Abraham lincoln

The Formation of His Views as President

 Lincolns youth

Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in Hodgenville,

Kentucky, where his stepmother Sarah Bush Johnston
influenced his early curiosity by encouraging him to
read books.

At 21, he was a partner at a store in New Salem that

failed. He was obliged to spend years paying off the
last of the stores creditors: an obligation he called the
National Debt, perhaps beginning the formation of
his conservative fiscal views.
 Early career
Lincoln and John Todd Stuart, a man who would go on to
influence him in many ways, both ran for the Illinois
General Assembly.

Though Lincoln lost, it was in part Stuarts tutelage that led

to Lincoln receiving a license to practice law in 1836.

In 1864, after being elected to the House of Representatives,

Lincoln gave his infamous Spot speech. In this speech, he
demanded that former president James K. Polk demand the
exact spot on which American blood had been shed that
started the war.
 Lincoln on Polk
Lincolns Spot speech implied that he did not believe his
predecessor, James K. Polk, had made the right choice by
sending the United States to war with Mexico.
Though he became known as spotty Lincoln, in part
because most of the country had supported the war, and
also because this speech was also seen as a political
maneuver to gain more favor with the Whig party, this
speech showed two things about the developing Lincoln:
His aversion to conflict or national schisms that he viewed as
unnecessary.
His willingness to take a polarizing stand. This would become
important later in the civil rights movement.
 Lincoln on polk,
cont.
Lincoln called the Mexican-
American war unnecessarily and
unconstitutionally commenced.
He was harsh on Polk personally for
his views, saying that Polk was not
satisfied with his own positions
and that his mind had been tasked
beyond its power.
It was very important to Lincoln
that a presidents positions be well-
researched. In Lincolns opinion,
executive action should never be
taken without deep consideration.
President James K. Polk.
 Lincoln on
abolition
Lincoln opposed slavery but did not support
abolitionist activities. He thought the country should
wait for anti-slavery laws to be passed by government.
Here, we see the personality of Lincoln beginning to take
shape: a man with strong political views, and a passion
for justice, but also a strong aversion to conflict that he
deemed unnecessary.
He justified this stance with the phrase, A house divided
itself cannot stand.

He made this clear in a speech in Ohio in the 1850s.

 Liberal or
conservative?
Because he was president from 1861 to 1865, Lincoln bridged the
time when Republicans were the more liberal Northerners and
Democrats were the slave-owning Southerners, and the dawning
of the regular Republicans and Democrats of today.
Interestingly, this suits his own political views quite well.
Lincoln had liberal ideas, and expressed them (The Emancipation
Proclamation of 1862), but was often more conservative about
acting on these views. He was also fiscally conservative. The
Lincoln presidency embodied the political middleground of the
time.
He was conservative about change, but this conservatism included
preserving the Union of the United States, which meant
abolishing slavery.
 Bibliography

"Abraham Lincoln - Key Events." Millercenter.org.

University of Virginia, Miller Center, n.d. Web. 27
June 2017.

Hubbard, Charles M. "Abraham Lincoln: Facts,

Information, and Articles." History Net. Web. 27 June
2017.

"Abraham Lincoln's Views on James K. Polk and

Mexican Territory." The History Engine. The University
of Richmond, n.d. Web. 27 June 2017.