Essay On Abraham Lincoln's Role In The Civil War

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As President of the United States Abraham Lincoln not only played a major role during the civil war but also in the events preceding the war and his presidency. Lincoln was running for President in a country united by law but separated by political, social and economic differences. After winning office Abraham Lincoln had to deal with the issue of the Southern states seceding and also the outbreak of civil war. In conducting the civil war Lincoln had to successfully address an array of specific and inter-related issues if Union victory was to be attained. These include; marshalling the American economy to meet the tremendous war needs of several million soldiers, raising a citizen's army of volunteers willing to be trained and to die for the Union, adopting war strategies for the Union Army, handling foreign affairs, dealing with the problem of slavery without destroying the democratic freedoms upon which the nation was founded. As Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, contended for the role of president in a nation engulfed by sectional division, the southern states were threatening to seclude themselves from the Union. The dynamic force at work in the crisis was southern perception of the Republican Party, not merely as a political opposition, but as a hostile, revolutionary…show more content…
For the Union, Lincoln adopted the so-called "Anaconda strategy", which required the encirclement of the Confederacy by securing the border states. This was also supplemented by massive naval blockades in the South by the Union Navy. Within a year, Lincoln modified the plan to include invasion of the South. Lincoln appointed and replaced his generals at a pace that most observers considered unwise. In his mind, however, he wanted commanders who could win battles, pursue defeated armies, and engage the enemy no matter the cost in lives or
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