The story of Passover, writes Yossi Prager, is one of “the increasing revelation of God’s hand in history.” Abraham Lincoln—who was killed on Passover—was a firm believer in the principle of divine providence, and searched for the presence of that divine hand in the unfolding of the Civil War:
President Lincoln believed in the justice of the Union’s cause and also thought the Union army to be the stronger force. He expected a faster war. Yet God seemed to will the war to continue. Why? . . . Lincoln chewed over the question until he believed he had found an answer—one that satisfied his theological questions as well as his political need to bind the North and South together. . . . .
God, argued Lincoln, held both the North and the South responsible for slavery in America, and drew blood “with the sword” as retribution for “blood drawn with the lash.” Why? Because all thirteen [original] colonies [had] permitted slavery. Slavery may have been abolished in the North earlier than in the South, but Lincoln viewed that as due in large measure to differences in the economies of the two sections of America. The North and South each had its own purposes for the war, but God had a larger purpose.
Read more on eJewish Philanthropy: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/pesach-and-abraham-lincolns-150th-yahrzeit-reflections-on-gods-role-in-history/