Lincoln's political activities. The role of A. Lincoln as US President in the development of the American economy

Biography

Abraham Lincoln (English: Abraham Lincoln [ˈeɪbrəhæm ˈlɪŋkən]) (February 12, 1809, Hodgenville, Kentucky - April 15, 1865, Washington) - American statesman, 16th President of the United States (1861-1865) and the first of the Republican party, liberator of American slaves, national hero of the American people. Included in the list of the 100 most studied personalities in history.

He grew up in the family of a poor farmer. From an early age he was engaged in physical labor. Due to the difficult financial situation of his family, he attended school for no more than a year, but managed to learn to read and write and fell in love with books. Having become an adult, he began an independent life, educated himself, passed exams and received permission to practice law. During the Indian Uprising in Illinois, he joined the militia and was elected captain, but did not take part in the fighting. He was also a member of the Illinois Legislative Assembly, the House of Representatives of the US Congress, in which he opposed the Mexican-American War. In 1858 he became a candidate for US senator, but lost the election.

As an opponent of the expansion of slavery into new territories, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the Republican Party, was chosen as its presidential candidate and won the elections of 1860. His election signaled the secession of the southern states and the emergence of the Confederacy. In his inaugural speech he called for the reunification of the country, but was unable to prevent conflict.

Lincoln personally directed the military effort that led to victory over the Confederacy during the Civil War of 1861-1865. His presidency led to the strengthening of executive power and the abolition of slavery in the United States. Lincoln included his opponents in the government and was able to bring them to work towards a common goal. The President kept Great Britain and other European countries from intervention throughout the war. During his presidency, the transcontinental railroad was built, the Homestead Act was adopted, which resolved the agrarian question. Lincoln was an outstanding speaker, his speeches inspired the northerners and are a bright legacy to this day. At the end of the war, he proposed a plan for moderate Reconstruction, associated with national harmony and renunciation of revenge. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was mortally wounded in a theater, becoming the first US president to be assassinated. According to conventional wisdom and social polls, he remains one of America's best and most beloved presidents, although he was subject to severe criticism during his presidency.

Childhood

Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, into a family of uneducated farmers - Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, who lived in a small log cabin on the Sinking Spring farm. in Gardin County, Kentucky. His paternal grandfather Abraham, for whom the boy was later named, moved his family from Virginia to Kentucky, where he was ambushed and killed during a raid against Indians in 1786. Lincoln's mother, Nancy, was born in West Virginia. Together with her mother, she moved to Kentucky, where she met Thomas Lincoln, a respected and wealthy citizen of Kentucky. By the time Abraham was born to them, Thomas owned two farms totaling about 500 hectares, several buildings in the city, and a large number of livestock and horses. He was one of the richest men in the area. However, in 1816, Thomas loses all his lands in court cases due to a legal error in property rights.

The family moves north to Indiana to explore new free lands. Lincoln later noted that the move was largely due to legal problems with the land, but partly due to the situation with slavery in the South. At age nine, Abraham lost his mother, then his older sister, Sarah, took on the responsibility of caring for him until their father remarried in 1819 to the widow Sarah Bush Johnston.

The stepmother, who had three children from her first marriage, quickly became close to young Lincoln, and in the end he even began to call her “Mom.” Until the age of ten, Abraham disliked the housework that comes with a frontier lifestyle. Some in his family, as well as among his neighbors, even considered him lazy for a time. Later he began to willingly do everything that was required of him. Young Lincoln participated in field work, and, as he grew older, he worked in a variety of ways - at the post office, as a lumberjack, as a land surveyor and as a boatman. He was especially good at chopping wood. Lincoln avoided hunting and fishing because of his moral convictions. Lincoln also agreed to the customary obligation of a son to give his father all earnings from work outside the home until age 21.

At the same time, Lincoln became increasingly alienated from his father, in particular due to the latter's lack of education. Abraham became the first in the family to learn to write and count, although, according to his own admission, he attended school for no more than a year because of the need to help the family. Since childhood, he was addicted to books, and carried his love for them throughout his life. Dennis, his childhood friend, later wrote:

“After Abe was 12 years old, there was never a time when I saw him without a book in his hands... At night in the hut, he would knock over a chair, block the light with it, sit on his edge and read. It was just weird that a guy could read that much.”

As a child, Lincoln read the Bible, Robinson Crusoe, The History of George Washington, and Aesop's fables. In addition, he helped his neighbors write letters, thus honing their grammar and style. Sometimes he even walked 30 miles to court to hear lawyers speak.

Youth

In 1830, Abraham Lincoln's family moved again. Lincoln, having become an adult, decides to start an independent life. He found temporary work that took him down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where Lincoln visited a slave market and maintained his lifelong dislike of slavery. He soon settled in the village of New Salem, Illinois. There he devoted all his free hours to self-education and classes with a local school teacher. At night, the future president read books by the light of a torch.

In 1832, Lincoln ran for a seat in the Illinois Legislature but was defeated. After this, he began to systematically study science. Lincoln initially wanted to become a blacksmith, but after meeting a justice of the peace, he took up law. At the same time, he and his companion tried to make money in a trading store, but things were not going well. Sandburg, author of a popular biography of the president, writes:

“...Lincoln did what he read and dreamed. He had nothing to do, and he could sit for days with his thoughts, no one would interrupt him. Beneath this outward immobility, mental and moral maturation took place, slowly and steadily.”

In 1832, an uprising of Indians broke out in Illinois, who did not want to leave their native places and move west, across the Mississippi River. Lincoln joined the militia and was elected captain, but did not take part in the fighting. In 1833, Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem. Thanks to this, he received more free time, which he devoted to studies. The new position allowed him to read political newspapers before leaving.

At the end of 1833, Lincoln received the position of surveyor. Having agreed to this work, he spent six weeks intensively studying Gibson's Theory and Practice of Surveying and Flint's Course in Geometry, Trigonometry and Topography.

During his years living in New Salem, Lincoln often had to borrow money. His habit of repaying his debts in full earned him one of his most famous nicknames - “Honest Abe.”

Beginning of a career as a politician and lawyer

In 1835 (at age 26), Lincoln was elected to the Illinois State Legislature, where he joined the Whigs. When Lincoln entered the political arena, Andrew Jackson was President of the United States. Lincoln welcomed his reliance on the people in political actions, but did not approve of the policy of the federal center refusing to regulate the economic life of the states. After the session of the Assembly, he took up the study of law even more decisively than before. Having studied on his own, Lincoln passed the bar exam in 1836. That same year, in the Legislative Assembly, Lincoln managed to achieve the transfer of the state capital from Vandaleia to Springfield, where he moved in 1837. There, together with William Butler, he united in the firm “Stuart and Lincoln”. The young legislator and lawyer quickly gained authority thanks to his oratorical abilities and impeccable reputation. He often refused to take fees from insolvent citizens whom he defended in court; traveled to different parts of the state to help people resolve litigation. After the assassination of an abolitionist newspaper publisher in 1837, Lincoln gave his first principled speech at the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, emphasizing the values ​​of democracy, the Constitution, and the legacy of the Founding Fathers.

Family

In 1840, Lincoln met Mary Todd, a girl from Kentucky (English Mary Todd, 1818-1882) and on November 4, 1842 they married. Mary gave birth to four sons, of whom only the eldest, Robert Lincoln, lived long enough. Edward Lincoln was born March 10, 1846 and died February 1, 1850 in Springfield. William Lincoln was born December 21, 1850 and died February 20, 1862 in Washington, during his father's presidency. Thomas Lincoln was born April 4, 1853, died July 16, 1871 in Chicago.

Political career before presidency

In 1846, Lincoln was elected to the House of Representatives (1847-1849) from the Whig Party. In Washington, not being a particularly influential figure, he, however, actively opposed the actions of President Polk in the Mexican-American War, considering it unjustified aggression on the part of the United States. Nevertheless, Lincoln voted for Congress to allocate funds for the army, for the material support of disabled soldiers, wives, and lost husbands, and also supported the demand for women's voting rights. Lincoln sympathized with the abolitionists and was an opponent of slavery, but did not recognize extreme measures and advocated the gradual emancipation of slaves, since he put the integrity of the Union above their freedom.

Popular opposition to the Mexican-American War damaged Lincoln's reputation in his home state, and he decided to forgo re-election to the House of Representatives. In 1849, Lincoln was notified that he had been appointed secretary of the then Oregon Territory. Accepting the offer would have meant the end of his career at booming Illinois, so he declined the assignment. Lincoln withdrew from political activity and in subsequent years practiced law, became one of the leading lawyers in the state, and was legal counsel for the Illinois Central railroad. During his 23-year legal career, Lincoln was involved in 5,100 cases (excluding unreported cases), and he and his partners appeared before the State Supreme Court more than 400 times.

In 1856, like many former Whigs, he joined the anti-slavery Republican Party created in 1854, and in 1858 he was nominated as a candidate for a seat in the US Senate. His opponent in the election was Democrat Stephen Douglas. The debate between Lincoln and Douglas, during which the issue of slavery was discussed, became widely known (some called this debate a dispute between the “little giant” (S. Douglas) and the “big sucker” (A. Lincoln)). Lincoln was not an abolitionist, but opposed slavery on moral grounds. He viewed slavery as a necessary evil in the agrarian economy of the South. Trying to challenge the arguments of Douglas, who accused his opponent of radicalism, Lincoln assured that he was not in favor of granting political and civil rights to blacks and interracial marriages, since in his opinion the physical difference between the white and black races and the superiority of the former would never allow “them to coexist.” in conditions of social and political equality.” The issue of slavery, in his opinion, was within the competence of individual states and the federal government had no constitutional right to interfere in this problem. At the same time, Lincoln firmly opposed the spread of slavery to new territories, which undermined the foundations of slavery, because its extensive nature required expansion into the undeveloped lands of the West. Stephen Douglas won the election, but Lincoln’s anti-slavery speech “A House Divided,” in which he substantiated the impossibility of the country’s continued existence in a state of “half-slavery and half-freedom,” spread widely in the United States, creating its author’s reputation as an anti-slavery fighter.

In October 1859, John Brown's rebellion broke out in the South, seizing the government arsenal and planning to start a slave rebellion in the South. The detachment was blocked by troops and destroyed. Lincoln condemned Brown's actions as an attempt to forcefully resolve the issue of slavery.

Presidential elections and inauguration

Moderate positions on the issue of slavery determined the election of Lincoln as a compromise presidential candidate from the Republican Party in the elections of 1860. The southern states threatened to secede from the Union if the Republicans won. Both parties, Democratic and Republican, fought over the values ​​that the candidates represented. Americans associated Lincoln's personality with hard work, honesty, and social mobility. Coming from the people, he was a “self-made” man. On November 6, 1860, participation in elections exceeded 80% of the population for the first time. Lincoln, largely thanks to the split in the Democratic Party, which nominated two candidates, managed to get ahead of his rivals in the elections and become President of the United States and the first from his new party. Lincoln won the election mainly due to the support of the North. In nine southern states, Lincoln's name did not appear on the ballot at all, and he managed to win only 2 out of 996 counties.

Division of the Union and Lincoln's Inauguration

Lincoln opposed the spread of slavery, and his election victory further divided the American people. Even before his inauguration, 7 southern states, at the initiative of South Carolina, announced their secession from the United States. The Upper South (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal, but soon joined the rebellion. Incumbent President James Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize secession. In February 1861, the Constitutional Convention in Montgomery (Alabama) proclaimed the creation of the Confederate States of America, and Jefferson Davis was elected president, who took the oath of office that same month. Richmond became the capital of the state.

Lincoln evaded would-be assassins in Baltimore and arrived in Washington on February 23, 1861, on a special train. During his inauguration on March 4, the capital was filled with troops to ensure order. In his speech, Lincoln said:

I believe that, from the point of view of universal law and the Constitution, the union of these states is eternal. Eternity, even if not expressly expressed, is implied in the Basic Law of all government forms of government. It is safe to say that no system of government as such has ever had in its Basic Law a provision for the termination of its own existence...

