What make Abraham Lincoln an American - Research Paper Example

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln runs over the ages as a great American who not only stood out in character as a patriot but also whose love for the nation was a definite depiction to what he was. He rose to the highest office through his great political acumen coupled with the spectacular oratory power besides which he stood firm in his political ideologies. Varying aspects define America and as such define what Abraham as an American was. However, of surety is the fact that great Americans of all times have been described or defined by certain of these characteristics. This paper establishes the characters, which defined him to be a great American of all the times. The analysis of Abraham Lincoln as a great American revolves around the definition of Americanism to allude to great conviction or attitude that has special attention ascribed to the nation, US culture, political interest as well as the national interest of the great American state. Therefore, this paper has special attention in the deep political convictions and great oratory competence that saw him rise to the height of his political career and life as the sixteenth US president. To be specific, Abraham was described by his stern stand against slavery and discrimination, which has a great attention in what, defines the United States. His rise to power for instance signaled the divide, which saw the northern states as well as the Northern states separate on the bases of support of or against slavery. The Southern had great regard to slave and slave trade which according to Abraham created class divide among the Americans and which he strictly opposed. His governance was therefore characterized by the great opposition from the political elites who advocated for the class divisions as against the sovereignty of all Americans; the free and the slaves. In a century and over time in the history of America, Abraham Lincoln continues to have great perception amongst the American natives as well as across the globe. Penn Schoen Berland conducted a study to establish the perceptions of Americans towards Abraham and found out among other things that he is perceived to have been the best as well as most influential US president that has ever been. However, there were still a number who opposed the opinion and even lesser number having no knowledge about Abraham Lincoln. In fact, a good percentage of the Americans in the current time reason that president Obama compares to some extent with Abraham Lincoln though not to a matching degree where there is still the perception that Abraham stands out against the current president in matters off ideal as well as leadership. In many aspects, among the legendary American heroes, Abraham Lincoln is depicted as being the ‘American original’ from his deep conviction of the sovereignty of the state and all the inhibitors, not defined by race or state of life; slaves and or free (Penn, 2-4). In an evaluation to his life, much lays an inspiration to many following his determination to hail from a very humble background and to forge his way to the highest office in the land and to command great leadership of all the time. His ambition and great determination, which saw him, uphold great integrity are among the basic traits that illustrated the great ‘American’ in him. He represented the ‘self made’ person of his time as the nobility in his character is often described. Though he was raised from a poor background, he struggled his way through academics through self-sponsorship, which led him to his law career. Having been brought up in the countryside by his step mother (having lost own mother at the age of 9 years), Lincoln had great determination to acquire formal education. Despite the great challenges that came his way, his staunch determination saw him rise to the House of Commons and thus engaged in his political career (Abraham Lincoln, para 1). It is within his service in the state legislature of Illinois that he started voicing his against slavery, not only as a wrong moral but also as a standing block towards economic empowerment of any independent nation (Christensen, 1-3). In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled against equal rights for the African Americans which saw the rise of the Republican Party and which Abraham Lincoln became affiliated to. His legal career and deep conviction set him up for the fight against the racial discrimination against the African American. Among other policy frameworks, which saw to his support by the republicans to compete for the presidents in 1860, were his moderate views on slavery. Other policy structures that he sought presidency on were the improvement of the national infrastructures as well as the protectorate tariff. Moreover, his ascension to power depicted him very uniquely from his political class when he appointed most of his political rivals to positions in his cabinet. This is much unexpected in many instances of political governance (Abraham Lincoln, para 3). However, this never stopped him from his zeal to rebuild an American state in which all people would feel equal in spite of the variation in skin color and other ideologies. The break of civil war and the intrigues around the war portrayed Lincoln to be a real patriot through his stand to fight for the Americans. Nevertheless, his position as a nationalist who loved the rightful position of all and to who both the slaves and the free mattered led to his assassination in April of 1865. Abraham stood distinctly in the fight against racial prejudice, which is explained by the discrepancy in race that followed his assassination. According to some of his opponents, the great leader stood to oppose their ideals as against racial equality. Besides, Abraham stood with high esteem, regard to full citizenship and equal rights to all Americans, and thus heartedly opposed slavery, as was the norm. Though this stand