Over the years there have been many presidents, each with their own ideas about how America should be formed. Abraham Lincoln was one of the greatest presidents. Born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln grew up in a Baptist family whose morals were strict and opposed alcohol, dancing, and slavery. Despite his later version of the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln did not believe that slaves should have the same rights as white men. Lincoln was content to issue the Emancipation Proclamation because it was an important military strategy, but it would not actually free all slaves and it was possible that the problem of slavery be resolved by colonization in Liberia. Although Lincoln grew up hating slavery as an institution, he did not believe that the Civil War justified the dissolution of the entire system. Lincoln believed that emancipation should be gradual in order to avoid provocation from the South. However, as the Civil War entered its second summer, more and more slaves began fleeing southern plantations, escaping to join the Union Army. The North was ...