And again, if the United States is not a system of government in the proper sense of the word, but an association of States founded merely by compact, can it, as a compact, be peaceably dissolved by fewer parties than were at its creation? One party to the contract can violate it, that is, break it, but isn’t everyone’s consent required to legally cancel it? Based on these general principles, we come to the statement that from a legal point of view the Union is eternal, and this is confirmed by the history of the Union itself. ...It follows that no state has the right to secede from the Union purely on its own initiative, that decisions and regulations adopted for this purpose have no legal force, and that acts of violence committed within any state (or states) directed against the Government of the United States , acquire, depending on the circumstances, an insurrectionary or revolutionary character.

In his speech, Lincoln also stated that he had “no intention of interfering, directly or indirectly, with the institution of slavery in those States where it exists”: “I believe that I have no legal right to do so, and I am not inclined to do so.” . Lincoln called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and restoration of the unity of the United States. However, the exit had already been completed and the Confederation was intensively preparing for military action. The overwhelming majority of representatives of the southern states in the US Congress left it and went over to the side of the South.

After taking office, Lincoln used a protectionist system of distributing posts. Already in the spring of 1861, 80% of the posts controlled by Democrats were occupied by Republicans. When forming the government, Lincoln included his opponents in it: the post of US Secretary of State was William Seward, Secretary of Justice - Edward Bates, Secretary of the Treasury - Salmon Chase.

American Civil War

Beginning of the war (1861-1862)
The fighting began on April 12, 1861, with a Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in Charleston Bay, which was forced to surrender after 34 hours of shelling. In response, Lincoln declared the Southern states in a state of rebellion, ordered a naval blockade of the Confederacy, drafted 75,000 volunteers into the army, and later introduced conscription. Even before Lincoln’s inauguration, a lot of weapons and ammunition were brought to the south, and seizures of federal arsenals and warehouses were organized. The most combat-ready units were located here, which were replenished with hundreds of officers who left the federal army. The beginning of the Civil War was unsuccessful for the North. Southerners, prepared for combat, were in a hurry to defeat the Union forces before the North mobilized its superior military and economic potential. Heavily criticized for military defeats and economic difficulties, Lincoln, despite his lack of military experience, took decisive steps to form a combat-ready army, not even stopping at restricting civil liberties or spending funds not yet approved in the Congressional budget. In the first major battle in Virginia, at the Manassas railroad station on July 21, 1861, the Federal army was defeated. On November 1, Lincoln appointed J.B. McLellan, who avoided active action, as commander in chief. On October 21, its units were defeated near Washington. On November 8, 1861, the British steamer Trent was captured, carrying southern ambassadors. This sparked the Affair of Trent and nearly led to war against Great Britain.

In February-March 1862, General Ulysses Grant managed to oust the southerners from Tennessee and Kentucky. By the summer, Missouri was liberated, and Grant's troops entered the northern regions of Mississippi and Alabama. As a result of the landing operation on April 25, 1862, New Orleans was captured. McClellan was removed from his post as commander-in-chief by Lincoln and placed at the head of one of the armies whose task was to capture Richmond. McLellan chose defensive action instead of offensive action. On August 29-30, the Northerners were defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run, after which Lincoln called up 500,000 men. On September 7, at Antietam Creek, the South's 40,000-man army was attacked by McClellan's 70,000-man army, which defeated the Confederates. The flooding of the Potomac River cut off Lee's route of retreat, but McClellan, despite Lincoln's orders, abandoned the offensive and missed the opportunity to complete the defeat of the southerners.

After the Battle of Antietam, Great Britain and France refused to enter the war and recognize the Confederacy. During the war, Russia maintained friendly relations with the United States. The Russian squadron visited San Francisco and New York in 1863-1864.

The year 1862 was also marked by the first battle of armored ships in history, which took place on March 9 off the coast of Virginia. The 1862 campaign ended with the defeat of the Northerners at Friedericksberg on December 13.

Political process

The difficult situation of the federal army caused discontent among the population. Lincoln was under pressure from the Republican Party, which included both supporters of the immediate abolition of slavery and those advocating the gradual emancipation of slaves. Lincoln adhered to a policy of compromise, thanks to which he was able to prevent a split in the party. He was convinced that even in wartime a political process must be carried out in the country. This made it possible to maintain freedom of speech throughout the Civil War, avoiding serious restrictions on civil liberties and a crisis in the two-party system. During Lincoln's presidency, elections were held and citizens participated in government. After the Southern attack on Fort Sumter, some members of the Democratic Party formed a “loyal opposition” that supported government policies. On August 22, 1862, in an interview with the New York Tribune, when asked why he was slow to free the slaves, Lincoln replied:

My highest object in this struggle is the preservation of the union, not the preservation or abolition of slavery. If I could save the union without freeing a single slave, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing some slaves and not others. freed, I would do it. What I do in the matter of slavery and for the colored race, I do because I believe it will help preserve the union... By this I have explained here my intention, which I consider as an official duty. And I do not intend to change my often expressed personal desire that all people everywhere should be free.

Homestead

At the initiative of Abraham Lincoln, the Homestead Act was passed on May 20, 1862, according to which every citizen of the United States who had reached the age of 21 and had not fought for the Confederacy could receive from public trust land a plot of land not exceeding 160 acres (65 hectares) upon payment of a registration fee. fee of 10 dollars. The law came into force on January 1, 1863. A settler who began to cultivate the land and began to erect buildings on it received free ownership of this land after 5 years. The plot could be purchased ahead of schedule by paying $1.25 per acre. Under the Homestead Act, about 2 million homesteads were distributed in the United States, totaling about 285 million acres (115 million hectares). This law radically solved the agrarian problem, directed the development of agriculture along the farmer path, led to the settlement of previously deserted areas and provided Lincoln with the support of the broad masses of the population.

Freeing the Slaves

Failures in the war and its prolongation gradually changed Lincoln's attitude towards the issue of slavery. He came to the conclusion that the United States would either become completely free or completely slave-owning. It became clear that the main goal of the war - the restoration of the Union - was becoming unattainable without the abolition of slavery. Lincoln, who had always advocated the gradual emancipation of blacks on a compensatory basis, now believed that slavery must be abolished. Preparations for the abolition of the institute were carried out throughout 1862. On December 30, 1862, the President signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring blacks living in territories in rebellion against the United States “now and forever” free. The document gave impetus to the adoption of the XIII Amendment (1865) to the American Constitution, which completely abolished slavery in the United States. The Proclamation was rightfully criticized by Radical Republicans because it emancipated slaves in areas where the federal government did not extend authority, but it changed the nature of the Civil War, turning it into a war to abolish slavery. In addition, it forced foreign countries, including Great Britain, not to support the Confederacy. British Prime Minister Palmerston was unable to organize an intervention due to public resistance. The emancipation of the slaves made it possible to recruit black Americans into the army. By the end of the war, there were 180 thousand blacks in the federal troops.

Lincoln Assassination

The Civil War ended with the surrender of the Confederate States of America on April 9, 1865. The country was about to undergo Southern Reconstruction and begin the process of integrating blacks into American society. Five days after the end of the war, on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, at the performance of Our American Cousin (at Ford's Theater), pro-Southern actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln in the head. The next morning, Abraham Lincoln died without regaining consciousness. Millions of Americans, white and black, came to pay their last respects to their president during the two-and-a-half week journey of the funeral train from Washington to Springfield. The train was carrying two coffins: a large coffin containing the body of Abraham Lincoln and a small one containing the body of his son William, who had died three years earlier during Lincoln's presidency. Abraham and William Lincoln were buried in Springfield in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Lincoln's tragic death contributed to the creation around his name of an aura of a martyr who gave his life for the reunification of the country and the liberation of black slaves.

Results of the Presidency and Historical Significance of Abraham Lincoln

The Civil War was the deadliest military conflict in the history of the United States and the most difficult test for American democracy. Abraham Lincoln became a central historical figure in the consciousness of the American people, a man who prevented the collapse of the United States and made a significant contribution to the formation of the American nation and the abolition of slavery as the main obstacle to the subsequent normal development of the country. Lincoln marked the beginning of the modernization of the South and the emancipation of slaves. He is the author of the formulation of the main goal of democracy: “A government created by the people, from the people and for the people.” During his presidency, a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific Ocean was also built, the infrastructure system was expanded, a new banking system was created, and the agrarian problem was solved. However, at the end of the war, the country faced many problems, including the unity of the nation and equalization of the rights of blacks and whites. In part, these problems still face American society. After Lincoln's assassination, the economy of the United States became the most dynamically developing economy in the world for a long time, which allowed the country to become a world leader at the beginning of the 20th century. In many ways, his personal qualities made it possible to mobilize the forces of the state and reunite the country. Lincoln adhered to strict moral principles and had a sense of humor, but was also prone to strong melancholy. To this day, Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most intellectual presidents of the United States. As a sign of the gratitude of the American people, a memorial was erected in Washington to the sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln as one of the four presidents who determined the historical development of the United States of America.

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN(12.02.1809-14.04.1865)

Among the outstanding political figures of the world, the sixteenth president occupies a special place

3ent USA Abraham Lincoln. His presidency occurred during the American Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865 and claimed the lives of about 600 thousand Americans. Lincoln will forever be remembered in history as the man who prevented the collapse of the United States and freed the slaves. He is rightfully considered to continue the work of the “founding fathers” of the United States, the creators of American democracy.

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in Kentucky into the family of a poor farmer. His entire well-being depended on the piece of land on which Abraham's parents, Thomas and Nancy Lincoln, worked. Since childhood, Abraham was accustomed to working, helping his parents cultivate the land, hunting and collecting wild berries. American farmers at the beginning of the 19th century. many dangers awaited. Indian attacks, epidemics, and land depletion forced them to frequently move from place to place. The Lincoln family was no exception. This prevented Abraham from even receiving a primary education. He himself spoke about it this way: “It is undeniable that when I came of age, I knew little. However, I somehow read, counted and wrote, and that was all I could.” His natural curiosity, excellent memory, and constant desire for self-education helped him out. He loved to read. His favorite books as a child were Robinson Crusoe, Aesop's Fables, and History of the United States.

Lincoln achieved everything in life through his own efforts. Having started an independent life at the age of 21, he tried many professions. He worked as a land surveyor, storekeeper, lumberjack, postal worker, and even fought with the Indians. For several years, Lincoln studied law, hoping to become a licensed attorney. His interests also included history and philology, and he independently studied mechanics and mathematics. Living among ordinary people, Lincoln managed to gain authority through success in sports, especially wrestling.

Nature rewarded Lincoln with a striking appearance. Huge in stature, with unusually long arms and legs, his figure stood out in any crowd. One of Lincoln's contemporaries recalled that he exuded magnetism and energy that attracted people to him.

Lincoln took his first steps in politics in 1834, when he was elected to the Illinois State Legislature, having undergone an excellent political school here and gaining authority among his colleagues. In 1836, Lincoln passed a difficult exam and received the right to practice as a lawyer. After becoming a lawyer, he moved to the city of Springfield. Lincoln began to earn good money for the first time in his life. To do this, he had to practice not only in Springfield, but throughout the judicial district. Every spring and fall, on horseback or in a buggy, he traveled hundreds of miles across the sparsely populated prairie from one village to another, sorting out the litigation of farmers. The cases were mostly small, and the fees for them were negligible. Lincoln achieved fame in the state of Illinois with his deep knowledge of jurisprudence and unselfishness.

