Lincoln Was the Greatest American

Abraham Lincoln felt the preservation of the United States was important and that secondly slavery was wrong. Of course, the Civil War was fought at a terrible cost, there is no doubt there, but it was necessary. A separate southern Confederacy would have most likely led to continued secessions within that country (both Georgia and South Carolina wanted to secede again) and set precedents in the West also. As a result, North America could easily have ended up as Eastern Europe has--split into small, weak countries endlessly fighting for obscure ethnic reasons or for disputed boundries.

Lincoln gave his life for the United States, he knew he probably wouldn't survive the war and during the war the deaths of young men and women took a great toll on him physically. In addition, his beloved son died and his wife was erratic emotionally and nearly bankrupted him.

It was the rich Southerners who caused the war, who put their own selfish interests above that of their fellow Virginians, South Carolians, etc. They are the ones who were responsible for sending poor Southern men to their deaths, half-clothed and starving with inadequate medical attention. Lincoln, as President, was bound by oath to preserve the Union and that is what he did. His strength, integrity, innate honesty, his ultimate sacrifice of his life, his ability to overcome the betrayal of members of his own party and country, his capacity to rise above petty bickering and profiteering and to unite the country are what make him, to me, the greatest of Americans.