Lincoln's Law-Breaking: A Study Of Questionable Presidential Actions

Abraham Lincoln's actions as President of the United States during the Civil War have been the subject of much debate. Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, which allows citizens to take legal action against unlawful detention, was challenged by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, who ruled that the ability to suspend habeas corpus was limited to Congress because it's in Article I of the Constitution, not Article II. Lincoln's actions were also challenged by Congress, but Congress later passed legislation that said that the president had the power to suspend habeas corpus.

Lincoln's actions were also questioned in terms of the constitutionality of emancipation. Since slaves were seen as property and not people, they were deemed contraband of war. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves from areas not controlled by Union forces, which heavily depended on the view of the powers granted to the President during war, which has never been tested in court.

Lincoln's actions were unprecedented, and he was not restricted from doing so. Lincoln was a lawyer and knew that he was acting within his legal capacity as Commander-in-Chief during war on American soil against other Americans.

Suspension of Habeas Corpus

The suspension of habeas corpus was one of Abraham Lincoln's most controversial decisions. The doctrine of habeas corpus is the right of any person under arrest to appear in person before the court, to ensure that they have not been falsely accused.

In April 1861, Lincoln authorized his military commanders to suspend the writ of habeas corpus between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia (and later up through New York City). Numerous individuals were arrested, including John Merryman and several Baltimore police commissioners. When a writ of habeas corpus was issued by Judge William Fell Giles of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, the commander of Fort McHenry, Major W. W. Morris, refused to comply.

Merryman's lawyers appealed, and in June 1861, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, writing as the United States Circuit Court for Maryland, ruled in ex parte Merryman that Article I, section 9 of the United States Constitution reserves the power to suspend habeas corpus to Congress, and thus the president's suspension was invalid. Lincoln refused to abide by the ruling.

In September 1861, Lincoln expanded the zone within which the writ was suspended. In February 1862, he ordered the release of all political prisoners, offering them amnesty for past treason or disloyalty, as long as they did not aid the Confederacy.

In September 1862, faced with opposition to his calling up of the militia, Lincoln again suspended habeas corpus, this time throughout the country, and made anyone charged with interfering with the draft, discouraging enlistments, or aiding the Confederacy subject to martial law. This was formalized in the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act, which Lincoln signed into law on March 3, 1863.

The Act allowed the president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the duration of the Civil War. It also provided for the release of political prisoners. The suspension was partially lifted by Andrew Johnson in December 1865, with the end of the Civil War.

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation

Lincoln's proclamation was based on his war powers as commander-in-chief, and it was limited to places under Confederate control. It also explicitly freed slaves only in those areas, with an important exception: it did not cover certain parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control and were already abolishing slavery.

The proclamation was issued as an executive order, under the authority of the president as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and it invoked the Act of Congress of July 17, 1862:

> "An Act to make further provision for the collection of taxes and duties, and for other purposes."

The proclamation stated that, as a war measure, it was deemed necessary that, on January 1, 1863, "all persons held as slaves" in the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." It also ordered and directed the Executive Government of the United States, including the Army and Navy, to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons."

The Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the United States. It applied only to the states that had seceded from the Union and were in rebellion and not to the border states that permitted slavery, which included Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri. It also did not end slavery in Tennessee, because that state was mostly under Union control at the time.

The proclamation did not immediately free any slaves, as it applied only to slaves in areas not then under Northern control. It also explicitly excluded slaves in Union-occupied areas of the Confederacy, such as the state of Tennessee, much of which was then under Union control.

The proclamation did, however, have many important effects. It committed the Union to ending slavery, made the abolition of slavery one of the primary war goals, and paved the way for the Thirteenth Amendment, which ended slavery in the United States.

Lincoln's Use of Martial Law

Abraham Lincoln's use of martial law was complex and nuanced, with a focus on maintaining the Union and addressing the Southern insurrection. On July 5, 1864, he declared martial law in Kentucky, which lasted until October 12, 1865. This was part of a broader declaration of martial law across the United States from September 24, 1862, to August 20, 1866.

