That's an interpretive question that would ask us to get inside the mind of Lincoln from a distance a century and a half away. We do know that Lincoln long had moral and political objections to slavery. He had outlined some of those thoughts in a speech given in Peoria, Illinois, in 1854. But Lincoln's views on what to do about slavery were something that took shape over time. In the Peoria speech, he suggested that perhaps slaves should be freed in order to be returned to Africa. But as the conflict over slavery grew and the Civil War became a reality, Lincoln became firmer in seeing this as a struggle not just over preserving the Union but also a battle for human dignity and the principle of equality. And so in the Gettysburg Address, in 1863, he affirmed the principle stated by the Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal. The massive number of casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg certainly gave impetus to Lincoln's words about preserving the Union and government of the people, by the people and for the people. But those ideas had been central to Lincoln's worldview before Gettysburg as well as in that speech.
Perhaps the greatest contribution of Grant and Sherman (Grant being the leader of the Northern forces) was that they knew when not to fight--that is when to hold back--since the North's army greatly outnumbered that of the South.
Answer: After World War I, US President Woodrow Wilson helped to build an ... League, the United States did not officially join the League of Nations due to opposition ... The nature of the war was thus one of attrition, with each side attempting to wear ... a covenant establishing the League of Nations, which convened its first council ...
