Why Honest Abe Wasn't so Honest and Several Reasons Why he Wasn't as Much of a Hero as we Thought he Was

      As one of the most famous and frequently discussed presidents in United States history, it is no surprise that many people describe Abraham Lincoln as one of the many great political heroes that have been observed over the course of our nation's lifetime, especially with his countless contributions to the Union's victory in the Civil War and his zestful speeches that boosted American morale. "Honest Abe," however, may not have been as sterling in his political career or unshakably anti-slavery as many may think today, as several sources suggest that a few of his actions and decisions that he made over the course of his presidency don't entirely align with his supposed personal beliefs or what would be considered good decision making in the first place. In fact, some of the things he did while in office may have arguably maniacal truths to their purpose and may prove Lincoln to be more of a greedy hoarder of economic growth in the North than a man who had entirely good intentions for all citizens of the United States.

    Firstly, for man hailed as a strategic genius during his time in the White House, Lincoln was quite notorious for appointing rather pathetic generals to lead the Union army. With just a few names being Ambrose Burnside (who was humiliated by the Confederacy at Fredericksburg while in charge of the well-trained Army of the Potomac), Joseph Hooker (Burnside's later replacement who found his army crippled in the Battle of Chancellorsville), and George McClellan (a generally unsuccessful general who lead a terrible assault campaign on the Confederate capital of Richmond), it is quite clear that perfect president Lincoln's decision making in the field of appointing generals was near laughable. Moving on from mere leadership appointment, Lincoln's decision to even begin the war in the first place is questionable enough by itself. While many prefer to say that Lincoln advocated for the war in patriotic desire for a unified nation or for greater civil equality between whites and blacks, his decision to begin the war may have had a darker background than we all originally thought. As the 19th century continued to progress, northern industry grew more and more reliant on southern agriculture to provide its large population and workers with food and resources in order to maintain its level of success. As a northerner, the South's declaration of its desire to secede from the Union at this time was terrifying to Lincoln due to the circumstances, as he understood that the secession of most of the South would lead to a sharp rise in the price of agriculture and a general lack of its countless consumable products. Lincoln wanted to continue Northern domination over the South in every possible way in order to protect his own personal pride and the pride of the Northern people, which explains his desire to utterly destroy the South during the war in an attempt to check its ability to wage any future wars against the North. Even putting such a theory aside, it is more questionable that Lincoln even got so frustrated with Southern secession assuming that he relied on it for nothing. In the Constitution, the right to secession by a state (and the Confederacy was simply a collection of states) is guaranteed in Article IV, Section III, so it is rather odd that Lincoln would restrict this right to such an extent if he did not have personal motive to do so.

    Tactics and decision making aside, it appears that Lincoln's personal attitudes and opinions were not all that saintlike either as many Americans like to claim. While he was slightly more sympathetic toward African-Americans than many southerners were, his attitudes toward Native Americans were shocking to say the least, and some of the action taken against Natives under his presidency were even worse. While in office, President Lincoln's administration oversaw one of the largest land claims in American history, taking over great sums of territory in the southwestern United States and forcing various Native tribes in the area to move to reservations as far as 500 miles away from where they had originally lived. During the large scale forced migrations of these Natives by the Union army, brutal treatment and executions were common as they were violently beaten for disobedience or dissent and were killed for some offenses such as attempting to run or falling behind. If a Native American found themselves lucky enough to survive the trip to the reservation, they were greeted by nothing but more poor treatment and horrible living conditions that basically turned the "reservations" into death camps where Native Americans were dumped to die so that the government would not have to deal with them anymore. Furthermore, if rounding up Natives and taking them to a reservation was deemed too risky or too difficult to accomplish by the Lincoln Administration, troops of Union soldiers were simply sent to Native villages where they would massacre the poor (and often innocent) people, killing large numbers of women and children as well in order to save a bit of time clearing out room for a new American settlement, city, or railroad. President Lincoln's abuse of his power also carried more of a presence during his time in office than most people think, as he imposed censorship laws, deported his critics, and even suspended the right to habeas corpus.


    Overall, president Lincoln's time as president was not quite as star studded and innocent as many people in modern society like to think. There are many facts that indicate otherwise and also spur thought surrounding what his true motives were in taking the actions that he did as our nation's Commander in Chief. He is one of the presidential greats without a doubt for his various positive contributions to he country and its people, however it would be dull-minded to claim that he made no mistakes and kept nothing under the shade while in office.


Sources:
http://listverse.com/2013/12/05/10-reasons-lincoln-was-secretly-a-terrible-president/

http://www.san.beck.org/LincolnCivilWar.html

http://baconbooksandbullets.com/lincoln-sucked-abraham-lincoln-was-a-terrible-president-and-a-worse-human-being/