Lincoln's actions regarding martial law were influenced by the ongoing Civil War and his goal of preserving the Union. The precipitating event for the nationwide declaration was the Civil War itself, with Lincoln aiming to suppress the Southern insurrection and rebellion. The covered area of this declaration included the entire United States, and it was issued by Lincoln himself.

During this period, Lincoln also took other controversial actions, such as suspending habeas corpus, which led to legal challenges and debates about the balance between individual rights and national security during wartime. The suspension of habeas corpus allowed for the arrest and detention of individuals without trial, a power that was later deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Ex parte Milligan case in 1866.

Lincoln's actions during this tumultuous period in American history continue to be a subject of debate among legal scholars and historians. While some argue that he violated the Constitution, others contend that his actions were permissible under the circumstances. The academic discussion tends to favor Lincoln, acknowledging the unprecedented nature of the Civil War and the need for decisive executive action.

In conclusion, Lincoln's use of martial law was a significant aspect of his presidency, shaped by the exigencies of the Civil War and his commitment to preserving the Union. His actions had far-reaching consequences and continue to inform discussions about executive power and constitutional law in times of national crisis.

Lincoln's Blockade of Southern Ports

Lincoln's proclamation stated that a "competent force will be posted so as to prevent entrance and exit of vessels from the ports". Vessels that attempted to leave or enter the blockaded ports would be "captured and sent to the nearest convenient port, for such proceedings against her and her cargo as may be deemed advisable".

The blockade was initially unsuccessful, with only one in ten ships trying to evade the blockade being intercepted. However, the Union Navy gradually increased in size and was able to drastically reduce shipments into Confederate ports. By 1864, one in every three ships attempting to run the blockade was being intercepted.

The blockade was a powerful weapon that eventually ruined the Southern economy, at the cost of very few lives. It prevented the export of cotton, which the Confederacy depended on for hard currency, and largely reduced imports of food, medicine, war materials, manufactured goods, and luxury items. It also had the unintended but significant consequence of crippling the interstate slave trade.

The constitutionality of the blockade was challenged, but in 1863 the U.S. Supreme Court found that it was constitutional.

Lincoln's Calling Up of the Militia

On April 15, 1861, at the start of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln called for a 75,000-man militia to serve for three months following the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter. This was in accordance with the Militia Act of 1795, which provided that:

> [T]he militia employed in the service of the United States, shall receive the same pay and allowances, as the troops of the United States, and that no officer, non-commissioned officer or private of the militia shall be compelled to serve more than three months in any one year, nor more than in due rotation with every other able-bodied man of the same rank in the battalion to which he belongs.

The call for militia was in response to the secession of seven states in December 1860 and the creation of the Confederate States of America two months later, in February 1861. The size of the Regular Army rapidly shrank as hundreds of officers and men resigned to join the newly formed Confederate armies.

The declaration by Lincoln read:

> I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought fit to call forth, and hereby do call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the aggregate number of seventy-five thousand, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed.

Lincoln's call for militia was not without resistance. Several southern states refused to send troops against their neighbouring Deep South slave states. The result was that most states in the Upper South also seceded from the United States and joined the Confederacy. In Missouri and Kentucky, pro-Confederate state governments were formed. Although neither managed to seize effective control, they were duly recognised by the Confederacy, with these states being admitted as the 12th and 13th Confederate states, respectively.

In early May, Lincoln issued a second call, requesting an additional 42,000 men. On May 3, he issued a further call for United States Volunteers to join new regiments being organised by pro-Union state governments, where they would be expected to serve a minimum of three years. He also increased the regular U.S. Army by 22,714 men and called for 42,034 additional volunteers to be ready for military service. In July 1861, the U.S. Congress sanctioned Lincoln's acts and authorised 500,000 additional volunteers.

In June 1863, Lincoln put out an emergency call for 100,000 troops from the state militias of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia. This was in response to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, which was on the move towards Washington, D.C. Although the troops were not needed, and the call could not be fulfilled in such a short time, it indicated how little the Union authorities knew of Lee's movements and how vulnerable they thought the Federal capital was.

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