The next step in Abraham Lincoln's political career was his election to the House of Representatives of the US Congress in 1847. Working in Congress opens up the opportunity to apply for a place in the government of the country. However, Lincoln failed to stand out among American legislators this time. Moreover, by opposing American aggression in Mexico and the policies of President Polk, Lincoln made many political enemies. The fact was that the United States at that time was pursuing an active policy of seizing the lands of neighboring countries, especially Mexico. With the help of weapons and money, Americans in the first half of the 19th century. increased their territory by 3.5 times. The majority of the country's population supported such government actions. Lincoln, being a staunch opponent of wars, strongly opposed the American invasion of Mexico. Assessing the actions of the government, he stated that “the political course of the Democrats leads to new wars, territorial conquests, and the further spread of slavery.”

When his term in the House of Representatives expired in 1849, he did not even try to re-enter his candidacy. Returning home from Congress to Springfield marked the onset of the worst period in Lincoln's life: he lost political popularity, his legal practice declined significantly, and he incurred large debts. But over the next three or four years, through perseverance and knowledge, Lincoln became a leading lawyer in the state of Illinois. Having taken on this or that case, he always sought a thorough investigation, knew the laws relevant to the matter down to the subtleties, and was able to overcome all the formalities and get to the essence of the issue. Traveling around the judicial district, he regained his former popularity.

An unsuccessful test of strength in Congress did not force Lincoln to abandon political activity. He had no intention of limiting himself to the work of a lawyer and joined the Republican Party, formed on February 25, 1854. At this time, the political struggle within the United States revolved around the issue of undeveloped lands in the west of the country and territories seized from other countries. The southern states, where the plantation slave economy flourished, wanted to extend slavery to new territories. The northern states, where there was no slavery, believed that these lands should go to free farmers and the industrial bourgeoisie. But the question of free land was only part of a more complex and important question for the United States about the future of the country as a whole: whether capitalist forms of property would develop in it or whether the plantation-slave system of the economy would prevail. The issue of slavery was very pressing. Throughout the civilized world it was condemned and the slave trade was prohibited. The United States, so proud of its democracy, continued to secretly buy slaves and import them into the country.

The blacks never accepted their terrible situation. They raised uprisings and fled to the North, but the planters of the South brutally suppressed the uprisings and rounded up the escaped slaves as if they were wild animals. In 1850, they won the right to hunt fugitive slaves throughout the country. Progressive people were sympathetic to the struggle of blacks and advocated the abolition of slavery in the United States. The most determined of them, uniting with the slaves, embarked on the path of armed struggle against the slave owners. So, in 1859, John Brown, having created a small detachment of whites and blacks, tried to raise an uprising for the emancipation of all slaves in the South. But the local population did not support the rebels, John Brown was captured and executed.

Abraham Lincoln was anti-slavery. As an 18-year-old boy, Lincoln visited New Orleans, the largest slave trading center in the South. He was shocked that people were being sold like animals at the city market. “I hate slavery because slavery itself is monstrously unjust.” - said Lincoln. But as a politician, he understood that attempts to put an end to the shameful phenomenon with drastic measures would only lead to war and the collapse of the state. He admitted to those close to him that the issue of abolishing slavery and preserving the Union of States was a very difficult problem for him. Therefore, he was extremely careful in his political statements.

Lincoln believed that preserving the Union was more important than all other issues. “Although I hate slavery, I would rather agree to its expansion than see the Union disintegrate,” he said. The prospect of a struggle between the South and the North of the country seemed to Lincoln like this: “A house destroyed by quarrels cannot stand. I am sure that the present government cannot be stable if it remains half slave and half free. I do not expect that the union will be dissolved, that the house will collapse, and I believe that the discord within it will cease. It will become either completely free or completely slave-owning.” Lincoln was confident in the possibility of a peaceful solution to the dispute between the North and the South. In his heart he hoped that if slavery were limited only to the southern states, then it would gradually die out. Slave labor led to the fact that the land was poorly cultivated and quickly became scarce, and planters, in order to make a profit from their farms, had to constantly expand the territories of their possessions.

Late 50s 19th century was a turning point in Lincoln's life. Actively participating in political disputes, he gained wide popularity in the country. Speaking in various parts of the country, Lincoln showed himself to be an intelligent and cautious politician. He did not support the demand for the abolition of slavery and tried with all his might to prevent a civil war. At the Republican Party meeting in Chicago, Lincoln was nominated as a presidential candidate. Now there was a difficult fight ahead with Democratic candidates supporting the slave owners of the South. During the election campaign, Lincoln, through restraint and the ability to avoid extremes, managed to convince voters and, having won the election on November 6, 1860, became President of the United States. president lincoln liberation slave

The election of the Republican served as an impetus for the secession of eight slaveholding states, which announced on February 4, 1861 the creation of an independent state - the Confederate States of America with its capital in Richmond, which elected Jefferson Davis as its president.

Lincoln found himself in a difficult situation. He had no experience in governing the country; a government had not yet been formed. Lincoln wanted to convince slaveholders to abandon the division of the Union. Meanwhile, circumstances required quick and decisive measures. The Confederates attacked and captured Fort Sumter. Two days later, Lincoln declared the Confederate states in a state of rebellion and called on “all loyal citizens” to come to the defense of the country. 75 thousand volunteers joined the army. A civil war began between North and South.

At first, Lincoln thought that the northerners would be able to quickly defeat the slaveholders. Indeed, the northern states occupied a large territory, most of the country's citizens lived there, and they had a well-developed industry. But the North was not ready for war. Many army officers - natives of the southern states - with the outbreak of the war went over to the side of the slave owners. In addition, in the northern states there were many supporters of the Confederacy, who in every possible way harmed the government troops. So the experience of governing the country and the army came to President Lincoln through the bitterness of defeats and failures. On April 12, 1865, a ceremony was held near the city of Appamotox for the southerners to surrender their weapons.

Lincoln began to restore order with the government. His kindness, fairness to opponents, balance, humor and generosity allowed him to create a well-functioning government, consisting of both supporters of the emancipation of slaves and those who were inclined to reconcile with slave owners. Lincoln defined his task in the Civil War as follows: “My main object in this struggle is to save the Union, regardless of the preservation or destruction of slavery. If I can save the Union without freeing the slaves, I will do so; if I can save him only by freeing all the slaves, I will do so; if I can save it by freeing some of the slaves, I will do so.” The President skillfully maneuvered between the opinions of government ministers. He patiently listened to everyone, but made decisions on his own.

Another difficult problem was creating a strong army. Lincoln drew attention to the talented general Ulysses Grant and appointed him commander of the northern army. Together with other capable generals - Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas - Grant was able to carry out a large joint offensive against the southern states.

President Lincoln also proved himself to be a talented diplomat. A striking example is the so-called “Trent case”. Aboard the English ship Trent, two Confederate diplomats headed to Great Britain and France to persuade Europeans to help the South. However, the English ship was detained by the northerners, and the envoys of the southerners were arrested. The British government regarded the actions of the northerners as an insult. Lincoln understood that the British on the side of the South was unacceptable, and released the diplomats. The threat of war with Great Britain disappeared.

Two laws passed by Abraham Lincoln during the war were critical to the Northern victory and the subsequent development of the United States. According to the law on homesteads, anyone could receive a plot of land of 65 hectares for a symbolic fee of 10 dollars. With this, Lincoln attracted many people who wanted land to the army of the northerners, and laid the foundations of modern American farming. Another law signed by Lincoln on January 1, 1863 was the famous Emancipation Proclamation for Negro Slaves. Lincoln himself assessed the document as follows: “If my name ever goes down in history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.” The Proclamation, however, freed only the slaves of the rebel states. Lincoln feared that if slavery were completely abolished, the rebel states might be joined by those slave states that had not seceded from the Union. But when the Civil War was rapidly approaching its conclusion and the victory of the North was obvious, at Lincoln’s initiative the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was adopted, forever banning slavery.

The Homestead Act and the emancipation of slaves are Lincoln's outstanding contributions to the development of true individual freedom in the United States. The President demonstrated by his own example respect for human dignity. Lincoln received black visitors, something no US president had done before, and one of his friends was the former slave Frederick Douglass.

Lincoln understood and loved his people, and American citizens responded with universal support. On November 8, 1864, at the next election he was elected president for a second term. On April 9, 1865, Southern troops under the command of General Robert E. Lee capitulated. The American Civil War ended, but the president became one of the last victims of this bloody war. On April 14, 1865, while the country was celebrating victory, Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head at Ford's Theater in Washington. After committing the crime, the murderer, actor John Boots, a fanatical supporter of the southerners, jumped onto the stage and shouted: “This is how tyrants die. The South is avenged!

The death of Abraham Lincoln literally shocked the whole world. An endless stream of people went to the White House to say goodbye to the man who led the country out of a severe crisis, rallying supporters of the unity of the country and the abolition of slavery. Only by maintaining a single state could the United States subsequently become the leading power in the world. Assessing Lincoln's merits, the great Russian writer L.N. Tolstoy said this: “He was what Beethoven was in music, Dante in poetry, Raphael in painting, Christ in the philosophy of life.”

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The decade immediately preceding the Civil War was a time of rapidly developing revolutionary crisis. Political factors contributed to the aggravation of the slavery issue. For several decades, slave owners controlled the central links of political power in the country: the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court. First of all, they began to lose influence in Congress. The rapid population growth of the northern states (the flow of European immigration was directed there) led to the predominance of northerners in the House of Representatives. Not wanting to allow the dominance of the northern states in the Senate, the planters sought to maintain an equal number of free and slave states. During the first half of the 19th century. they managed to achieve this goal. If in the northern states the bourgeois order, farm agriculture, and capitalist industry were quickly established, then in the southern states the slave system dominated (No. 19, p. 212).

The planters of the South farmed using extensive methods, constantly needed new lands and sought to seize fertile lands in the West. But these lands were also claimed by the North American bourgeoisie, farmers and settlers. Further expansion of the territory of the plantation economy ensured the preservation of slavery. Planters traditionally exported agricultural products and raw materials to European countries and imported industrial goods from there (No. 25, p. 98). As a result, North American manufacturers were deprived of a source of raw materials and a market for industrial products. These factors led to contradictions between the capitalist North and the slave-owning South. Due to the weakness of the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie of the North, political power belonged to the planters, who nominated their proteges for president. The desire to maintain low duties on industrial goods imported from Europe forced some farmers to also give their votes to southern candidates (No. 54, p. 182).

However, an increasing number of people opposed slavery, in the 50s of the XIX century. the fight against slavery intensified. The need to abolish slavery became inevitable. During the armed struggle against slavery, the Republican Party was formed in the state of Kansas, uniting in its ranks the bourgeoisie and farmers who were opponents of slavery (No. 35, p. 69).

In 1861, the states created the Confederacy, whose troops rebelled in April and captured forts and arsenals in the south of the country. The outbreak of the Civil War was the result of aggravation of economic and socio-political contradictions between two social systems: the system of wage labor and the system of slavery. The nature of the war was a bourgeois-democratic revolution, the second revolution on US territory. Slave-owning planters fought to preserve slavery as a social system and spread it throughout the country. The northerners considered the main task at the first stage of the war to be the restoration of the Union of all states and the prevention of the spread of slavery to new regions.

The creation of the Confederacy of Southern slaveholding states was accompanied by the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America on March 11, 1861, which included a provision declaring black slavery a “state of nature.” Foreign slave trade was prohibited. This decision was intended to ensure the speedy recognition by European countries of a new state entity in North America. The Government of the Confederation sent its special representatives to the capitals of England, France, Russia and Belgium in order to establish diplomatic relations with them. At the same time, a Confederate delegation was also sent to Washington to resolve issues related to the division of federal property, as well as recognition of the new North American state (No. 32, p. 126).

The Buchanan administration directed its diplomats in Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, England, France, Russia and Holland to convey to the governments of their countries of accreditation a message expressing the hope that they "will not take any steps that may encourage revolutionary movement of seceding states or increase the danger of discontent in those states that still remain loyal” to the Union (No. 57, pp. 86-87).

