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Abraham Lincoln's Suspension Of Habeas Corpus

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After the Emancipation Proclamation, in 1861 Lincoln decided to issue yet another executive order, suspension of Habeas Corpus. Habeas Corpus is a legal guarantee, which gives the individual the right to know why he or she is being arrested and to be entitled to a trial. It is important to notice that Abraham Lincoln has suspended Habeas Corpus on numerous occasion during the Civil War (Foner, p.98-99). The reason I choose to focus on the executive order form March 3rd, 1983, is because at that time Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus throughout the whole North. We must also acknowledge that Abraham Lincoln was much more careful inn suspending civil liberties during a war, than other American presidents in U.S history. But without a doubt …show more content…

He argued, to paraphrase Eric Foner that the exercise of some of those liberties is threatening to dismantle the whole structure of government. For Lincoln violation of some civil liberties was in retrospect worth it order to preserve the government. What in my opinion need to be stressed when it comes to Lincoln suspension act is that he really believed that benefits of it outweigh the costs. He also argued, in front of a special session of Congress, that the country was in rebellion and circumstance called for such drastic measures .It was after all the public safety that was in danger. The issue of the controversy over the suspension of Habeas Corpus steam form the fact that the American Constitution is not specific enough to determine who gets to suspend the writ Congress or the President. Article 1 section 9 of the Constitution states that the privilege of the Habeas Corpus cannot be suspended unless in cases of rebellion invasion in which naturally the public safety is threatened. On the other hand, the article 1 of the Constitution deals with the legislative branch, which may suggest that it is the Congress who gets to decide to suspend the writ. Lincoln agreed to some extent that it is the Congress who was vested with this particular power but he maintain that the Constitution does not specify which branch legislative or executive is to exercise that power. He continues by arguing that it is hardly believable that the framers would live such an emergency power to the Congress who would need time to organize an assembly while it might be too late. Lincoln argued that the executive branch is more equipped to exercise that power due to the fact that the decision can be made much

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So what legal or perceived authority did Lincoln act on? When the South attacked Fort Sumter in April 186, Lincoln almost immediately started his quest to circumvent the Constitution. He would justify his actions not on law, rather his interpretation of judicial review. However, his decisions stretched the meaning of the Constitution and violated many sections of the document. Lincoln amplified Constitutional lines by raising money for troops without the approval of the U.S. Treasury, suspending that writ of habeas corpus and the issuance of his Emancipation Proclamation. The President openly admitted that his original proclamation held no true legal authority; it was issued as a measure of war and not a true attempt at emancipation.

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Habeas corpus is the right of a person who is arrested to have a trial. By suspending habeas corpus, President Lincoln is preventing everyone who is arrested from being released. While the northern army was traveling around, people kept burning bridges and other nuances to slow their advances. Lincoln had to find a way to prevent this from happening so he suspended habeas corpus and had some of the perpetrators arrested. Lincoln said, “... often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb.”

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It states in Article I, Section 9 of the constitution that “the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion

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Ultimately it wasn’t added, but it is important to understand that the Committee at the Constitutional Convention moved the clause from its original spot in Article III, which deals with the judicial branch, to Article I, which deals with the legislative branch. This suggests that the suspension of habeas corpus is a power that the legislative power obtains. (heritage.org habeas) According to Cornell Law School, “The Executive does not have the independent authority to suspend the writ”. Therefore, Lincoln overstepped his powers by suspending the writ of habeas corpus and by doing so, he caused an unstable relationship between himself and

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459 Words | 2 Pages

In the year 1863, as the nation approached its third year of the civil war, Abraham Lincoln issued two executive orders. On January 1st, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation and on March 3rd 1863 he suspended Habeas Corpus in the entire North territories. Both directives were closely related with the ongoing civil war. As Milkis and Nelson write in their book “The American Presidency”…” Lincoln was no abolitionist. Indeed, his relative moderation on the slavery issue helped him wrest his party’s 1860 presidential nomination away from the avowedly pro-emancipation William H. Seward…”

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It is noted that “in suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus while congress was not in session, Lincoln did exactly what he should have done to save the Union” (p. 104). What Lincoln did was necessary to ensure the Union remained intact and its citizens remained loyal. In his text, Neely asserts that there were three main issues of the civil war which are as follows- the sources of Lincolns constitutionalism ideas and thought process, the writ of habeas corpus, and emancipation. These three aspects were crucial throughout the Civil War but another aspect that was more paramount and influential in the eyes of Neely was that of the Federal and Confederate constitutions. Both of these constitutions served as instruments to fuel nationalism amongst their respective sides.

