Why does everyone think that Lincoln was such a great guy?

Question

Yes, freeing the slaves was necessary, but I think that he went about it all wrong! Force should NEVER be the answer!

Not to mention, the states had a Constitutional right to secede, he had no right in stopping them. Couldn't he have "purchased" the slaves, and then permanently freed them for the same cost that was spent on the war WITHOUT any bloodshed?

Why does everyone think that he was all that and a box of cookies? I think that he was very well-meaning, but VERY misguided. Weigh in please. :-)

Answer 1

Lincoln's "greatness" can be attributed to the fact that he taught himself to read, went to law school, and became president without ever going to elementary or high school. His command of the vocabulary is second to none.  He also saved the union from collapse.  He was not given the option of purchasing the slaves.  The Confederates attacked Ft. Sumpter a month after Lincoln took office.  He never had the chance to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the issues of the day.  Lincoln did not start the Civil War.  The Confederates did.  Lincoln's job was to "preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States".  That includes the union itself, which he did accomplish before his death.

I must disagree with you about freeing the slaves.  The only slaves he freed were the ones in Confederate controlled states.  He did this hoping the slaves would rise up against their masters and help the Union defeat the Confederacy, which some of them did. The slaves were not fully freed until the ratification of the 13th amendment on December 6, 1865, a full 8 months after Lincoln died.

The reason we are states is because each state has it's own set of laws which fall under the umbrella of the US Constitution.  Statehood is a way of having diversity within a country.  If you're g*y and you want to get married, you can do it in say Massachusetts.  Some states allow you to smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes, others don't.  You're free to choose which state you live in that best suits your lifestyle.

Answer 2

Sure, the concept of the United States is an ideal, and theoretically they had the right to secede, realistically who's going to allow their country to be fragmented when it comes right down to it.

As for buying all the slaves....right, that would have worked. First off, once the slave owners realized what was happening they would have charged a fortune for each slave. Secondly, since slavery would still have been legal in the south, they would simply have bought more slaves from Africa with all that money from the north. So either they would have just kept buying slaves until the north was bankrupt, or they would have ended up abandoning the project. Then, imagine the politics on the continent with the US and the Confederates constantly at odds over everything. It would likely have been war eventually anyway.

The reason Lincoln was "all that" is because he kept the US together, and he set the ground work for the feeing of the slaves. He waged an unpopular war, that led to a very popular result.

Answer 3

"Yes, freeing the slaves was necessary, but I think that he went about it all wrong! Force should NEVER be the answer!"

-Who shot first? the south.  So the US was attacked by southern seperatists, who while claiming they had a right to secede, never tested it in court.  

"Not to mention, the states had a Constitutional right to secede, he had no right in stopping them."

Where in the American Constitution does it lay out how to secede? If it is a constitutional right, it should be spelled out, otherwise you're just claiming it is a right (Sentiments in the Declaration are not part of the Constituion.)  Tell me what the criteria is for pulling a state out of the union, based on the Constitution.  Then explain why this claimed right was never claimed for the other attempts at revolution in America's past, some of which were put down by the founders of the country.

"Couldn't he have "purchased" the slaves, and then permanently freed them for the same cost that was spent on the war WITHOUT any bloodshed?"

Sure he could, the Russians did something along that line, but you're still under the delusion that Lincoln started the war over slaves.  He didn't start it, he reacted to armed rebellion.   You can't criticize him for not purchasing slaves from the people attempting to force his citizens into a new country by force of arms.  

What next you'll claim that after Pearl Harbor, FDR should have negotiated with the Japanese?

Answer 4

Where in the Constitution do you find it written that a state has a right to secede? Lincoln was the President of our country. He couldn't just "buy" the slaves. Congress would have to have passed a bill to that effect and then Lincoln could have signed it. Why do you think that the Southern senators and congressmen would have voted for that bill?

If, by some chance, the above happened, and all of the slaves in the South were bought and set free, The Southern slave owners would have just bought  new ones from Africa.

For slavery to end in the Southern states Slavery had to be made illegal. The Southern states started the Civil war because they believed that if Lincoln was President, slavery might be made illegal.

Lincoln was a great man in many ways. When I read the Gettysburg Address, I am in awe of the man.

If you think that force should never be used, what about Hitler in Germany? How would you have stopped him from taking over the Western half of the Earth; By appealing to his compassion?

The problem with the idea of never using force for any reason is that you enable those who use force for evil reasons to succeed and take over the world, thereby making slaves of all of us.

Answer 5

Well it was not really about freeing the slaves that only came latter. It started with keeping the Union together, the problem was when a new state came into the Union was it to be a slave state or a free state? That's where things began going down hill. Lincoln once said he would free every slave or keep every slave in bondage if it would just keep the Union together. Once he was elected many in the South thought he was like John Brown, which he was not. He didn't like slavery but he also knew its importance to the South. The South believed Lincoln could not be dealt with in diplomatic ways, so they seceded. In fact both sides were very poorly guided at the very beginning of the civil war. That's why there was a civil war.

Answer 6

maybe because he was the s**z, duh.

Answer 7

Actually a states right to succeed was one of the questions to the civil war. Its is now illegal for a state to succeed, and to the gentlemen who answered above: the south could not buy new slaves from Africa because by the time the civil war happened the slave trade was made illegal but not the ownership of slaves. Everything else you said was right.

As far as Lincoln goes, he is revered as one of our greatest presidents because he successfully navigated our nation through one of its most difficult time (whats more harder on a country than its own civil war). Also if you look into it more you will see that only war would have settled the tensions in America during the mid 19th century.