Abraham Lincoln: Slavery and the Civil War - Essay Example

Lincoln believed in free labour where workers would be offered rewards for their labour. He viewed slavery as a practice that lowered the dignity of labour and one that would as well be a hindrance to the economic progress of the nation. According to Lincoln, such a system did not encourage creativity and industrialization, factors that were important for the growth of the nation’s economy but encouraged sloth which discouraged economic growth. Lincoln greatly opposed slavery as he feared that it would become worse if it spread westward into other states (Johnson, 56).

Abraham Lincoln greatly opposed racial slavery politics because he believed the institution had great dis-unionist consequences. It was perceived as a radical innovation and he played a huge role in changing ideas of the Northerns regarding antislavery politics. He emphasized that the nation was hugely dedicated towards freedom. He worked hard at establishing freedom supremacy in the federal government as he believed this would abolish slavery in the US. All his efforts were inspired by the idea of equality and were justified by the legal theory of antislavery.

With his anti- slavery attitude, Lincoln had clearly taken on a paternalistic position and gained recognition in the whole nation due to what he stood for. These factors enabled him to be nominated as the presidential candidate for the Republican Party. The Republican Party managed to change ideas of Northern men regarding antislavery politics. The Republicans were committed to the idea of social freedom that was against slavery. This issue brought about conflict, regarding politics and ideas, between the northern and southern society.

Southern people were viewed to have slave power and had control over the federal government and all other southern states. Republicans feared that the power that slaveholders had over the federal government would have negative consequences as it already threatened to undermine the freedom of white men in the northern states. Lincoln therefore insisted that since Congress had the main power over the federal government, then they should ensure that slaves were excluded from their territories Lincoln and the Republicans were therefore able to change the way northern people viewed slavery by attaching a nationalist ideology to the slavery institution.

They preached the notions of the nation’s aim, which was to attain freedom. This was adopted widely in the Free states. The fact that Lincoln integrated the idea of equality with the idea of preserving the nation enabled him to separate his party’s politics from the politics of the Democrats making him to be nominated as the party’s presidential candidate. This enabled him to attract many voters who believed in him leading to his election as the nation’s president in 1860. Great roles have been played by various subjects in Abraham Lincoln’s debates and speeches of putting an end to slavery agitation.

In the course of his campaigns for senate in 1858, seven famous debates took place between Lincoln and Douglas (Johnson, 46). Lincoln’s very famous speech ‘the House Divided Speech’ greatly signalized his concerns for the future of slaves in the United States (Johnson, 41). The central question in these debates was spread of slavery in to other states. Concern was also on the general relationship between whites and black people and how they will continue to relate in the