The message received by the Russian government, in part, read: “If the independence of the “Confederate States” is recognized by the great powers of Europe, it may disrupt the friendly relations, diplomatic and commercial, which now exist between those powers and the United States. All these consequences, which the imperial court will certainly witness, are contrary to both the interests of Russia and the interests of our country!” (No. 44, p. 163).

Lincoln did not comment on this issue before officially taking office. Meanwhile, the seceding states captured almost all the federal forts, arsenals, post offices, and customs houses within their territories and began to create their own army. On March 4, 1861, in his inaugural address, the new president chose the method of persuasion, assuring the people of the southern states that they should not fear a Republican administration and that time should be given the opportunity to heal the wound of schism. Mantra-like assertions about the inviolability of the Union were accompanied by expressions of hope for the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the dispute with the South. Lincoln assured the secessionists that he had “no intention of interfering, directly or indirectly, with the institution of slavery in those States where it exists” (No. 15, p. 230).

At the same time, the President considered it necessary to warn the rebel forces that “not a single state has the right to secede from the Union purely on its own initiative, that decisions and resolutions adopted for this purpose have no legal force, and acts of violence within any state or states directed against the government United States, acquire an insurrectionary or revolutionary character, depending on the circumstances.” Expressing the hope that his words would be regarded “not as a threat, but merely as the declared intention of the Union to defend and preserve itself by constitutional means,” Lincoln emphasized that in pursuing this policy he would avoid bloodshed or violence “unless they are imposed upon the national authorities.” authorities,” and assured the seceding states: “The government is not going to attack you. You won’t get conflict if you don’t attack yourself.” After the inaugural ceremony concluded, Buchanan told Lincoln, “If you, sir, are as happy in coming into this house as I am in leaving it and coming home, you are the happiest man in the land” (No. 14, p. 69).

The new president faced a daunting task. The North was not ready for military operations. It was necessary to create a combat-ready army, which was difficult, given that many of the most capable officers, graduates of the best US military academy at West Point, had retired, gone into business or joined the Confederate army. Lincoln declared a blockade of southern ports from South Carolina to Texas, and a little later extended its effect to North Carolina and Virginia. At the same time, an attempt was made to develop another compromise between the North and the South: Senator from Kentucky J. Crittenden proposed amendments to the constitution, according to which the border between slave-holding and free states would again be established at 36 ° 30 "N. But the Republican congressmen were against expansion of the area of ​​slavery and the inevitable growth in this case of the influence of the slave states on the political and economic life of the country, and Crittenden’s proposal was rejected (No. 53, p. 144).

By April 1861, Fort Sumter, one of the few forts remaining under Federal control, was running low on food supplies. Washington did not intend to surrender the fort, since this would be regarded as an acknowledgment of the fact of secession and indirect recognition of the Confederacy. The federal government also did not dare to send military assistance to the fort garrison, since this was fraught with the risk of starting a war. President Lincoln chose the third option, sending only food supplies and at the same time notifying the authorities in Charleston that he would not use force provided they did not interfere with the direction of this expedition. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with the first salvos of Confederate artillery fired at Federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter. The next day, after a 34-hour bombardment, the fort capitulated, and on April 15, Lincoln declared a state of rebellion and placed 75,000 volunteers under arms, who were offered a 3-month contract. The federal government did not expect that the southern rebellion could last longer (No. 5, p. 232).

In an address to the Congress of the Confederate States of America on April 29, 1861, Confederate President J. Davis gave his interpretation of the events that took place, reminding those gathered of some historical facts. He noted that at one time the climate and soils of the North made the development of slavery there inappropriate, as a result of which the northerners decided to sell their slaves to the southerners, whose climate and soils were conducive to the development of agriculture. However, when the growing population of the South began to threaten the northern states' political control over the US Congress, the Republican federal government began to pursue a policy of undermining the institution of slave ownership in the southern states. The attempts made by the Confederacy to avoid a military confrontation with the North were, as Davis stated, rejected by Washington, to whom he placed all the blame for the outbreak of hostilities (No. 58, p. 177).

In the political circles of the North there was still no unity on the issue of secession of the southern states. Some politicians did not believe in the seriousness of the events that were taking place, others believed that the southern states should be allowed to leave the Union. But the majority was convinced that a favorable attitude towards the secessionists was unacceptable, and insisted on the immediate start of military action. As a result, the President ordered the army, concentrated on his orders in Washington and its environs, to go on the offensive. The outbreak of the war strengthened the secession movement. Virginia, which Lincoln believed would remain loyal to the Union, seceded on April 17, 1861, followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The secession of Virginia dealt a particularly strong moral blow to the federal authorities, as a result of which the secessionists found themselves in close proximity to the federal capital. Lincoln managed to thwart the Confederate plans for the four slave states located on the borders with the states of the North, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland, the so-called “Border States”, thereby giving additional strength to the Union and at the same time weakening the Confederacy.

President Lincoln's special attention to these slave states was determined by their important strategic and political significance for the Republican administration. Given thirteen states' views on slavery as a constitutional institution and the Confederacy's efforts to win them over, the possibility of their support for the secessionists was quite real (No. 13, pp. 97-99).

To ensure the neutrality of these states, Lincoln had to send federal troops to Maryland, which brought charges of dictatorship against him. Further developments showed that the measures taken by the president to ensure the formal neutrality of the border states were not enough. Delaware remained neutral throughout the Civil War. But Kentucky and Missouri, despite their declared neutrality, were split; their populations fought on both the Confederate and Union sides. In these two states, governments were formed representing the interests of both hostile parties. However, as a result of the more active position of the Confederates, both states, formally remaining neutral, were admitted to the Confederacy in November-December 1861 and were ultimately completely destroyed by the war.

As a result of the measures taken by the Lincoln administration, a complex balance of power emerged in the country between the North and the South. On one side of the conflict, at least formally, there were 23 states with a total population of 22 million people, and on the other 11 states with a white population of almost 9 million and black slaves, the number of which was at least 4 million people. The North was distinguished by a higher level of economic development, advanced forms of administrative management, developed industry and mechanized agriculture, which made it possible to supply the army with the necessary weapons, ammunition, military equipment and food. The main financial capital of the country was concentrated in the North. In addition, the northerners had a much more advanced system of internal railway and water communications, which sufficiently reliably provided for the needs of an army that was quantitatively superior to the Confederate army. But neither the number of states, nor the size of their population, nor even the level of economic development and financial capabilities of the North played a key role in the initial stage of the war. All these advantages of the northerners had yet to manifest themselves, while the advantage of the South in more talented and experienced military leadership and a more combat-ready army began to be felt already in the first months of the war. Having slaves who did all the productive work, the South was able to put the entire combat-ready white population under arms (No. 36, p. 213).

On July 21, 1861, the first major battle of the Civil War took place near the river. Bull Run (Virginia). The Union army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated. Panic gripped the federal capital, but the Confederate army, in need of rest, did not take advantage of the success achieved. However, the defeat at the river. Bull Run demonstrated that the northerners' hopes for a quick end to the war were unjustified. The United States Congress decided to form a 500,000-strong federal army of volunteers willing to sign a three-year contract. Battle of the river Bull Run created another problem of finding a military leader capable of leading the army of the northerners, and first of all, the army concentrated on the river played a particularly important role. Potomac. Its commanders, Generals E. McDowell, J. McClellan, and J. Pope, changed one after another after a series of defeats.

In August 1862, McClellan was again put in charge of the army. In September, at the Battle of Antietam Creek, he prevented General R. Lee's invasion of Maryland, but when McClellan was unable to build on his success, he was accused by Lincoln of "indecisiveness" and again removed from command, this time permanently. Further successes of the North in the Civil War began to be associated with the name of General Ulysses Grant (No. 15, pp. 233-234).

The difficult situation of the federal army caused discontent among the population. Lincoln was under pressure from the Republican Party, which included both supporters of the immediate abolition of slavery and those advocating the gradual emancipation of slaves. Lincoln adhered to a policy of compromise, thanks to which he was able to prevent a split in the party. He was convinced that even in wartime a political process must be carried out in the country (No. 13, p. 438). This made it possible to preserve freedom of speech throughout the Civil War and avoid serious restrictions on civil liberties during the crisis of the two-party system (No. 13, p. 440). During Lincoln's presidency, elections were held and citizens participated in government. After the Southern attack on Fort Sumter, some members of the Democratic Party formed a “loyal opposition” that supported government policies.

On August 22, 1862, in an interview with the New York Tribune, when asked why he was delaying freeing the slaves, Lincoln replied: “My highest object in this war is the preservation of the union, and not the preservation or abolition of slavery. If I could save the union without freeing a single slave, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing some slaves and not others. freed, I would do it. What I do in the matter of slavery and for the colored race, I do it because I believe it will help preserve the union. With this I explained my intention here, which I consider as an official duty. And I do not intend to change my often expressed personal desire that all people everywhere should be free” (52).

Almost all the steps taken during Lincoln's first presidency were in one way or another related to the Civil War. The issue of increasing customs tariffs was resolved. The US Congress passed the Morrill Tariff Act, which doubled the customs rates of 1857 to almost 47% of the value of imported products. This decision made reconciliation with the South impossible.

But Lincoln had no other choice: after the entire region of the South was actually declared a free trade zone, importers of the North announced an ultimatum to the president: either customs tariffs would be established in the South, similar to those that were forced to pay in the northern states, or they would refuse to pay duties on imported goods.

An economically free and independent South posed a serious threat to the interests of the North, the guarantor of the further economic progress of the entire American nation.

The issue of slavery occupied an important but not decisive place in the claims of the seceded states, especially since the Lincoln administration initially did not intend to question the right to the existence of slavery, widespread in the South. More important were considered issues related to financial, tax and trade-economic policies, which, according to southerners, were carried out by the central government in the interests of the “northern Yankees” and to the detriment of the interests of the South, although it accounted for up to 80% of all tax revenues to the federal government. budget. Being an agricultural region of the country, the South produced mainly agricultural products, cotton and grain, and was a large consumer of industrial products produced in the North. The volume of agricultural products exported by the South amounted to $213 million per year in value terms, while the North exported its products worth $47 million. All exports from the southern ports were carried out on ships owned by shipowners from the northern states (No. 16, p. 235).

The southerners saw an infringement of their interests in the fact that, by increasing protective tariffs, the federal government showed concern, first of all, for the interests of industrialists and traders of the North, who did not hide their intentions to put obstacles in the way of interstate and foreign trade of the South. The introduced high duties on imports made it possible, as they were convinced in the South, to even more effectively “replenish the national coffers with Southern money so that Lincoln could spend it on the needs of the Republican Party.” Among other things, an increase in customs tariffs inevitably entailed an increase in prices and, consequently, a decrease in the living standards of southerners.

Having decided to secede from the Union, southern leaders hoped that the creation of their own state would turn the American South into a serious trade and economic rival of the North and allow Charleston, New Orleans and Savannah to become the main trading ports of the New World and competitors of New York, Boston and Philadelphia. These plans were reflected in the text of the constitution adopted by the seceding states on March 11, 1861. By repealing the Morrill Tariff, southerners declared the entire southern region a free trade zone, which prompted Lincoln to decide to declare a blockade of southern ports. Without such a blockade, the southern market, unprotected from the influx of European goods, would have been closed to industrial goods from the northern states, and southern raw cotton would have become too expensive for the textile industry of the North, which would have given a huge advantage to English textile workers (No. 34, p. 214) .

This decision of Lincoln caused a negative reaction from England and France, who were deprived of the opportunity to obtain the American raw cotton necessary for their textile industry. The severe damage their economies suffered as a result of the Lincoln administration was a major reason for the moral and material support these European powers provided to the Confederacy throughout the Civil War. London found it possible to send several ships to help the southerners, which were actively used by the Confederate government to fight the blockade of southern ports declared by the North. In particular, one of these ships, the privateer Alabama, caused serious damage to the northern fleet.

