By: Rahul Ramadugu
We have many great presidents who have contributed to the United States. One that stands out is the 16th president. He made one of the greatest impacts on the country because he freed the slaves, put the country together after the Civil War, and signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln released the slaves around the country. Now it is illegal to own slaves. However, ending slavery was not what Lincoln intended to do at first. Eventually, Lincoln figured out that African Americans were equal to the White people.
During the Civil War, the United States split itself between the Confederate States and the Union. The Union didn’t allow slavery and was the northern part of the U.S.
On the other hand, the Confederate States of America went on a confederate government (a government where states made their own laws). They allowed slavery and was the southern states. Once the war was over, Lincoln just asked to apologize and stop slavery. He put the country together very well.
When battles were very frequent, Lincoln issued a document called the “Emancipation Proclamation.” This allowed slaves from the south to fight against the Confederates. However, the Emancipation Proclamation never stated that slavery was abolished.
Without Lincoln some of us would be slaves, the U.S. would be in war, and we wouldn’t be able to fight for our freedom. Unfortunately, Lincoln was assassinated soon after the Civil War. Newly elected president, Andrew Johnson, took the place of Lincoln. He had similar plans to putting the country back together as Lincoln thought. They were allowed back in the Union if they made slavery illegal, apologized, and made a state government good enough to pass for the federal government. The national government agreed to this and the Reconstruction era
began.