Executive Powers Definition

This historical study will define the unconstitutional and excessive abuse of executive powers of president Lincoln’s civil war administration. The illegal detainment of anti-Union proponents and the suspension of Habeas Corpus define one example of an unconstitutional abuse of presidential powers under Lincoln. Constitutional legal precedent illustrates the illegality of suspending Habeas Corpus, the Union naval blockade, and the Emancipation proclamation through the executive branch. Locke’s “prerogative” for exceptional circumstances during a time war cannot apply to the concept of a checks and balances in government, which Lincoln violated through singular acts of power to make war with seceding states. The dangerous precedent of declaring

coast. This militarism is an extension of martial law, which sought to prevent the South from autonomously trading with Europeans and to economically starve them into submission. More so, the development of Lincoln’s militarism expanded into building of a massive Union army, which was to work in tandem with the navy to return the Southern states to the Union. These aspects of executive powers define the overt militarism of Lincoln’s reaction to secession, which defined the undercurrent of tolerance in the Constitution for slavery. In this manner, the militarization of the U.S. government relied heavily on Lincoln’s presidential powers to enforce and aggressively avoid Congressional approval of acts, such as the Emancipation Proclamation, and the other aspects of legal authority through the

Locke’s vision of “prerogative” acknowledges certain instances in which a leader may act autonomously if it benefits the greater good of society. In this perspective, Lincoln could arguably have been justified in his suspension of habeas Corpus and the resulting presidential powers that led to the Emancipation Proclamation, yet these examples of unconstitutional acts become multiplied over the course of the Civil War. However, Lincoln implemented the suspension of Habeas Corpus as part of a broader implementation of martial throughout the South. More so, Lincoln finds these examples of executive overreach to be a long-term pattern that define something more than a single example of prerogative in the philosophy of John Locke. In fact, Locke defines the threat of absolute monarchy as a dangerous aspect of political eldership that becomes systemic in terms of legal authority in