was ideally opposed by the southern states that actually opted to separate from the confederation, Abraham showed great zeal and determination to have the states reunited (Clack, 1-7). History has it that the president’s endeavor was to safeguard and protect the sovereignty of the nation’s constitution as well as the union of the states. This he explains through writing when he supported his use of military over the civil war. He reiterated his commitment to the course of the country through the constitutional justice, which is an illustration of his ‘statesmanship’. However, according to Abraham, the supremacy of the constitution and the confederation was as a means to a different thing as against being a means to the end. He argued that the constitutions required all respect and protection as it was the only tool which would bring about liberty, not only through sharing of power but also through ensuring the equal rights to all who lived in the great nation. His leadership ideology had it the declaration of independence to the confederation was just a foundation on which his republican government would ride through the aid of the constitution towards realization of sovereignty. In a famous speech, Lincoln affirmed the importance of ‘liberty to all’ when he referred to the independence Declaration. He is quoted to have reasoned that independence was inevitable with or even without the Declaration whereas the declaration was bound to fail without affirmation of liberty to all as it were. Lincoln therefore exhibited great sense of prudence when he made decisions and choices between security and liberty within the civil war, how he responded to succession, his fight strategy as well as decisions in the context of emancipation (Owens, 4). Critics to his rule reason that Lincoln exhibited dictatorship especially as seen from the case of civil war, which actually contradicts his staunch position on liberty. However, as Geoffrey Peret would observe, Lincoln never exercised his mandate beyond the constitution to which he took an oath to preserve, defend and protect. In one famous letter from Lincoln to Joshua F in 1855, the staunch stand of Abraham, concerning slavery is clearly brought out. As friends, Abraham confirmed his willingness to differ with his long-term friend and who exercised slave trade if only his stand against slavery would mean. He ascertained that the sight of slaves always irritated him and as such was not willing to fight for the freedom of all, regardless of the skin color (Ankeney and Vigilante, 8). Abraham Lincoln believed in the rule of law, where according to him, every person, those in authority as well as the subjects are subject to the law. This respect of the law was affirmed and grounded in him in his tenure as a practicing attorney and he thus held so strictly to the obligation to make decision based on the respect of law (Abraham Lincoln and the Rule of Law, 19). Lincolns stand on the issue of slavery was that slaves require to be freed and be granted equal rights to the Native Americans. Sending them back to their native lands as well as equating them to the other Americans as against continued oppression to the slaves was favorable to him. The above analysis of the live and events that characterized the life of Abraham Lincoln, reveals him to have been a legendary American of all times. The traditional American states were well known in matters of extreme prejudice and disregard to the rule of law. Despite the humble origin of the Lincoln, he became a political and historic figure to have ever lived in America, not only from the native Americans but also across the globe. The research studies conducted to establish the perceptions of people towards him revealed that his legacy have gone over decades and he is highly esteemed to have brought about a difference in the country. Most specifically, his stand against slavery is famously quoted to have shaped the fight against the vice in the country despite causing the separation of seven states to the south of the confederation. Besides, racial discrimination was focused a lot in his ideals, which saw equal rights and treatment of all regardless of the skin color. However, his leadership faced stern opposition because of his governance ideals, which lead to a historic occurrence, the civil war. His reaction to the war also served to put him at the centre of discussion in many literatures with some portraying him as a dictator while others supported his actions on involving the army into the war. It would therefore be justifiable to argue that Abraham Lincoln rose to be a great American figure in the nineteenth century. Great determination, attitude towards equality as well as great regard to the rule of law and the supreme constitution of the United States defined his diplomacy. Though he was assassinated before he led the country to the direction of his dream, Abraham Lincoln stands to be accorded the respect of a great American of all times (American Civil War Round Table of Australia (NSW Chapter) 2006 ConferencePapers, 18). Works cited Abraham Lincoln. “Biography” 2013. Web. 7 August. 2013. Abraham Lincoln and the Rule of Law. “The Lincoln Legal Papers Curriculum” 7 August. 2013. Print American Civil War Round Table of Australia (NSW Chapter) 2006 ConferencePapers. “The lincoln assassination and its aftermath” 7 August. 2013. Print Ankeney Kirk and Vigilante David. “Abraham Lincoln and slavery” Preview copy Including the complete first lesson. 7 August. 2013. Print Christensen Ross. “The Early Political Career of Abraham Lincoln” Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. 7 August. 2013. Print Clack George. “Abraham Lincoln, A legacy for Freedom” 7 August. 2013. Print Owens Mackubin Thomas. “Abraham Lincoln: Leadership and Democratic Statesmanship in Wartime” Foreign policy research institute. 2009. 7 August. 2013. Print Penn Schoen Berland. “Americans’ Perceptions of Abraham Lincoln” 2013. 7 August. 2013. Print Read More