Foreward
Was President Abraham Lincoln moot or silent about "What caused the Civil War? No. However, one will never hear the Abraham Lincoln admirer quote Lincoln (aka Honest Abe or Father Abraham) on what he literally stated regarding "What caused the Civil War." Why does the Lincoln fanatic always insist on quoting anything, everything and anyone else? Simple. Because the truth doesn't adhere to the person's view of Lincoln. Regarding the Lincoln worshipper, just ask one question: Why doesn't said person quote President Lincoln on what he literally said and wrote relating to "What caused the Civil War"? The Lincoln lover will always quote one or two Southern documents, out of context, in order to support and purport flawed views and ideologies. And why do they intentionally avoid Lincoln's very own documents, letters, and speeches? Because everything indicts Lincoln. Remember, Lincoln, as commander-in-chief, went to war, the bloodiest war in America's history and without the consent of Congress, so Lincoln is accountable and his words must be considered. Whether it be referred to as a war, rebellion or conflict, the reader will examine Lincoln's very own words regarding "What caused the Civil War."
Introduction
Regarding "What caused the Civil War," the President of the United States -- as commander-in-chief and chief executive -- declared that the sole cause of the Civil War was secession. Lincoln never stated that slavery caused the Civil War. Lincoln chose war to suppress what he deemed a rebellion in the Southern states. If the South embraced and espoused slavery and if the South stated that the institution, alone, justified war, it was ultimately the President of the United States, possessing absolute responsibility and duty as chief executive for the nation, who, to the contrary, declared war on the Southern states because of secession. As President, Lincoln declared that the South was guilty only of rebellion, and, without the consent of Congress and contrary to pleas from the Supreme Court, Lincoln raised an army and subsequently invaded the Southern states. Moreover, the decision to declare war or to suppress a rebellion, and to state what caused the Civil War, was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln himself; and he stated his position for war clearly. (See also: Civil War Causes, Southern States Secede, and Secession of the South History and President Lincoln, What Caused the Civil War, Slavery, South and States' Rights, and Southern Secession.)
Prior to April 15, 1861, seven Southern states, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, had seceded from the Union. On April 15, 1861, Lincoln stated in his Call For Troops that the only cause of the Civil War was secession in the Southern states, and that troops were being called upon in order to "suppress the rebellion" and force the states back into the Union. Just 2 days after Lincoln's Call for Troops to raise an army and invade the South, Virginia seceded (April 17), followed by Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. Kentucky, meanwhile, refused to recruit a single soldier for Lincoln's "wicked cause," and Maryland, a free state, was invaded by U.S. troops and placed under martial law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty, did not attempt it. In Missouri, on October 31, 1861, a pro-CSA remnant of the General Assembly met and passed an ordinance of secession.
Lincoln, moreover, never stated publicly or in any document that abolishing the institution of slavery was why he called upon the troops, or to free the slaves was the cause of the Civil War. The Southern states had seceded, and Lincoln was now determined to suppress it. According to the president, secession was the cause of the Civil War.
The Five Civilized Tribes even aligned themselves with the Confederacy, and the Cherokee Nation in its formal declaration to unite with the Southern states leveled, among many, the following blistering accusations against Lincoln and the Union: “But in the Northern States the Cherokee people saw with alarm a violated Constitution, all civil liberty put in peril, and all the rules of civilized warfare and the dictates of common humanity and decency unhesitatingly disregarded. In States which still adhered to the Union a military despotism has displaced the civil power and the laws became silent amid arms. Free speech and almost free thought became a crime. The right to the writ of habeas corpus, guaranteed by the Constitution, disappeared at the nod of a Secretary of State or a general of the lowest grade. The mandate of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was set at naught by the military power, and this outrage on common right approved by a President sworn to support the Constitution. …Lincoln sent armies into Southern States to aid in subjugating a people struggling for freedom, to burn, to plunder, and to commit the basest of outrages on women; while the heels of armed tyranny trod upon the necks of Maryland and Missouri, and men of the highest character and position were incarcerated upon suspicion and without process of law in jails, in forts, and in prison-ships, and even women were imprisoned by the arbitrary order of a President and Cabinet ministers; while the press ceased to be free.” See also What Caused the Civil War? Slavery? States' Rights? Secession?
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