Lincoln still relied on the effectiveness of non-coercive persuasion. He sought to gain support from farmers in the northern and western states and, perhaps, win over those who had not yet decided on their attitude towards the war. In May 1862, the Homestead Law was signed, according to which a citizen of the country or a person who expressed a desire to become one, practically free of charge, received the right to a plot of land up to 160 acres in size (approx. 65 hectares), allocated from the state land fund. The plot became the full property of the citizen after five years. It could be obtained after six months of permanent residence in the United States, but in this case a fee of 1.25 cents per acre was charged.

At the same time, slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, where the federal capital of Washington was located, and monetary compensation began to be paid to former slave owners. All children in black families born after July 4, 1863 were declared free. The principle of gradual emancipation of slaves began to be applied to black slaves of the rebellious states, control over which passed to the federal army. From this contingent, regiments were formed that began to participate in battles against the Confederates (No. 55, p. 192).

Adopted in the same 1862, the Law on National Currency Circulation introduced paper money that was not exchangeable for gold and silver and provided for a number of measures to improve the system of centralized monetary credit and financing vital sectors of the economy. Congress made large appropriations for the construction of railroads, shipbuilding and other profitable industries. An effective state apparatus for taxes and fees was created and the entire government apparatus was centralized to an even greater extent. The logical result of the decisions made by the Lincoln administration in the financial and economic sphere was the creation in 1863-1864 of a national banking system, which made it possible to concentrate all the financial flows of the state in the hands of the federal government. No less important for the purposes of waging war was the law on the Pacific Railway signed in 1862 (No. 39, p. 215).

In the current situation, the Lincoln government had no time for active foreign policy initiatives, and everything that happened in this area of ​​government activity was in one way or another connected with the main domestic political problem of the United States. The federal government was able to focus all its attention on solving internal issues, primarily due to the situation that developed in the world during these years - the European powers were completely absorbed in their internal problems and limited themselves to only expressing their sympathies for the Confederation. As the American historian H. Brooks Adams stated in 1863: “Nothing has given us more sweet peace... than the delightful state of confusion in which Europe now finds itself. Nothing more than panic in all directions and the most complex combination of opposing interests that can only be imagined... Russia lives in anticipation of war, and France behaves as if this war is inevitable. Meanwhile, England barely moves and makes faces at all the other states. Our affairs have faded into a very distant place, thank God” (No. 49, p. 238).

In the fall of 1861, an American ship detained and searched the English ship Trent, on board of which emissaries of the slave-holding South were sailing to Europe with secret dispatches. This incident, known as the Trent Affair, caused a wave of approval in the North, although it was contrary to international law. The Trent incident strained US relations with England to such an extent that London sent an 8,000-strong army contingent to Canada. However, neither England nor France made direct attempts to intervene in the conflict between North and South. Despite England's economic interest in the northern states of the United States, the sympathies of London and the English press were obvious. The Trent incident was blown out of proportion into a major international scandal. The federal government understood the extreme disadvantage for it to get involved in a possible war with Great Britain at the least favorable moment for it, when a civil war was going on in the state. “We should not have more than one war,” Lincoln believed (No. 50, p. 87).

In June 1862, the US government established diplomatic relations with Liberia and Haiti. This decision was regarded by American abolitionists as a positive fact. Basically, it was calculated that as a result of the development of relations with these black republics, not only free American blacks, but also fugitive slaves of the South would be stimulated to leave there. At the same time, a treaty prohibiting the slave trade was signed with England, and the difficulties that arose in Anglo-American relations due to violations of the American-Canadian border by agents of the Confederacy were resolved (No. 16, pp. 238-239).

In August 1861, Lincoln did not consider it possible to support General Fremont, who declared the slaves belonging to the rebel slave owners of the South to be free people and, moreover, removed him from his post as commander of the Northern forces in Missouri. However, two months later, the President gave General Sherman instructions to accept runaway slaves as hired workers and even allowed, under certain conditions, to arm them (No. 31, p. 409).

Brought by the very course and logic of the events of the first stage of the war to the idea of ​​​​the need to abolish slavery, the government by its actions, in particular its desire to avoid an open break with the “loyal” slave owners of the border states and its intention to wage war only by constitutional methods (i.e., without questioning the existence of slavery) prevented the speedy achievement of victory. The situation changed significantly only after the midterm congressional elections in November 1862, when the Republicans, and therefore the president himself, were defeated. During these elections, the Republican Party, in alliance with the abolitionists, spoke out quite strongly in favor of the immediate emancipation of the slaves. After the Democratic victory in the elections in 1862, Lincoln had only one choice: to remove supporters of a compromise with the South from the military leadership of the North, in particular, to remove General McClellan from the post of commander-in-chief of the Northern army. Lincoln was prompted to take this step by the general’s indecision in the battle with the Confederates at the river. Antietam Creek in September 1862. Simultaneously with the removal of McClellan from command of the army of the North, a “purge” was carried out in it; several officers were arrested on charges of treason; persons suspected of belonging to the “copperheads,” as supporters of the southerners began to be called in the North, were imprisoned or dismissed from the army (No. 16, p. 241).

The Battle of Antietam provided Lincoln with the opportunity to take a decisive step. At first, the president had only one goal: to revive the Union. However, as hostilities progressed, an increasing number of northerners began to be inclined to the need to end slavery. In July 1862, Lincoln proposed issuing the Negro Emancipation Proclamation. Members of his cabinet dissuaded the President from the advisability of this, arguing that in conditions where the North was losing, this step could be considered a step of desperation. The Battle of Antietam Creek changed the military situation. On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued a proclamation warning that if the rebellious states did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves within their territory would be declared “free forever.” The Confederate states ignored the warning, and then a second proclamation was issued, which concerned only certain regions of the country and declared the emancipation of only slaves owned by the secessionists. Slaves in states already occupied by federal troops, as well as slaves in border and southern states that did not join the Confederacy, were not subject to emancipation, since such a decision by the Lincoln administration could embitter the "loyal" slave planters in these states and weaken their support for the federal government ( No. 47, p. 69). By issuing the Negro Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln was counting on the impression it would make on the black soldiers fighting in the ranks of the Northern army.

A truly revolutionary step would be the liberation of blacks, that is, the abolition of slavery, but the president did not dare to take this. However, an equally important addressee of the proclamation were black slaves, who successfully replaced the white labor force mobilized into the army in the southern states. By declaring them free, Lincoln hoped to increase the flow of fugitives from the southern plantations and thereby undermine the labor reserves of the South (No. 51, p. 214).

Lincoln recognized the shortcomings of the proclamation and tried to persuade members of Congress from the loyal slave-holding border states to support a long-term program of compensated emancipation of slaves. However, dissatisfaction was expressed by both conservative Republicans, who considered it too radical and contrary to the constitution, and abolitionists, who called it ineffective. In the country, including in the free states, there were many white citizens who did not want to live and work side by side with blacks. Some Northern state legislatures even passed laws condemning the “wicked, inhuman and profane” proclamation and called for peace with the Confederacy. Given the latter circumstance, the president made an unprecedented decision to meet with influential representatives of the black community of the North to discuss with them the whole range of issues related to the emancipation of slaves. Recognizing the existence of significant differences between the white and black races, Lincoln stated the fundamental impossibility of a time when whites and blacks would have equal rights. As the most reasonable way out of the current situation, he suggested that blacks go to where they are “treated in the best way,” in particular to Latin America. The meeting participants, however, rejected the president's idea, and the administration was faced with the task of finding ways to integrate the country's black population into American society.

In January 1863, Lincoln issued another Emancipation Proclamation, which made the emancipation of slaves a declared goal of the war and inevitably led to the eventual abolition of slavery throughout the country. Allowing blacks to serve in the federal army in arms gave the Northern Civil War the character of a crusade against slavery. The “armed negro,” a nightmare that had haunted southerners for many decades, became a reality and had a noticeable impact on the further course of events (No. 56, p. 301).

On March 3, 1863, conscription was introduced for the first time in the history of the United States. At the same time, the rich were allowed to hire dummies and pay off their service, which provoked unrest, during which many blacks died as victims of lynching (No. 13, p. 434). The American poor, unlike the wealthy, did not have the opportunity to pay off. People, both in the North and in the South, talked about “the war of the rich, which was fought by the hands of the poor” (No. 16, p. 244).

In May 1863, a Union army of 130,000 was defeated by General Lee's 60,000-man army. The northerners retreated, and the Confederates, bypassing Washington from the north, entered Pennsylvania. In this situation, the outcome of the three-day battle at Gettigsberg, during which more than 50 thousand people died, was of great importance. Lee's army was defeated and retreated to Virginia. On July 4, on the Western Front, after a multi-day siege and two unsuccessful assaults, General Grant captured the Vicksburg fortress. On July 8, Port Hudson in Louisiana was captured. Thus, control over the Mississippi River valley was established, and the Confederacy was divided into two parts.

On November 19, 1863, a ceremony was held to open the Gettigsberg National Cemetery, where the fallen participants in the battle were buried. In December 1863, Lincoln promised amnesty to all rebels (except Confederate leaders) subject to an oath of allegiance to the United States and acceptance of the abolition of slavery. The year ended with the victory at Chattanooga (No. 26, p. 212).

Thus, at the beginning of the Civil War, the new president faced a difficult task. The North was not ready for military operations. As a result of the measures taken by the Lincoln administration, a complex balance of power emerged in the country between the South and the North.

In May 1862, the Homestead Act was signed into law. At the same time, slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia. All children in black families born after July 4, 1863 were declared free. The logical result of Lincoln's decisions in the financial and economic sphere was the creation of a national banking system in 1863-1864.

In January 1863, Lincoln issued another Negro Emancipation Proclamation, which made the issue of black emancipation, which made the issue of the abolition of slavery a declared goal of the war, and which inevitably led to the eventual abolition of slavery throughout the country. Ideas about ending the war became increasingly popular among the people. Lincoln's task was to instill in Americans confidence in victory. The President abolished the transfer of those arrested to court, which allowed the imprisonment of deserters and the most ardent supporters of slavery and peace. In the 1863 elections to Congress, the Democrats managed to narrow the gap in the number of mandates, but the Republicans still managed to maintain a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In March 1864, Lincoln appointed Ulysses Grant as commander-in-chief, who, together with W. Sherman and F. Sheridan, carried out the plan developed by Lincoln to weaken the southerners and defeat them by launching coordinated attacks. The main blow was dealt by Sherman's army, which launched an invasion of Georgia in May. Grant's army acted against General Lee (No. 14, p. 43).

In 1864, the first term of A. Lincoln's presidency ended. The past four years have been years of successes and defeats, triumphs and tragedies for him and the administration.

By the beginning of the next presidential campaign, the outcome of the war was already obvious. Although Lincoln had many enemies in his own party, in Congress and in the government, they were not strong enough to prevent his candidacy. However, in the summer of 1864 the president himself doubted his victory. In the situation that had developed by this time, when General W. Sherman was stopped near Atlanta, and Grant, having suffered huge losses, never took Richmond, many northerners, tired of the war, wanted peace at almost any cost. The Democratic Party took advantage of these sentiments, which, having gathered at the national convention in August 1864, declared the war over and nominated General J. McClellan, “repressed” by Lincoln, as its presidential candidate. This Democratic choice reinforced Lincoln's belief that he would lose the election.

