Upon completing this unit, students should have a better understanding of why Lincoln revered the union of the American states as "the last best, hope of earth. How did Lincoln understand the principles of the Declaration of Independence as the goal of the American union? How did Lincoln see the Civil War as an opportunity for the nation to bring forth a "new birth of freedom" or liberty for all , and why was this necessary for the survival of American self-government?
Explain the principles of human equality and government by consent expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Show how the principles of the Declaration represent the aim of the American union and constitution. Explain provisions of the federal constitution that Lincoln believed empowered him to defend the American union from attempts at secession.
Articulate why Lincoln thought he had a constitutional obligation as president to preserve the Union from attempts at secession. Each lesson in this unit is designed to stand alone; taken together they present a robust portrait of how Lincoln viewed the American union. If there is not sufficient time to use all four lessons in the unit, either the first or third lesson convey Lincoln's understanding of the American union as a means to securing "Liberty to all"—with the first lesson focusing on the principled connection between the Declaration of Independence and the U.
Constitution, and the third lesson addressing the practical connection between the Union war effort, the freedom of the newly emancipated slaves, and the preservation of American self-government. Adding the second lesson would show why Lincoln's understanding of the union and Constitution obliged the president to defend the nation from secession. Adding the fourth lesson would explore how Lincoln thought that only a common memory of the war as the chastening of God to both sides for the national not Southern sin of slavery could restore national unity.
Analyzing primary sources —If your students lack experience in dealing with primary sources, you might use one or more preliminary exercises to help them develop these skills. How did Abraham Lincoln understand the relationship between principles of the Declaration of Independence and the U. Abraham Lincoln felt that the attempt of seven states to leave the American union peacefully was, in fact, a total violation of law and order.
Leaving a country with all of what belongs to one cannot be deemed in any way morally objectionable. Secession can be a sound idea; it comes under the principle of freedom of association, taken into the sphere of politics. It is a special case of the broader principle of individual sovereignty. But secession cannot be justified if it is combined with the evil of imposing the act on unwilling third parties, no matter what its ultimate motivation.
Thus, however flawed Lincoln was, he was a good American. Live Now. About the Author. Tibor R. Machan — Former Adjunct Scholar. Page Contents. On December 20, increasingly angered by the fight over slavery and incensed over the election of an anti-slavery president, South Carolina defiantly declared that it was leaving the Union. Six more states followed a month later and, by June, a total of 11 southern states were no longer part of the country.
The secessionists claimed that - according to the Constitution - they had every right to leave the Union, but Lincoln vehemently refuted that assertion. He gave several reasons, among them his belief that secession was unlawful, the fact that states were physically unable to separate, his fears that secession would cause the weakened government to descend into anarchy, and his steadfast conviction that all Americans should be friends towards one another, rather than enemies.
But it may have been the last point that he considered the most important to his argument: Secession would destroy the only democracy in existence and prove for all time - to both future Americans and the world - that a government of the people could not survive.
Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence? He had good reason to raise the question, for if you traveled the earth in and visited every continent and nation, you would have found many examples of monarchies, dictatorships, and other types of authoritarian rule.
But all of the world over, you would have found only one major democracy: the United States of America. Democracy had been attempted in only one other nation during the 18th century - France - and the results not been successful. With its citizens fonder of voting through the guillotine than the ballot box, France's radical experiment in self-government did not last long, and when Napoleon rose from the ashes of the disaster and went on a quest to conquer all of Europe, monarchy supporters felt thoroughly vindicated.
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