m. The Republicans were clearly divided into two and something had to be done to bring back the supporters of Lincoln. Shortly after he won the Republican nomination Lincoln formed the National Union party and replaced his vice-president with Andrew Jackson, a southern Unionist. This as well as the north’s victory in Atlanta propelled Lincoln back into the White House. “The convention that nominated Lincoln endorsed a constitutional amendment to abolish slavery, which Congress passed early in 1865. The Thirteenth Amendment would be ratified by the end of the year” (Enduring Vision, p. 436)Abraham Lincoln was a politician and he was a very good one at that. In today’s society many politicians have no problem endorsing a couple of laws they do not feel strongly about to gain a few more votes that might give them a slight advantage over the competition, Lincoln was no different. He may not have agreed with slavery but he had no strong feelings on the subject. He once wrote, “I confess I hate to see the poor creatures hunted down, and caught, and carried back to their stripes, and unrewarded toils; but I bite my lip and keep quiet” (Abraham Lincoln To Joshua Speed). He refers to them as creatures; the slaves are not even people to him. His personal view of slavery never changed, what changed was what Lincoln deemed necessary to keep the people happy thus ensuring his re-election. It just so happened that what benefited Abraham Lincoln politically also freed the entire African-American race from slavery which put Lincoln into the history books as a national hero....