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1159 Words | 5 Pages

President Lincoln Commander in Chief of the Union Military intended to join the Confederacy and the Union together again. In the North during the war there would be those in support and those against it. In June of 1861 President Lincoln expanded the power of the national government by authorizing military officers to suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus. Lincoln’s argument that being the Commander in Chief, as stated in the Constitution, required him to win the war in the South. However he claimed he could not win without suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

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In conclusion, all of Lincoln`s “controversial” decisions was to keep the union together. Its all justifiable even though these actions were technically an abuse of presidential power. It can be argued that he abused the power of the presidency when he suspended the Writ of Habeas Corpus and upheld the Declaration of

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136 Words | 1 Pages

Lincoln ignored a Supreme Court justice 's decision overturning his order, and over the next few years, the Great Emancipator, in one of the war 's starkest ironies, allowed these new restrictions, which also imposed martial law in some volatile border areas and curbed freedom of speech and the press, to expand throughout the Northern states. As the war drew to a close, though, some historians believe Lincoln may have begun to recognize the dangers of his own unprecedented expansion of presidential war powers. More than 13,000 civilians were arrested under martial law during the war throughout the Union. But it was in Missouri, in particular, nearly a thousand miles from the nation 's capital and far beyond the federal government 's

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869 Words | 4 Pages

On September 2nd, 1862, Abraham Lincoln famously signed the Emancipation Proclamation. After that, there’s been much debate on whether Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation truly played a role in freeing the slaves with many arguments opposing or favoring this issue. In Vincent Harding’s essay, The Blood-red Ironies of God, Harding argues in his thesis that Lincoln did not help to emancipate the slaves but that rather the slaves “self-emancipated” themselves through the war. On the opposition, Allen C Guelzo ’s essay, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America, argues in favor of the Emancipation Proclamation and Guelzo acknowledges Lincoln for the abolishment of slavery through the Emancipation Proclamation.

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The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared that all the slaves in the Confederate states in rebellion against the Union were not free. It didn 't affect bondsmen in the loyal Border States though, out of fear of driving them away from the Union, nor did it affect some of the conquered territory in the South. This new change made it clear to both sides that this would be a fight to the finish, ruling out the chance of negotiation. While Lincolns Emancipation Proclamation delighted the abolitionists, is also infuriated many other citizens. They thought "Honest Abe." had lied to them, seeing as previously, at the onset of the war, Abraham Lincoln had stated that his intentions in the war to save the Union had nothing to do with freeing the

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2246 Words | 9 Pages

“Unlike others in his party, Lincoln had grudgingly admired Jackson's forcefulness and willingness to take responsibility in crises.” Jackson, whom Lincoln would quote in his inaugural address and invoke when he urged the Marylanders to remain a part of the Union, seemed an able guide for Lincoln since his powers as a General in times of war would mirror Lincoln’s own during a rebellion. What remained was for actions in Maryland progress to the point where such extremes became warranted. Given the nature of suspending Habeas Corpus, the seriousness which Lincoln held such an action, what justification could be held for Lincoln’s actions? First, examine the letter Lincoln would write to General Winfield Scott:

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According to Pants: “Abraham Lincoln, Emancipation Proclamation Act. 1865- Free slaves, but never the less violence continue for a decade, The Reconstruction period, through the Southerner States, racial tension and violence against slaves, the confederate, for instance, the KKK. In the South. Much blood was shredded in the South through the civil war years, freed slaves suffered and a lot of them was killed, by hanging known as lynching, castrating ,burning their homes, churches and even the slaves because they wouldn’t return back to the plantations.

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Reconstruction, if executed properly, would have eliminated the racial segregation and racial tension we have today. For instance, in the news recently there has been a controversy regarding the Confederate flag. The Confederate flag is said to represent slavery because the Confederates, during the Civil War, used this flag as their battle flag; the Confederates fought to keep slavery. Therefore the Confederate flag DOES in fact represent slavery. The recent shooter of 9 African-American people in a South Carolina Baptist Church, Dylan Roof, sparked this debate of whether the Confederate flag should be removed.

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Today in recent news from our very own messenger we came to find that the once great city of thebes that was on its way to it's own demolish since it's king laius died and was replaced by a young man named Oedipus,has regained it's livelyness back but not in a good way. We have learned that the new king Oedipus was the son of Laius and Jocasta though he had no idea since he was sent to be killed he then became the son of polybus and his wife. The reason for him being sent off was because of an horrible oricle, that oricle has come true he came to the the place where three roads met and murdered his own father and his army. He then became king of thebes and married the lady Jocasta and bared children with neither one knowing that they where mother

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