But the main reason for his uncertainty was the split in the Republican Party itself, caused by the disagreement of the radical wing of the party with Lincoln's plans for granting equal political rights to former rebels. Radical Republicans pushed for a much more radical solution to the slavery issue. After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, they demanded harsh punitive measures against the South, which was contrary to Lincoln's beliefs. They motivated their position by the fact that if such liberal intentions of the president were implemented indiscriminately in these states, former rebels would again come to power and would not allow the abolition of slavery. In reality, their fears were more serious - after the restoration of power to the political forces that initiated the Civil War, the confrontation between the political and economic interests of the North and South would inevitably revive with renewed vigor. The Wade Davis Bill, proposed by the radicals, provided for a more rigid model of reconstruction for the southern states, according to which at least 50% of their population had to take an oath of allegiance to the Union, thereby providing a certain guarantee against a return to the past. But Lincoln shelved the bill and confirmed his intention to demand only 10 percent allegiance to the Union (No. 48, p. 119).

As a sign of protest, the radicals tried to unite into the Radical Democratic Party and even nominated J. Fremont as their presidential candidate. General W. Grant refused to be a candidate from the radicals, for which he received the rank of lieutenant general, specially established for him by the grateful Lincoln. By the end of the summer of 1864, the situation on the fronts began to change significantly in favor of the federal army: the troops of the northerners advanced deep into the territory of the Confederacy of the southern states, whose troops suffered one defeat after another, and the radicals returned to the camp of the president’s supporters. The surrender of Atlanta on September 1, 1864 restored the North's confidence in military victory to some extent to Lincoln's confidence in electoral success. Although the election campaign was replete with mutual reproaches from competing parties and especially accusations against the president, none of the political forces questioned the advisability of bringing the war to its logical conclusion. The Republican political platform was uncompromising. They demanded the defeat of the Confederacy and its unconditional surrender, the punishment of rebel leaders, supported the adoption of an amendment prohibiting slavery and a constitution and the payment of benefits to war veterans. On December 22, 1864, General W. Sherman took Savannah, and on December 15-16, General J. Thomas defeated the Confederate Tennessee Army near Nashville (No. 10, p. 193).

The famous American expression “to change horses in the mid-state” (authored by Lincoln) about the undesirability of changing horses at the crossing was more appropriate than ever. The fact that a significant part of the American electorate held this opinion was evidenced by the results of the 1864 presidential election. More than 2.2 million voters voted for the Republican Party candidates A. Lincoln and the recent Southern Democrat E. Johnson, almost half a million more votes than were given to their Democratic rivals. Federal soldiers and their families, who overwhelmingly supported him, played a large role in Lincoln's victory. Lincoln's victory in the Electoral College was even more convincing - he received support there with about 91% of the vote (#59, pp. 247-248).

At Lincoln's insistence, Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution on January 31, 1865, prohibiting slavery in the country. At the beginning of 1865, the victory of the northerners was already a foregone conclusion; in his second inaugural speech, Lincoln called for abandoning vengeance and set the tasks of reconstructing the South and building a harmonious Union.

Grant, who had an army of 115 thousand people in the spring of 1865, forced Lee, who had only 54 thousand people at his disposal, to leave Petersburg, and on April 2 the capital of the confederation, Richmond. On April 9, 1865, Lee signed the Surrender; the resistance of individual units was suppressed by the end of May. After the arrest of Jefferson Davis and members of his government, the Confederacy ceased to exist (#38, p. 461).

The Civil War ended with the surrender of the Confederate states to America on April 9, 1865. The country had to carry out Southern Reconstruction and begin the process of integrating blacks into American society. Five days after the end of the war, on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, at the play “My American Cousin,” the southerner actor John Booth entered the presidential box and shot Lincoln in the head.

Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth was born into the family of a famous actor. Following the example of his father and older brother, John joined a theater troupe in Baltimore in 1856. He acted in tragic roles. During the Civil War, John was already a celebrity. He sided with the Southerners, although his older brothers were Northern supporters, and became a Confederate intelligence officer. Throughout the fall of 1864, the actor made active preparations for the kidnapping of Lincoln, which, according to Booth, would deal a mortal blow to the northerners. John envisaged different options for kidnapping Lincoln on the street, while traveling or walking, as well as in the theater... The course of military events required quick action. The Confederacy was in its last weeks, and Booth abandoned his previous plan and decided to kill Lincoln (#30, p. 97).

At the end of the Civil War, Lincoln's position was quite complex and contradictory. He was trusted by the broad masses of Americans, but the number of Lincoln's political enemies not only did not decrease, but, on the contrary, kept increasing. Of course, he was hated by the southern planters and the “copperheads” who sympathized with them in the northern states, supporters of an amicable agreement with the rebellious slave states. Lincoln's policies displeased some radicals on the left wing of his own Republican Party.

• On April 11, when Grant's army's victory over Lee's was officially celebrated, an enthusiastic crowd approached the White House. In a speech addressed to the crowd, Lincoln said that after the end of the war, blacks should get the right to vote. Booth and his accomplice Payne, standing in the crowd, were furious when they heard the president's words. The actor suggested that Payne immediately shoot Lincoln with a revolver, but he refused; the chances of success were slim. On April 14, the actor visited Ford's Theater, where he carefully examined the government box, then drilled a hole in the door; the lock in it did not work. He bent the wooden strip in advance in order to slide it into the handle of the second door leading into the corridor. You had to go through it to get to the government box (No. 27, p. 82).
• On April 14, 1865, after waiting for the start of the second act, Booth entered the government box. There were no guards, no agents, no police in the theater. Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head. The sound of a small brass pistol firing was faintly audible in the hall, especially since at that moment there was an outburst of laughter. Those present realized that the president had been shot only after seeing a cloud of white smoke.

At that moment, Mrs. Lincoln’s cry was heard throughout the theater: “He shot the President!”

The next morning, Abraham Lincoln died without regaining consciousness. Millions of Americans, white and black, came to pay their last respects to their president during the two-and-a-half week journey of the funeral train from Washington to Springfield, where Lincoln was buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Lincoln's tragic death contributed to the creation around his name of an aura of a martyr who gave his life for the reunification of the country and the liberation of slaves.

Booth escaped. Ten days later he was overtaken in northern Virginia. The killer was hiding on the farm of his accomplice Garrett. When soldiers surrounded the barn where the actor was hiding, he refused to surrender. Then the barn was set on fire, and in the confusion that arose, Booth was mortally wounded by an unexpected shot. The soldiers broke down the door and took out Booth, who was still conscious for some time. Then he died, and his body was taken to Washington on a warship. This is the official version of Booth’s death (No. 20, p. 319)

The Civil War was the deadliest military conflict in the history of the United States and the most difficult test for American democracy. Abraham Lincoln became a central historical figure in the consciousness of the American people, a man who prevented the collapse of the United States and made a significant contribution to the formation of the American nation and the abolition of slavery as the main obstacle to the subsequent normal development of the country (No. 31, p. 169). Lincoln marked the beginning of the modernization of the South and the emancipation of slaves. He is the author of the formulation of the main goal of democracy: “A government created by the people, from the people and for the people.”

The sixteenth president of the Union of American States fought a bloody war to unite the country. All of his military experience was associated with short-term service in the army during the fight against the Indians, but Lincoln quickly learned to correctly assess the situation and correctly choose strategy and tactics. He began by mobilizing almost 80 thousand volunteers. Soon the president ordered a complete naval blockade of the southern states in order to paralyze trade and the delivery of military supplies from Europe. The southerners were the best fighters and won many battles, even when they were clearly in the minority. Abraham knew this and made the absolutely correct decision: we need to increase the army even more. He demanded that the number of troops be increased to half a million people (No. 9, p. 174).

The Confederates did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives for their independence, and Lincoln understood perfectly well that the North also needed to give a good, convincing slogan and came up with the only true one. He did not at all claim that the main goal of the North was to destroy the slave system of the South, since this motivation would be insufficient for the Northerners. Many of them were against slavery, but not enough to give their lives for the freedom of black slaves. No, the sacred goal of the North was, according to the president, to preserve the unity of the nation, and the destruction of slavery was only an objective consequence of the impending victory. Under such a slogan, Lincoln managed to accomplish the almost impossible: he found a goal that united the vast majority of residents of the northern states.

But we must give the president his due; he was not a hypocrite. In an interview with the New York Tribune, Abraham Lincoln said: “If I could save the Union without freeing a single slave, I would do it. If I could save the Union by freeing all the slaves, I would do it. If I could save the Union by freeing some slaves but not others, I would do that too” (No. 20, p. 329).

On September 22, 1862, when Southern troops were forced to leave Maryland, Lincoln issued a draft Declaration of Freedom, according to which all slaves who were in rebellious states after January 1, 1863 were declared free. Of course, a grandmaster's move, although it cannot be called perfectly clean. Judge for yourself: the president “freed” slaves in enemy territories, which he simply could not control, but did not free them in the North! One way or another, it worked like a sniper shot. If black slaves from the time of Uncle Tom's Cabin, written by Harriet Beecher Stowe before the war, fled from the South several at a time, now it is as if the dam has broken.

The declaration of the “Lincum Mass,” as Lincoln was called by the black slaves who idolized him, was also a talented economic sabotage against the Confederacy: all southern men fought, slaves fled en masse to the North, and the old men, women and children who remained at home, of course, could not support the economy of the South. The army of the northerners was actively replenished with black volunteers: before the end of the war, about 200 thousand African Americans joined it.

The “democratic” background of the Declaration did not allow the governments of England and France to take the side of the Confederacy: despite the colossal economic interests in the South and fundamental support for the struggle of the southern states for independence, they understood that the citizens of their own countries would not approve of such an outwardly anti-democratic decision. At the turning point of the Civil War, Lincoln, by promulgating the Declaration, not only reoriented his supporters to a different goal, but simply doubled the number of goals.

He, as a lawyer, clearly understood that the Declaration did not have the slightest legal and constitutional justification. Until the law abolishing slavery was included in the Constitution, every Southerner could prove in any court the full right to his property, including slaves. According to the president himself, the draft Declaration of Freedom had the character of a military stratagem, and in war, as in war (No. 11, p. 96).

During his presidency, a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific Ocean was also built, the infrastructure system was expanded, a new banking system was created, and the agrarian problem was solved. However, at the end of the war, the country faced many problems, including the unity of the nation and equalization of the rights of blacks and whites. In part, these problems still face American society. After Lincoln's assassination, the economy of the United States became the most dynamically developing economy in the world for a long time, which allowed the country to become a world leader at the beginning of the twentieth century. In many ways, his personal qualities made it possible to mobilize the forces of the state and reunite the country. Lincoln had strong moral principles about morality, had a sense of humor, but was also prone to strong melancholy (#54).

To this day, Abraham Lincoln is considered one of the most intellectual presidents of the United States. As a sign of the gratitude of the American people, a memorial was erected in Washington to the sixteenth President Abraham Lincoln as one of the four presidents who determined the historical development of the United States of America (No. 7, p. 89).

The presidential election of 1864 has gone down in American history as the most important. The people had to decide whether to continue the war or not; the administration formed by the Democrats had to offer peace to the South. Rivalries within the Republican camp and the emergence of influential contenders for the presidency, most notably Secretary of the Treasury Salmon Chase, made it impossible to say with certainty whether Lincoln would be re-elected. In addition, one term in office has become almost a political tradition; since Andrew Jackson, no president has managed to reach the White House for a second time. In July, Lincoln was chosen as the candidate of the Union Party, but still doubted his re-election. The mood in the North was inclined towards a compromise solution, and therefore the victory of the Democrats, whose candidate was none other than General McKellan, who was fired by Lincoln at the end of 1862, was not excluded.

The victory in the battle was decisive: the capture of Atlanta in Georgia by Union troops under the command of General Sherman on September 2, 1864 sharply changed the public mood, calmed the internal party differences of the Republicans and pushed the Democratic Party with its peace proposal into political impasse. Lincoln's victory could be seen as clear authority to continue the war and completely free the slaves. The President quickly submitted the 13th Amendment to the Constitution to Congress, where it was adopted by the required two-thirds majority (No. 36, p. 157).

