For the final Portfolio Project, you will write a paper about a person or an event in a period of U.S. history up to Reconstruction that is relevant to your major area of study or of interest to you. You will write about this person or event from the pers

Abraham Lincoln's Murder

Abraham Lincoln's Murder

President Abraham Lincoln's assassination is a significant event in the history of the US. The assassination happened in the midst of the civil war and a reconstruction period for the US. The period marked a transformation period to the US which gave rise to the new American new state and the destruction of slavery (Oakes, 2011). Abraham Lincoln was at the heart of this transition, leading the American union, the north in the war against the south. The event is especially significant to the black Americans who were still fighting slavery and discrimination. This was because President Lincoln had shown a willingness and commitment to ending black slavery. Fredrick Douglass is a famous black slavery abolitionist who worked closely with President Lincoln's government towards the abolition of slavery. Fredrick had interacted with Lincoln for quite some time and had made progress in presenting black people's concerns to Lincoln. Fredrick Douglass admits that it is during Abraham Lincoln's tenure that the black Americans' indeed experienced a significant progress regarding the granting of their freedom and rights (Douglass, 1876). However, Abraham Lincoln's assassination brought a significant uncertainty to the direction slave abolition would take and its impact on the gains that had been achieved. The perceptions and impact of the event on the black Americans will be analyzed.

Event Summary

The year 1865 saw the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's assassination was conducted by a southern sympathizer Mr. John Wilkes Booth. As James, an eye witness recounts, the murder happened at a theatre as the president was watching a play. The act occurred immediately after the 3rd act, and after shooting the president, Mr. John Wilkes shouted "the south has been avenged" before fleeing (Knox, 1865).The event brought a devastation across the whole nation plunging the entire Northern Union in uncertainty regarding the future.

General Importance of the Event in the Context of the U.S history

The event was arranged and conducted by the South. This was in the wake of a national split that had occurred and was the primary basis of the civil war. The assassination was an act of war with the killing of Lincoln done to weaken the north. This is because the war against north was a fight between two different ideologies. The north believed in a total reorganization of the U.S institutions to form a healthy republic while the south was more opposite favoring the maintenance of the status quo (Douglass, 1876). At the center of the Northern Union's ideologies and values was President Lincoln who was the North's leader, leading the North in the fight for this ideologies.

One of the most contentious institutions at the heart of the conflict was slavery. The North favored the abolition of slavery. Whereas to the south, slavery was crucial to their economy. President Lincoln personally was against slavery. His ideology about slavery was that abolishing the vice was a moral obligation by the republic (Oakes, 2011). Fredrick Douglass describes Abraham Lincoln as a white man who still harbored white people's prejudice against the blacks but deep down knew that promoting African American's freedom was the right thing morally (Douglass, 1876). It is this ideology that led to Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation that secured the liberty of the slaves. This was a significant step towards real freedom for the black American community. The blacks were even allowed to go alongside the whites in the war against the south. True to his word, Abraham Lincoln after enacting the Emancipation Proclamation called for all slave holders to grant freedom to their slaves and those who were noncompliant were punished. This showed his stance against the vice of slavery.

However, it is worth noting that slavery was among one of the things that Abraham Lincoln was fighting. President Lincoln also had to deal with the crisis of a nation that was on the verge of breaking up. Therefore, he had to stand up for the General American Republic values. While the general perception was that the civil war was due to slavery, it is worth noting that slavery was only in the middle of the war with those fighting for the re-institutionalization of the country against slavery while those fighting for the status quo supporting slavery (Oakes, 2011). The assassination of the president was, therefore, to provide a blow to the fight for re- institution by eliminating the man who firmly held the values of institutional reform.

Impact of the Event on Daily life

The event was quite a devastation to the whole nation and the black Americans. The black Americans had just lost the only white man who had provided their hope for liberation (Oakes, 2011). The death of Lincoln had just thrown a big future uncertainty regarding the achievement of total liberation of the slave community. There was a significant tension as to the future actions of the next individual in power with the fear that the incoming president would reverse the gains that had been achieved. However, it is worth noting that amid the tension, the event also served as a reflective period for the blacks. It was a moment for the blacks to reflect as to how far they have come and this grew their appreciation to what Abraham Lincoln had done for them.

Long-term Impact on African Americans

Abraham Lincoln's activities carried a long-term effect to the future of the American republic and black Americans as well. Although his assassination denied him from seeing the results of his endeavor, it is worth noting that Lincoln's actions had a significant effect in shaping the destiny of the nation and black Americans. The main intention of the rebels as they assassinated President Lincoln was to weaken the Union's beliefs and cast doubt to their cause (New York Times, 1865). However, the main impact was an increased support to the general cause and a further weakening of the rebels cause.

It is worth noting that President Reagan actions, while he was alive, set a precedence as to the revolution direction that the republic would undertake. He stood for the republic's values, and his strong moral instincts are what led him to work towards slave liberalization. Lincoln's assassination further served to strengthen the cause through which his actions had started (Schantz, 2016). His death led to the unification of the nation towards the achievement of Abraham's Lincoln's cause (New York Times, 1865). The main effect of this was the liberalization of the black American society and the formation of a stable nation

In conclusion, we can say that President Lincoln played a crucial role in the black American's liberalization and the creation of the stable modern America that we live in today. While he was alive, President Lincoln dared to stand up against the societal vices. It is this courage that led him to break the cycle of black people oppression and resulted in a shift in focus from oppression to liberalization. While Abraham Lincoln did not live enough to accomplish the cause he had started fully, it was worth noting that this cause came to fulfillment through his assassination. His murder led to a unification of the nation behind his values and ideologies (Schantz, 2016). Fredrick Douglass described him as a man with white man's prejudice towards the blacks. However, it is worth noting that this didn't prevent him from doing what he believed was morally right. As a nation, we can all learn from Abraham Lincoln by learning to rise above our human nature and doing what is morally correct. This can be the key to the full address of the racial problem currently prevailing in our nation.

References

Oakes, J. (2011). The radical and the Republican. New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

New York Times (1865). The effect of President Lincoln's death on national affairs. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1865/04/17/news/the-effect-of-president-lincoln-s-death-on-national-affairs.html?mcubz=1

Douglass, F. (1876). Oration in memory of Abraham Lincoln, Washington, D.C., April 14, 1876 | A Lincoln Anthology | Frederick Douglass | Lit2Go ETC. Etc.usf.edu. Retrieved from http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/184/a-lincoln-anthology/4823/oration-in-memory-of-abraham-lincoln-washington-dc-april-14-1876

Knox, S. (1865). James S. Knox to Knox, Saturday, April 15, 1865 (Eyewitness account of Lincoln's assassination). Retrieved from http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mal:@field(DOCID+@lit(d4362700))