In addition to our sixteenth president biographies author George
McGovern writes in detail about interesting political deals that helped
more of my understanding of this famous president in the book titled "Abraham Lincoln"
. Abraham Lincoln is a very popular figure in American history and in
his life story has defined what America is today. McGovern argues about
Abraham Lincoln; in his fight to abolish slavery , the manipulation and
talent that won him presidency, and the development of several southern
states consider secession. In the evidence that McGovern provided was
early on Lincoln was elected congress in where he then moved to
Washington for his term and was unsuccessful to abolish slavery in
District of Columbia. McGovern in his writing states that Lincoln was an
abolitionist who morally believed slavery was wrong along with his
legal and economic view against slavery. McGovern write about Lincoln`s
attempt to reinforce Fort Summers in South Carolina, and so began the
civil war and the secession of several more states along with Virginia ,
which Lincoln believed the civil war was fought for the union to remain
together. Along with the civil war happening it also played a role in
the fate of slavery. McGovern writes the political manipulation Lincoln
took part in by suspending rights in the constitution and expand the
power of the executive and federal government. And most importantly
McGovern writes Lincoln`s remarkable action as president The
Emancipation Proclamation.
The purpose for me in reading the writings of George McGovern
gave me more information in the sense of i did not know in detail
sequently how the Emancipation Proclamation take a start and initiated
the thirteenth amendment along with the amens of the abolishment of
slavery in the United States. I did not change my outlook of Lincoln`s
character because i overall believed it was a fight that had to be done
in order to accomplish something morally great that now seems to be the
most positive accomplishment in American history. I was reading about a
person overall who is very educated , strong and was fighting for an
importance that he believe was the right thing to do.
In our class discussions George McGovern argument as a group;
classmates discuss the executive power and authority that took place.
The evidence to support this was by newspapers and laws. As a group we
realized that chapter 3 from "Abraham Lincoln" was more about
the civil war and chapter 4 was details about the civil war. We
discussed the Lincoln used the political system to his advantage, for
example what Lincoln sought to support something and was illegal he made
them legal. We discussed Lincoln moving towards emancipation and unify
the north. We read an article "First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln"
and discuss a very significant and relatable quote from the article
supporting our discussion as a group about the secession and union " A
husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond
reach of each other , but the different parts of our country can not do
this" (23). What he says is so relatable to an everyday man and women as
a fact and adequately support the unity among states is not able to
function properly on it their own.
The most important questions we drew was now we see the result of
the civil war brought upon in the end the abolishment of slavery. We now
see it was a positive outcome but actually living in that point in time
was not seen positive. The civil war ended slavery but did not start of
that way. We discussed at the time how the enslaved people would
respond to emancipation as happy but unsure of the result in the end if
it would push through. We discussed about George Washington saying war
is an expense and ought to be avoided at all cost , but Lincoln believed
that slavery was a reason for the war.
My questions remains with the manipulation of use of the
Constitution what can be done to prevent this from happening again ? ,
because if it were to happen what can be stated it will result positive
again ? and not negative that would impact humanity?. How deeply did it
effect the suspension on laws at the time?