By the time the president was inaugurated again, the civil war was almost won. In his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, Lincoln again touched upon the themes of the Gettysburg Address and extended a hand of reconciliation to the Southern states: “Without ill will toward any, and with love of neighbor for all, standing firmly in our God-given right, let us continue strive to complete the work we have started; to bind up the wounds of the nation... to do everything that can give and preserve a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” This is how he outlined his position on the reintegration of the southern states: leniency and reconciliation, rather than punishment and retribution, should determine the post-war phase.

Meanwhile, Grant's advance on Richmond and Sherman's even more notorious "rush to the sea," which left traces of devastation in its wake, demoralized the Confederacy and marked the beginning of its defeat. At first, Lincoln was skeptical of Sherman's plans because, like Grant, he did not understand the "scorched earth" strategic principle that gave the war its "total" character in the final phase. On April 9, 1865, General Lee surrendered his army in Virginia, and a few weeks later the remnants of the Southern troops stopped fighting.

In his last speech, Lincoln strongly advocated the peaceful restoration of the southern states to the union. Their reconstruction included, in addition to the abolition of slavery, the beginning of a confrontation between American society and the situation of freed blacks. Lincoln understood the fundamental task of legal and political equalization of slaves, but did not yet know how to practically implement this in view of racist attitudes in the South and in the North. Suffrage for black men in the South could only be achieved through coercion, which was contrary to Lincoln's idea of ​​agreement and reconciliation. His successor Andrew Johnson also failed in this dilemma. But perhaps Lincoln himself was not able to cope with this extraordinary historical demand (No. 19, p. 328).

A few days after the end of the war, on April 14, 1865, in a theater box, Lincoln was struck by several shots and died of his wounds that same night. This was not the first attempt on the life of an American president. Assassinated by the fanatical and possibly mentally ill Southern actor John Wilkes Booth, who along with other conspirators wanted to kill leading Union politicians (#46, p. 621).

(Lincoln, Abraham) (1809–65) American politician. The clearest statement of his democratic ideals is contained in the famous speech at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the Civil War battle took place that began the retreat of the Confederate army south from its northernmost point. Saying that “the world will scarcely notice or long remember what we say here,” Lincoln expressed the hope that “the government of the people, by the people and for the people, will not perish from the face of the earth.” There may be more hidden in Lincoln's words than revealed. In particular, he was not a principled opponent of slavery, but rather a principled defender of the United States. Mastering the art of manipulation, he was more successful than many others in pitting the Democrats of the South and North against each other, which led to a split among the Democrats during the presidential election of 1860 and the election of Lincoln, who received less than 40% of the total vote.

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LINCOLN, Abraham

1809-65) - one of the greatest statesmen of the USA. L. was born in Kentucky, the son of a farmer. In his youth he was a lumberjack and woodcutter, a ferryman on the river. Ohio and Mississippi raftsman. Stubbornly educating himself, L., at the age of 27, passed the bar exam. In 1834-41, L. was a member of the Illinois State Legislature, in 1847-48 - a member of Congress, and from March 1861 to April 1865 - President of the United States. L.'s activities as president took place in the context of the civil war of 1861-65. His entire domestic and foreign policy was subordinated to the struggle for the victory of the bourgeois democracy of the North in the war against the slave-owning South. But the southerners were better prepared for active action and hoped, with the help of foreign intervention, to crush the federation with a quick blow even before the northerners had time to mobilize and train an army. During the first 2 years, military operations developed in favor of the southerners. During this dangerous period of the war for the North, L. showed himself to be a major statesman and diplomat. In the first two years of the war, the North faced great danger from England and France. The English ruling circles sympathized with the slave-owning South and hoped that the collapse of the Union would restore the dependence of the North American continent on England. In turn, France from 1862 until the end of the civil war kept an expeditionary army in Mexico, which posed a serious threat to the United States (see. London Convention 1861). Napoleon III was running around with the idea of ​​destroying the federation and partially restoring the former French influence in America. The blockade of the confederation ports announced by the government of Latvia served as the most important tool for achieving a turning point in the war. But the blockade caused great discontent in England: the English cotton industry depended on the raw materials of the southern states. In April 1861, L. declared a blockade of all ports located from Virginia to the Mexican coast. The British ambassador in Washington, protesting against the blockade, threatened intervention in favor of the southerners. In May 1861, England, in response to the blockade, issued a declaration of neutrality. In June of the same year, France, Spain and Holland followed the example of England. Declarations of neutrality were seen as recognition of the confederation as a belligerent. But L., having correctly assessed the decisive military significance of the blockade, took a firm position on this issue. Southerners ordered warships from England and France to break the blockade. In 1862, despite the protests of the US government, they received two cruisers from England: Alabama and Florida. The difficult situation of the northern armies forced L. to come to terms with this fact. L. also showed compliance during the Trent incident, when an American warship stopped the English steamer Trent near Cuba and detained members of the southern mission heading to London and Paris. Considering the difficult military and international situation of the northerners, L. released the members of the mission. Thus, L. managed to deprive the British of a reason to break with the North and to recognize the independence of the southern confederation. L. spoke differently with England when the northerners achieved a turning point in the war, and Washington’s international position strengthened. 5. IX 1863 one of the two warships ordered for the confederation was to be sent from Liverpool. US Ambassador to London Adams told British Foreign Secretary Rossel: “It would be superfluous for me to remind you, Lord, that this means war.” After 3 days, Rossel informed Adams that both ships built for the Confederacy would be detained in Liverpool. Russia's friendly position played a significant role in improving the international position of the United States. Foreign Minister Gorchakov, in negotiations with the US envoy in St. Petersburg, Taylor, confirmed the existence of plans for intervention by European powers in America and promised that Russia would reject an invitation to participate in the implementation of these plans that do not correspond to its interests. In 1863, the Pacific and Atlantic squadrons of the Russian fleet visited San Francisco and New York. The arrival of the Russian fleet in America was seen as great moral support for Latvia and the federation. Representatives of the Russian fleet were given a cordial welcome by US Secretary of State Seward. Russian sailors were warmly welcomed by various public organizations. The issue of black emancipation occupied a large place in Latvia's foreign policy. The liberation of blacks (1. I 1863) attracted advanced social groups in England and France to the side of the northerners. However, in 1861-62 L. adhered to different tactics. In May 1862, when the commander of the southeastern front gave the order to free blacks in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, L. immediately canceled this order and, in a message to Congress, proposed to free blacks only with appropriate compensation to slave owners. In the first period of the war, L. considered it more important to maintain the resulting temporary, fluctuating buffer of border slaveholding states in a state of neutrality than to strengthen the position of supporters of the North in England and France. In 1864 L. was elected president for the second time. The First International, represented by Marx, welcomed L. and the struggle he waged against the southern slave owners. Lenin believed that this struggle had “the greatest, world-historical, progressive and revolutionary significance.” 14.IV 1865, two weeks after the fall of Richmond (the capital of the southern states), L. was mortally wounded by an agent of the slave owners Bus.

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Chapter II. Lincoln's political activities as President of the United States during the Civil War of 1861-1865.

The decade immediately preceding the Civil War was a time of rapidly developing revolutionary crisis. Political factors contributed to the aggravation of the slavery issue. For several decades, slave owners controlled the central links of political power in the country: the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court. First of all, they began to lose influence in Congress. The rapid population growth of the northern states (the flow of European immigration was directed there) led to the predominance of northerners in the House of Representatives. Not wanting to allow the dominance of the northern states in the Senate, the planters sought to maintain an equal number of free and slave states. During the first half of the 19th century. they managed to achieve this goal. If in the northern states the bourgeois order, farm agriculture, and capitalist industry were quickly established, then in the southern states the slave system dominated (No. 19, p. 212).

The planters of the South farmed using extensive methods, constantly needed new lands and sought to seize fertile lands in the West. But these lands were also claimed by the North American bourgeoisie, farmers and settlers. Further expansion of the territory of the plantation economy ensured the preservation of slavery. Planters traditionally exported agricultural products and raw materials to European countries and imported industrial goods from there (No. 25, p. 98). As a result, North American manufacturers were deprived of a source of raw materials and a market for industrial products. These factors led to contradictions between the capitalist North and the slave-owning South. Due to the weakness of the industrial and commercial bourgeoisie of the North, political power belonged to the planters, who nominated their proteges for president. The desire to maintain low duties on industrial goods imported from Europe forced some farmers to also give their votes to southern candidates (No. 54, p. 182).

However, an increasing number of people opposed slavery, in the 50s of the XIX century. the fight against slavery intensified. The need to abolish slavery became inevitable. During the armed struggle against slavery, the Republican Party was formed in the state of Kansas, uniting in its ranks the bourgeoisie and farmers who were opponents of slavery (No. 35, p. 69).

In 1861, the states created the Confederacy, whose troops rebelled in April and captured forts and arsenals in the south of the country. The outbreak of the Civil War was the result of aggravation of economic and socio-political contradictions between two social systems: the system of wage labor and the system of slavery. The nature of the war was a bourgeois-democratic revolution, the second revolution on US territory. Slave-owning planters fought to preserve slavery as a social system and spread it throughout the country. The northerners considered the main task at the first stage of the war to be the restoration of the Union of all states and the prevention of the spread of slavery to new regions.

The creation of the Confederacy of Southern slaveholding states was accompanied by the adoption of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America on March 11, 1861, which included a provision declaring black slavery a “state of nature.” Foreign slave trade was prohibited. This decision was intended to ensure the speedy recognition by European countries of a new state entity in North America. The Government of the Confederation sent its special representatives to the capitals of England, France, Russia and Belgium in order to establish diplomatic relations with them. At the same time, a Confederate delegation was also sent to Washington to resolve issues related to the division of federal property, as well as recognition of the new North American state (No. 32, p. 126).

The Buchanan administration directed its diplomats in Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, England, France, Russia and Holland to convey to the governments of their countries of accreditation a message expressing the hope that they "will not take any steps that may encourage revolutionary movement of seceding states or increase the danger of discontent in those states that still remain loyal” to the Union (No. 57, pp. 86-87).

The message received by the Russian government, in part, read: “If the independence of the “Confederate States” is recognized by the great powers of Europe, it may disrupt the friendly relations, diplomatic and commercial, which now exist between those powers and the United States. All these consequences, which the imperial court will certainly witness, are contrary to both the interests of Russia and the interests of our country!” (No. 44, p. 163).

Lincoln did not comment on this issue before officially taking office. Meanwhile, the seceding states captured almost all the federal forts, arsenals, post offices, and customs houses within their territories and began to create their own army. On March 4, 1861, in his inaugural address, the new president chose the method of persuasion, assuring the people of the southern states that they should not fear a Republican administration and that time should be given the opportunity to heal the wound of schism. Mantra-like assertions about the inviolability of the Union were accompanied by expressions of hope for the possibility of a peaceful resolution of the dispute with the South. Lincoln assured the secessionists that he had “no intention of interfering, directly or indirectly, with the institution of slavery in those States where it exists” (No. 15, p. 230).

At the same time, the President considered it necessary to warn the rebel forces that “not a single state has the right to secede from the Union purely on its own initiative, that decisions and resolutions adopted for this purpose have no legal force, and acts of violence within any state or states directed against the government United States, acquire an insurrectionary or revolutionary character, depending on the circumstances.” Expressing the hope that his words would be regarded “not as a threat, but merely as the declared intention of the Union to defend and preserve itself by constitutional means,” Lincoln emphasized that in pursuing this policy he would avoid bloodshed or violence “unless they are imposed upon the national authorities.” authorities,” and assured the seceding states: “The government is not going to attack you. You won’t get conflict if you don’t attack yourself.” After the inaugural ceremony concluded, Buchanan told Lincoln, “If you, sir, are as happy in coming into this house as I am in leaving it and coming home, you are the happiest man in the land” (No. 14, p. 69).

