Abraham Lincoln has been known to many as "The Great Emancipator", but does he really deserves? These following five articles will explain and discuss the importance of political figure from different perspective. However, Lincoln portrayed as a man who, from early childhood, had but one goal, and that was to advocate on freeing the African-American slaves. .
"Article 1".
The first article "Lincoln, Race, and the Spirit of '76", by Lucas E. Morel. The thesis statement is that Lincoln sought to preserve the American union and its system of self-government by reclaiming the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and to recover the Spirit of '76 to the American mind which states that "all men are created equal". He also highlighted African-Americans' natural rights as a way to prevent the spread of slavery, and thereby save what he would later call "the last best hope of earth".1.
In the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, Lincoln highlights the importance of public opinion and the impact of opinion-makers. He focused on the need to return to the foundations of the Declaration of Independence and the ideas that shaped the creation of America in order to hold the Union together. Douglas uses his position as a former State Supreme Court Judge, incumbent U.S. Senator, and (notwithstanding James Buchanan's occupying the presidential chair) a leader of the Democratic Party.2 He also focused on the prejudices of his audience, saying that the government was created exclusively for whites in order to advocate "popular sovereignty," which maintained the right of the citizens of a territory to permit or prohibit slavery. Where it was, he said, a sacred right of self government. He portrayed Lincoln as promoting racial equality because of his statements against slavery. For Lincoln, he pointed out that Douglas's position directly challenged the Dred Scott decision, which decreed that the citizens of a territory had no such power.
