, we discussed what kind of morals Lincoln had and what he believed in. One of Lincoln's point of views that were discussed in class that really stood out was towards the Constitution. Lincoln believed that the people should always have the power of the government, to decide whether they wanted to change the government or not. We also discussed in class his views on religion. He was not much of a religious person but he did respect the scripture and what the bible had said and that was very important on how he viewed slavery and many other things in life.
4. The historical questions that we discussed in class ranged around what type of person Lincoln was. Lincoln was a very hard worker. He did manual labor and he was very focused and determined and he did end up failing quite a bit. He was unfortunate politically but that never stopped him and he continued to fight for his term and to fight for slavery and for what he believed was right and therefore showed others his determination and efforts.
5. Some questions that were left wondering were personally how he grew up and gained the views that he did. I personally feel like how his parents raised him and who he became as a man is certainly important. I wonder what pushed him to want to serve and what caused his mentality to change.