The new president faced a daunting task. The North was not ready for military operations. It was necessary to create a combat-ready army, which was difficult, given that many of the most capable officers, graduates of the best US military academy at West Point, had retired, gone into business or joined the Confederate army. Lincoln declared a blockade of southern ports from South Carolina to Texas, and a little later extended its effect to North Carolina and Virginia. At the same time, an attempt was made to develop another compromise between the North and the South: Senator from Kentucky J. Crittenden proposed amendments to the constitution, according to which the border between slave-holding and free states was again established at 36°30 N. w. But the Republican congressmen were against the expansion of the area of ​​slavery and the inevitable growth in this case of the influence of the slave states on the political and economic life of the country, and Crittenden’s proposal was rejected (No. 53, p. 144).

By April 1861, Fort Sumter, one of the few forts remaining under Federal control, was running low on food supplies. Washington did not intend to surrender the fort, since this would be regarded as an acknowledgment of the fact of secession and indirect recognition of the Confederacy. The federal government also did not dare to send military assistance to the fort garrison, since this was fraught with the risk of starting a war. President Lincoln chose the third option, sending only food supplies and at the same time notifying the authorities in Charleston that he would not use force provided they did not interfere with the direction of this expedition. The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, with the first salvos of Confederate artillery fired at Federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter. The next day, after a 34-hour bombardment, the fort capitulated, and on April 15, Lincoln declared a state of rebellion and placed 75,000 volunteers under arms, who were offered a 3-month contract. The federal government did not expect that the southern rebellion could last longer (No. 5, p. 232).

In an address to the Congress of the Confederate States of America on April 29, 1861, Confederate President J. Davis gave his interpretation of the events that took place, reminding those gathered of some historical facts. He noted that at one time the climate and soils of the North made the development of slavery there inappropriate, as a result of which the northerners decided to sell their slaves to the southerners, whose climate and soils were conducive to the development of agriculture. However, when the growing population of the South began to threaten the northern states' political control over the US Congress, the Republican federal government began to pursue a policy of undermining the institution of slave ownership in the southern states. The attempts made by the Confederacy to avoid a military confrontation with the North were, as Davis stated, rejected by Washington, to whom he placed all the blame for the outbreak of hostilities (No. 58, p. 177).

In the political circles of the North there was still no unity on the issue of secession of the southern states. Some politicians did not believe in the seriousness of the events that were taking place, others believed that the southern states should be allowed to leave the Union. But the majority was convinced that a favorable attitude towards the secessionists was unacceptable, and insisted on the immediate start of military action. As a result, the President ordered the army, concentrated on his orders in Washington and its environs, to go on the offensive. The outbreak of the war strengthened the secession movement. Virginia, which Lincoln believed would remain loyal to the Union, seceded on April 17, 1861, followed by Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The secession of Virginia dealt a particularly strong moral blow to the federal authorities, as a result of which the secessionists found themselves in close proximity to the federal capital. Lincoln managed to thwart the Confederate plans for the four slave states located on the borders with the states of the North, Delaware, Kentucky, Missouri and Maryland, the so-called “Border States”, thereby giving additional strength to the Union and at the same time weakening the Confederacy.

President Lincoln's special attention to these slave states was determined by their important strategic and political significance for the Republican administration. Given thirteen states' views on slavery as a constitutional institution and the Confederacy's efforts to win them over, the possibility of their support for the secessionists was quite real (No. 13, pp. 97-99).

To ensure the neutrality of these states, Lincoln had to send federal troops to Maryland, which brought charges of dictatorship against him. Further developments showed that the measures taken by the president to ensure the formal neutrality of the border states were not enough. Delaware remained neutral throughout the Civil War. But Kentucky and Missouri, despite their declared neutrality, were split; their populations fought on both the Confederate and Union sides. In these two states, governments were formed representing the interests of both hostile parties. However, as a result of the more active position of the Confederates, both states, formally remaining neutral, were admitted to the Confederacy in November-December 1861 and were ultimately completely destroyed by the war.

As a result of the measures taken by the Lincoln administration, a complex balance of power emerged in the country between the North and the South. On one side of the conflict, at least formally, there were 23 states with a total population of 22 million people, and on the other 11 states with a white population of almost 9 million and black slaves, the number of which was at least 4 million people. The North was distinguished by a higher level of economic development, advanced forms of administrative management, developed industry and mechanized agriculture, which made it possible to supply the army with the necessary weapons, ammunition, military equipment and food. The main financial capital of the country was concentrated in the North. In addition, the northerners had a much more advanced system of internal railway and water communications, which sufficiently reliably provided for the needs of an army that was quantitatively superior to the Confederate army. But neither the number of states, nor the size of their population, nor even the level of economic development and financial capabilities of the North played a key role in the initial stage of the war. All these advantages of the northerners had yet to manifest themselves, while the advantage of the South in more talented and experienced military leadership and a more combat-ready army began to be felt already in the first months of the war. Having slaves who did all the productive work, the South was able to put the entire combat-ready white population under arms (No. 36, p. 213).

On July 21, 1861, the first major battle of the Civil War took place near the river. Bull Run (Virginia). The Union army suffered a crushing defeat and retreated. Panic gripped the federal capital, but the Confederate army, in need of rest, did not take advantage of the success achieved. However, the defeat at the river. Bull Run demonstrated that the northerners' hopes for a quick end to the war were unjustified. The United States Congress decided to form a 500,000-strong federal army of volunteers willing to sign a three-year contract. Battle of the river Bull Run created another problem of finding a military leader capable of leading the army of the northerners, and first of all, the army concentrated on the river played a particularly important role. Potomac. Its commanders, Generals E. McDowell, J. McClellan, and J. Pope, changed one after another after a series of defeats.

In August 1862, McClellan was again put in charge of the army. In September, at the Battle of Antietam Creek, he prevented General R. Lee's invasion of Maryland, but when McClellan was unable to build on his success, he was accused by Lincoln of "indecisiveness" and again removed from command, this time permanently. Further successes of the North in the Civil War began to be associated with the name of General Ulysses Grant (No. 15, pp. 233-234).

The difficult situation of the federal army caused discontent among the population. Lincoln was under pressure from the Republican Party, which included both supporters of the immediate abolition of slavery and those advocating the gradual emancipation of slaves. Lincoln adhered to a policy of compromise, thanks to which he was able to prevent a split in the party. He was convinced that even in wartime a political process must be carried out in the country (No. 13, p. 438). This made it possible to preserve freedom of speech throughout the Civil War and avoid serious restrictions on civil liberties during the crisis of the two-party system (No. 13, p. 440). During Lincoln's presidency, elections were held and citizens participated in government. After the Southern attack on Fort Sumter, some members of the Democratic Party formed a “loyal opposition” that supported government policies.

On August 22, 1862, in an interview with the New York Tribune, when asked why he was delaying freeing the slaves, Lincoln replied: “My highest object in this war is the preservation of the union, and not the preservation or abolition of slavery. If I could save the union without freeing a single slave, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do so, and if I could save it by freeing some slaves and not others. freed, I would do it. What I do in the matter of slavery and for the colored race, I do it because I believe it will help preserve the union. With this I explained my intention here, which I consider as an official duty. And I do not intend to change my often expressed personal desire that all people everywhere should be free” (52).

Almost all the steps taken during Lincoln's first presidency were in one way or another related to the Civil War. The issue of increasing customs tariffs was resolved. The US Congress passed the Morrill Tariff Act, which doubled the customs rates of 1857 to almost 47% of the value of imported products. This decision made reconciliation with the South impossible.

But Lincoln had no other choice: after the entire region of the South was actually declared a free trade zone, importers of the North announced an ultimatum to the president: either customs tariffs would be established in the South, similar to those that were forced to pay in the northern states, or they would refuse to pay duties on imported goods.

An economically free and independent South posed a serious threat to the interests of the North, the guarantor of the further economic progress of the entire American nation.

The issue of slavery occupied an important but not decisive place in the claims of the seceded states, especially since the Lincoln administration initially did not intend to question the right to the existence of slavery, widespread in the South. More important were considered issues related to financial, tax and trade-economic policies, which, according to southerners, were carried out by the central government in the interests of the “northern Yankees” and to the detriment of the interests of the South, although it accounted for up to 80% of all tax revenues to the federal government. budget. Being an agricultural region of the country, the South produced mainly agricultural products, cotton and grain, and was a large consumer of industrial products produced in the North. The volume of agricultural products exported by the South amounted to $213 million per year in value terms, while the North exported its products worth $47 million. All exports from the southern ports were carried out on ships owned by shipowners from the northern states (No. 16, p. 235).

The southerners saw an infringement of their interests in the fact that, by increasing protective tariffs, the federal government showed concern, first of all, for the interests of industrialists and traders of the North, who did not hide their intentions to put obstacles in the way of interstate and foreign trade of the South. The introduced high duties on imports made it possible, as they were convinced in the South, to even more effectively “replenish the national coffers with Southern money so that Lincoln could spend it on the needs of the Republican Party.” Among other things, an increase in customs tariffs inevitably entailed an increase in prices and, consequently, a decrease in the living standards of southerners.

Having decided to secede from the Union, southern leaders hoped that the creation of their own state would turn the American South into a serious trade and economic rival of the North and allow Charleston, New Orleans and Savannah to become the main trading ports of the New World and competitors of New York, Boston and Philadelphia. These plans were reflected in the text of the constitution adopted by the seceding states on March 11, 1861. By repealing the Morrill Tariff, southerners declared the entire southern region a free trade zone, which prompted Lincoln to decide to declare a blockade of southern ports. Without such a blockade, the southern market, unprotected from the influx of European goods, would have been closed to industrial goods from the northern states, and southern raw cotton would have become too expensive for the textile industry of the North, which would have given a huge advantage to English textile workers (No. 34, p. 214) .

This decision of Lincoln caused a negative reaction from England and France, who were deprived of the opportunity to obtain the American raw cotton necessary for their textile industry. The severe damage their economies suffered as a result of the Lincoln administration was a major reason for the moral and material support these European powers provided to the Confederacy throughout the Civil War. London found it possible to send several ships to help the southerners, which were actively used by the Confederate government to fight the blockade of southern ports declared by the North. In particular, one of these ships, the privateer Alabama, caused serious damage to the northern fleet.

Lincoln still relied on the effectiveness of non-coercive persuasion. He sought to gain support from farmers in the northern and western states and, perhaps, win over those who had not yet decided on their attitude towards the war. In May 1862, the Homestead Law was signed, according to which a citizen of the country or a person who expressed a desire to become one, practically free of charge, received the right to a plot of land up to 160 acres in size (approx. 65 hectares), allocated from the state land fund. The plot became the full property of the citizen after five years. It could be obtained after six months of permanent residence in the United States, but in this case a fee of 1.25 cents per acre was charged.

At the same time, slavery was abolished in the District of Columbia, where the federal capital of Washington was located, and monetary compensation began to be paid to former slave owners. All children in black families born after July 4, 1863 were declared free. The principle of gradual emancipation of slaves began to be applied to black slaves of the rebellious states, control over which passed to the federal army. From this contingent, regiments were formed that began to participate in battles against the Confederates (No. 55, p. 192).

Adopted in the same 1862, the Law on National Currency Circulation introduced paper money that was not exchangeable for gold and silver and provided for a number of measures to improve the system of centralized monetary credit and financing vital sectors of the economy. Congress made large appropriations for the construction of railroads, shipbuilding and other profitable industries. An effective state apparatus for taxes and fees was created and the entire government apparatus was centralized to an even greater extent. The logical result of the decisions made by the Lincoln administration in the financial and economic sphere was the creation in 1863-1864 of a national banking system, which made it possible to concentrate all the financial flows of the state in the hands of the federal government. No less important for the purposes of waging war was the law on the Pacific Railway signed in 1862 (No. 39, p. 215). Witte: biography

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