Summary
of Abe Lincoln's Major Accomplishments
1.
Abraham Lincoln made the decision to fight to prevent
the nation from splitting apart.
2.
Abraham Lincoln was an unfaltering commander in chief
during the Civil War which preserved the United States
as one nation.
3.
Abraham Lincoln's foreign policy was successful in preventing
other countries from intervening in America's Civil War.
4.
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which
began the process of freedom for America's slaves. The
document also allowed black soldiers to fight for the
Union.
5.
Abraham Lincoln was a strong supporter of the Thirteenth
Amendment that formally ended slavery in the United States.
6.
Legislation Abraham Lincoln signed into law included the
Homestead Act, the Morrill Act, the National Banking Act,
and a bill that chartered the first transcontinental railroad.
7.
Abraham Lincoln set an example of strong character, leadership,
and honesty which succeeding presidents tried to emulate.
Barack Obama stated during his campaign that he would
look to Lincoln as a model.
8.
Abraham Lincoln gave a series of great speeches before
and during his presidency including the House Divided
Speech, the Cooper Union Address, the First Inaugural
Address, the Gettysburg Address, and the Second Inaugural
Address.
9.
Abraham Lincoln wrote a series of famous letters including
the letters to Grace Bedell, Horace Greeley, Fanny McCullough,
and Lydia Bixby.
10.
Abraham Lincoln's quotes are among the most famous quotes
in the world.
Abe Lincoln's Legacy
Scorned and ridiculed by many critics during his presidency,
Lincoln became a martyr and almost a saint after his death.
His words and deeds lived after him and will be revered
as long as there is a United States. Indeed, it seems
quite likely that without his determined leadership the
United States would have ceased to exist. Union victory
in the Civil War resolved two fundamental, festering problems
that had been left unresolved by the Revolution of 1776
and the Constitution of 1789: whether this republic, "conceived
in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal," would "long endure"
or "perish from the earth"; and whether the
"monstrous injustice" of slavery would continue
to mock those ideals of liberty. The republic endured,
and slavery perished. That is Lincoln's legacy.
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