President Lincoln and Habeas Corpus

Paper Summary:

This paper examines President Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus throughout the Civil War. Habeas corpus is the right not to be held or imprisoned without being charged and given a trial. It looks at how Lincoln suspended the right in varying degrees throughout the war and used as a way to protect the Union from insurgents within. It explores how some have charged Lincoln with dictatorship and circumventing the Constitution for doing this. The paper takes on the argument that Lincoln was acting justly and in the best interest of his country. The paper explains each act of suspension, outlines what caused the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the Act that suspended the writ and what the stipulations were, and also what the outcome was. In addition, it examines the some arrests under the suspension, popular opinion, and the opinion of a Supreme Court judge. The thesis is that President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus for the good of the nation and to protect it from those who wished to do the government harm, and in doing so, held this nation together in its most trying time.

Outline
Lincoln Acts to Protect the Capitol
Getting a Hold on Suspending Habeas Corpus
The Policy Questioned
Lincoln Answers for His Actions
Expanding the Suspension
Congress Supports the President
Lincoln Defends His Policy
Habeas Corpus Suspended Nationwide
The Last Suspension Proclamation

From the Paper:

"As the American Civil War began to come to a rolling boil President Lincoln was faced not only with rebels in the South but insurgents within the Union as well. There was no question how to deal with the rebels in the South who took up arms against the government. But those in the North who attacked their government in other ways were another, more difficult issue. One effective way to deal with these insurgents was to detain them for their own safety and for the safety of the nation. But many times this proved difficult because the insurgents could not be formally charged and without being formally charge the writ of habeas corpus allows them not to be detained."

More papers on President Lincoln and Habeas Corpus:

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