Civil War Argumentative Essay
The statements made by Mr. Broxton about Civil War is incorrect. Much of the tension between the Northern and Southern states was caused by slavery, and it created chaos for all. Mr. Broxton claims that Lincoln declared war for a purpose other than slavery, Broxton quoted Lincoln but he did not put it in context, and he claims that slavery was not abolished at the end of the war. To begin, in paragraph 4 of Mr.
Broxton’s statement he claims that President Lincoln did not declare war to abolish slavery. “There is no proof of Lincoln ever declaring the war was fought to abolish slavery, and without such an official statement, the war-over-slavery teaching remains a complete lie and offensive hate speech that divides Americans” (Broxton 1). Mr. Broxton claims that the war was actually fought over taxes and other matters. This claim is inaccurate because according to The Declaration of Causes of Seceding States it states that,” While the subordination and the political and social inequality of the African race was fully conceded by all, it was plainly apparent that slavery would soon disappear from what are now the non-slaveholding States of the original thirteen. The opposition to slavery was then, as now, general in those States and the Constitution was made with direct reference to that fact.
But a distinct abolition party was not formed in the United States for more than half a century after the Government went into operation” (The Declaration of Causes 1). This exemplifies that the reason many southern states seceded from the Union was due to slavery. Many southern states felt threatened by the propositions of abolishing slavery, so they felt it be necessary to secede from the Union and wage a war against the northern states for the sake of their rights. The war was solely about abolishing slavery. Additionally, Mr. Broxton’s statement that Lincoln said, “as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said (tax) rebellion”.
This is incorrect because the statement is not in context. The Emancipation Proclamation is where Broxton found this quote, and what Lincoln actually stated in the Emancipation Proclamation is,” Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States” (Lincoln 1). This illustrates that President Lincoln created a necessary measure for suppressing rebellion to reduced the amounts of rebellions, not because of said taxes. Lincoln was doing everything in his power to abolish slavery and end the war, he was not using taxes to his advantage during the war. Thirdly, Mr.
Broxton claims,” Slavery was NOT abolished; just the name was changed to sharecropper with over 5 million Southern whites and 3 million Southern blacks working on land stolen by Wall Street bankers” (Broxton 1). This statement is entirely unreliable because Lincoln created The Emancipation Proclamation in order to free slaves and have all others recognize this act. In The Emancipation Proclamation, President Lincoln states that,”I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons” (Lincoln 1). President Lincoln created the Emancipation Proclamation in order to free any and all slaves to end the war. Lincoln needed to end the war the same way it was started, with the hopes to end slavery. In conclusion, Mr.
Broxton’s claims that President Lincoln did not declare war to abolish slavery, he quoted Lincoln but did not put it in context, and he claims that slavery was not abolished.These remarks are completely false and should be rewritten to emit correct information into this world.
