Lincoln, The "Great Emancipator"

Paper Summary:

Lincoln has been called "The Great Emancipator" for his role in abolishing slavery. His legacy is two-fold; he is popularized both for having preserved the United States and for having freed the blacks. The paper shows that many moderns see Lincoln as a reformer who introduced modern ideas and revolutionized society; a moral reformer who applied the republican freedoms inspired by the enlightenment and procured by the founding fathers to all people regardless of color. Martin Luther King's place at the feet of Lincoln during the march on Washington is telling. The paper argues, however, that a more comprehensive understanding reveals that the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation was a calculated decision provoked by distinct motives and that Lincoln's perspective on black America is an exclusive product of the nineteenth century. The author uses texts written by Lincoln to substantiate his opinion.

From the Paper:

"For an adequate understanding of Lincoln's personal impression of the peculiar institution, we must consult the transcripts of his debates with Frederick Douglass. In the first of the debates, Lincoln confers to the crowd that he wishes for the blacks to be ejected from the United States. Instead of inclusion, he reflects the popular opinion that the blacks should reside in a colony established for them by Americans. He makes specific reference to Liberia, an African republic established by wealthy abolitionists for freed negro slaves. Only a small portion of white society at the time wanted freed blacks to remain within the United States, however Lincoln reflects the humanitarian logistical problems associated with exile: Lincoln feels that if blacks were deposited in Liberia without proper social mechanisms, they would all starve within 10 days."

More papers on Lincoln, The "Great Emancipator":

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• Book Review # 75532 : "The Real Lincoln" "

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