Civil War And Its Greatest Moral, Constitutional, And...

Lincoln is one of the â€Å"champions† of human life and dignity. He is one of the presidents in the US. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.By the 1850s, slavery was still legal in the southern United States, but had been generally outlawed in the northern states, including Illinois, whose original 1818 Constitution forbade slavery, as required by the Northwest Ordinance. Lincoln disapproved of slavery, and the spread of slavery to new U.S. territory in the west. On October 16, 1854, in his Peoria Speech, Lincoln declared his†¦show more content†¦Sandford; Chief Justice Roger B. Taney opined that blacks were not citizens, and derived no rights from the Constitution. Lincoln denounced the decision, alleging it was the product of a conspiracy of Demo crats to support the Slave Power. Lincoln argued that the authors of the Declaration of Independence never intended to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity , but they did consider all men created equal—equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness .After the state Republican party convention nominated him for the U.S. Senate in 1858, Lincoln delivered his House Divided Speech, drawing on Mark 3:25. He said that ahouse divided against it couldn’t stand. The speech created an evocative image of the danger of disunion caused by the slavery debate, and rallied Republicans across the North. The stage was then set for the campaign for statewide election of the Illinois legislature, which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas as its U.S. senator.On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States, beating Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, John C. Br eckinridge of the Southern Democrats, and John Bell of the new Constitutional Union Party. He was the first president from the Republican Party. As Lincoln s election became evident, secessionists made clear their intent to leave the Union before he took office the