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Chattanooga Bar Association
Law Day Essay Contest Winners for 2009
"A Legacy of Liberty - Celebrating Lincoln's Bicentennial"
LAW DAY ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS FOR 2009
DIVISION I
of the LAW DAY ESSAY CONTEST
First Place
Ajay Makwana
Ooltewah High School
9th Grade
(Ajay Makwana's Essay) Throughout his lifetime, Abraham Lincoln’s selfless morals and principles established a legacy of liberty that is the foundation of the
America that we have come to know today. Abraham Lincoln is considered by many to be the best president that our nation has known for excellent reasons such as: ending slavery in the
United States, and maintaining the
Union in times of civil war. Although these are important achievements that
Lincoln accomplished during his lifetime, often overlooked are the many other reasons that made Abraham Lincoln the greatest president in the history of the
United States of America. His legendary honesty, superior leadership skills, and overall outstanding principles are truly the reasons for which
Lincoln was an exemplary president. Genuinely peaceful and wise leaders are difficult to come by, therefore we must continue to cherish and implement the honorable qualities that were the core ideals of our sixteenth president as well as the legacy of liberty that he created for the benefit of Americans.
Abraham Lincoln’s legendary honest personality is his most defining character trait.
Lincoln’s honesty displayed that he had tremendous respect for others as well as his own morals and beliefs. The pressures of being commander-in-chief during the Civil War and acting as one of the key contributors to the victory of the
Union were far too great to keep bottled up inside and withheld from his generals, cabinet members, and even the American people. He believed that a man is nothing without honesty and that if you were untruthful your opinions would lose value to your colleagues and people in general. If one should learn anything from Abraham Lincoln’s legacy of liberty it is that honesty is definitely the best policy.
Another constantly overlooked quality of Abraham Lincoln is his superior leadership skills. Aside from being “Honest Abe”, our sixteenth president held many awesome leadership abilities. Abraham Lincoln was a firm and strong president that positively voiced his own ideas while being open to other suggestions. He was an excellent public speaker, and most importantly, President Lincoln worked for the good of the whole rather than for personal fame or glory.
Lincoln’s strong leadership skills were crucial to keeping the Northern and Southern states a single entity during the Civil War as well as delivering awe-inspiring speeches to increase morale in the North when things looked bad for the
Union.
Lincoln’s strong leadership qualities can be an example to anyone that aspires to step up to the plate and make a positive change in their community or household. These qualities serve as excellent contributors to the legacy of liberty that Abraham Lincoln established.
Finally,
Lincoln’s high more standards prove to be exemplary traits that should continue to be cherished along side the memory of Abraham Lincoln and the great things he did for
America.
Lincoln’s peaceful ideals showed Civil War era
America that a strong leader could be trusted to be truly involved in the betterment of his or her nation amidst times of war and deception. Before he declared the inevitable civil war against the Confederate states, Abraham Lincoln’s true wish was to be able to settle the dispute with compromise and negotiation rather than violence. However, when it seemed that negotiation was out of the picture, Abraham Lincoln made the decision to protect his fellow Americans and keep the
United States together as a whole.
In conclusion, the memory of Abraham Lincoln and his tremendous legacy of liberty that has indirectly aided so many past and present Americans does not have to be entirely defined by his major accomplishments and achievements. The simple characteristics that define the sixteenth president are ultimately the foundation upon
Lincoln’s legacy of liberty resides.
Second Place
LAUREN ELIZABETH OAKES
Ooltewah High School
DIVISION II
of the LAW DAY ESSAY CONTEST
First Place
SAMUEL P. WEBB
McCallie School
11th Grade
(Samuel P. Webb's essay) Throughout American history, one ideal that has consistently shaped who we are as a nation is the concept of liberty. However, for such a prominent notion, its origins are often misidentified. To many people, the seeds of liberty were originally sewn in
Jefferson’s iconic “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” line in the Declaration of Independence. In reality however, this was a pseudo-liberty, a freedom directed only towards white males. True liberty came almost a century later through the acts of Abraham Lincoln. For through his actions, liberty was able to mushroom forth into a way of life that encompassed all Americans, and not just the elite few.
Some of
Lincoln’s most overlooked accomplishments were the indirect result of the Emancipation Proclamation. Although it is most commonly known for setting the stage for the emancipation of slaves, it also led to the legal liberty of every individual American, no matter what race, religion, or sex. The main way in which this was accomplished was by breaking down the barriers of an idealized social order. For before the war, white males had been the only demographic category to receive the full benefits of civil liberty, most notably, both women and blacks had been denied the franchise. In fact, before the war, the only difference between the voters of the 1850’s and 1780’s was the addition of landless white males and non-protestant white males. However, when the slaves were finally freed, the entire social structure of the nation came into question and long held ideals were now marked with uncertainty.
For example, following their emancipation, Freedmen began to seek certain civil liberties, primarily, the ability to vote. In time, thanks to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, these goals were accomplished.
Also, the voice of the American woman, white or black, was still being ignored. Beginning as early as the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, women had long been campaigning for their rights. Many had considered their plight for suffrage and the freedmen’s as one and the same. Therefore, after the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, a vast amount of women were understandably perturbed when they were not granted the right they so greatly coveted. Nonetheless, with suffrage now extended beyond white males, women were now motivated more than ever to have their voices heard. Eventually, through much rallying, women finally gained suffrage in 1920 with the Nineteenth Amendment.
The final victories for individual freedom came with the Civil Rights movement. Wishing to finish the job
Lincoln had started, thousands of people congregated for the sake of Civil Rights, no matter what race. Through monumental court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, and legislature such as the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act, equality finally became enforced by the law.
In retrospect, although hundreds of people, all important in their own right, helped to carry out these crusades for liberty, each advance was only possible because of
Lincoln’s initial contribution. For it was Lincoln who, through acts such as the Emancipation Proclamation, led men and women all throughout
America to question their social standing, and, when seeing that they were not stuck in place, to fight for a better, more equal life.
It is hard to imagine that
Lincoln envisioned the progress his stance on slavery would spell out for future generations. Nevertheless however, this single man’s actions have shaped
America into the country it is today, showing that he has truly left a legacy of liberty.
Second Place
MARY MARGARET GROVES
Girls Preparatory School
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