Abraham Lincoln Good or Bad?

Question

In school they have always taught us Abe was a good man so why do some people resent him?

Answer 1

He was a complex man;no matter what is taught in school about the Civil War it was not over slavery till 1863. That year he freed all slaves in the southern states not the north !!

Reconstruction in the South may have been better if he had not been killed, his death caused more devastation and raping of the South.

Answer 2

Abraham Lincoln is probably the worst president in U.S. history, and it is a shame that the truth about this man is not taught. But then, little truth is taught in government schools.

Prior to Lincoln, the Constitution was in tact, and the states were willing partners, with the federal government as their agent. Since Lincoln, the federal government has gotten larger and larger, while the states have been reduced to little more than conquered territories. This is exactly the situation that the Anti-Federalists (such as Patrick Henry) predicted.

Lincoln's own actions, at carrying on an unconstitutional war, creating states out of other states (which is also unconstitutional), and being responsible for the deaths of over 600,000 Americans should all earn him a place in infamy. He also shut down hundreds of newspapers that opposed him (an action that some neo-conservatives today think is a good thing, although it certainly isn't), and routinely threw his enemies in prison.

The truth needs to be told about Lincoln, and that is he should be on the bottom of U.S. presidents, not the top.

Answer 3

I both admire and respect Abraham Lincoln. I believe his actions were justified given the emergencies he was dealing with.

Many resent him for suspending parts of the Constitution during the Civil War, and many in the South still feel that the South was justified on the States Rights issues and that Lincoln's actions as president established a stronger federal government.

This may be true, but was also part of the evolutionary changes which brought the United States to its position of prominence in the 20th Century.

Abraham Lincoln was controversial even in his own time, but most historians would agree that he is the greatest of the 43 United States presidents, as would I.

Answer 4

Abraham Lincoln was a brutal, single minded authoritarian genius who saved, for better or worse, the Union. American WAS reborn in the Civil War and the new nation looked nothing like the old. The Civil War was the first modern war with the associated horrific casualties. The industrial revolution started shortly after and America changed from a nation of farmer/ settlers into an industrial assembly line that would grow to establish military and economic hegemony over the planet.

Answer 5

Hey everbody, Remember. The founding were supposed to have settled the issue of slavery in the year 1800. Congresses kept passing the issue from session to the next.

Abe inherited the issue ten years after the non agression that was passed by congress. (States shall not secede for a period of ten years from this date of 1850).
Blame the Congresses for their failure as well. Not just Abe. And what else could abe have done????

We fought to gain the nation, (history understood, of course)We also could have lost it just as easily. Suppose Czarist Russia decided to take the western terriotory including california. Given their miltiary might then, and the militarization of Europe, We could have lost our country after the civil war..

Would anyone like to ponder that scenario?
America losing Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Idaho, Washington, Oregon back to mexico?

Cut Abe some slack!!!! There is enough blame to around on all of our ancestors and the history books equeally!!!!!!!

Answer 6

Lincoln was our greatest president. He was not only an eloquent and poetic writer, he was also an intellectual, although he was mostly self-taught. Lincoln managed to steer the country through its most difficult time. As Frederick Douglass said, Lincoln knew the people and knew how fast and how far he could take them towards certain goals. Lincoln always hated slavery and was the first president to dare to take the issue on. He inherited a mess and he dealt with it. It was painful and it was devastating but the country was preserved.

I’ve read many books about Lincoln and the more I learn the more I admire him.

Answer 7

They resent him because he would rather keep slavery than break up the Union.

However, these people are incorrect in thinking that Abraham Lincoln was solely motivated to keep the country together, because he was also an outspoken abolitionist.

Answer 8

I think that Lincoln was good but, like any other icon in our culture, there can be no mostly good or bad. You are either a hero or a villain. We idolize people like Kennedy and MLK, even though they had affairs and did other less than honorable things. Sure there may be some things that may not have been heroic but, overall he was a good man who did good things for our country. Keep things in perspective.

Answer 9

I had a coworker who told me that he will never vote for the Republicans. They took land from the Whites and gave it to the Blacks. SOme people still resent Lincoln defeating the confederate army and the punishment the Union leveled towards the south.

Answer 10

Abraham Lincoln is dead, from a hole in head. So... he's not good or bad, he's gone. He did a lot of good for the country, but privately he was probably as despicable as everyone else back then. It doesn't do any good to try to soil his good name now... he's dead, and for a long time too.

And converting to Christianity doesn't make you good by default... you still have to be good. I mean... look at all the worthless jokes out there now calling themselves Christians. I'm embarrassed to be associated with these idiots. Clearly Christians, clearly bad... no association.