How Did Abraham Lincoln's Impact On Society

1906 Words8 Pages

The United States of America is a fairly young country; as it was the first successful European colony to separate from its motherland. As the nation developed, there were various prominent figures whose legacy is often measured by the impact they had upon the nation. Regardless if the impact was positive or negative, big or small, all early leaders had some impact. It is crucial to any nation to acquire leaders who will successfully lead the nation through war, and help rebuild the nation after. The Civil War involved the United States of America, the Northern states, the Confederate States of America, and the Southern states. The southern states had left the Union, over the straining disagreement of slavery. Abraham Lincoln was the president …show more content…

by changing social and economic standards, making him the most impactful early leader; while his successor Andrew Johnson was the least impactful because he failed to reconstruct the South which was his core responsibility as president. Although Lincoln was part of the reason the United States divided into the Union and Confederacy, he was also the reason they united back together. The Civil War showed strength in Lincoln’s leadership and opened up so many possibilities by completely changing social dynamics, specifically slavery. Slavery has deep roots in the foundation of the U.S.; so back then, when Lincoln proposed abolishing slavery, southerners thought it was absurd. Not only did his victorious election cause controversy, but the Emancipation Proclamation did as well. It angered Southerners more because freeing slaves out of his jurisdiction while there were slave states within his jurisdiction seemed highly hypocritical. It also messed with the Confederacy’s economy. Their economy, one of the strongest in the world, relied heavily upon the labor of slaves. Lincoln's passing of the 13th Amendment hit Southerners hard. Lincoln’s impact did not just stop there, the 14th and 15th Amendments were the results of Lincoln’s leadership. Abraham Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, was not as impactful. Johnson failed to firmly reconstruct the southern states. His lenient plan resulted in the South returning to similar pre-Civil War conditions. He was so concerned with making sure the government remained all-white and African Americans had no role in society, that he forgot to be a leader in developing the nation. In simple terms, Johnson’s opposition to the Freedman’s Bureau and the Civil Rights Act only stalled the incorporation of African Americans in the U.S. and delayed the development of the nation. During this period, it was Congress that made

Open Document