 Address at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 1861
 First Inaugural Address, 1861
 Message to Congress in Special Session, 1861
 Emancipation Proclamation, 1863
 The Gettysburg Address, 1863
 Secession
 The Test of Democratic Self-Government
 Suspension of Habeas Corpus
 Emancipation of the Slaves
Cand.
Party
PV
EV
Lincoln
Rep.
40%
180
Douglas Dem.
30%
12
Brecken S. Dem.
ridge
18%
72
Bell
13%
39
C.U.
 Principles of the
Declaration as the bond
of the Union
 America, the
Declaration, and the
promise of universal
liberty
 Reiteration of Lincoln’s pledge not to interfere with
slavery in the states where it already exists.
 Also, he would not object to a constitutional amendment
guaranteeing slavery in the states where it already exists.
 Critique of secession:
 Perpetuity is implied in the fundamental law of all national
governments.
 Even if the United States were merely a compact, it could be
unmade only with the consent of all parties.
 The evidence of the Founding:
 Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union
 The Constitution intended to “create a more perfect Union.”
 A further critique of secession
 The test of democratic government: can it preserve itself
against an obstinate minority that would rather destroy
the nation than accept the election’s outcome
 Secession is based on a belief in the sacred sovereignty
of states, but in fact they have no sovereignty except
under the Constitution.
 Secession is a principle of political disintegration.
 Secession would break up the government, based on
equality of opportunity, that has done more than any
other to elevate the condition of men.
 The issue of suspension of habeas corpus
 Taney’s opinion in Ex parte Merryman: The Executive
Branch has no authority to suspend habeas corpus
 The British background on habeas corpus
 Founding-era practice
 The text of the Constitution
 Lincoln’s response:
 Appeal to prerogative: the need to violate one law to save the
whole system of laws.
 The text of the Constitution: By implication, the Executive
may suspend habeas corpus
 Criticisms of Lincoln’s use of the executive power
 People have been arrested who have violated no established
laws of the United States.
 Habeas Corpus may be suspended only in the locality of
rebellion.
 Lincoln’s response:
 The very purpose of suspension of habeas corpus is to permit
the executive to arrest persons who have violated no law
 The process of regular courts of law is “vindictive.”
 Arrests made under suspension of habeas corpus are “preventive.”
 The Constitution does not limit suspension to the locality of
rebellion, but permits it where the public safety requires it.
 Letter to O.H. Browning
(1861) on Lincoln’s
countermanding of
Fremont’s emancipation
order
 The constitutional
problem
 The executive cannot
make permanent rules of
property
 The political problem
 Alienation of necessary
support for the Union
 Letter to Horace Greely
(1862)
 Lincoln’s policy: “I would
save the Union.”
 Issued on Lincoln’s authority as Commander-in-Chief
 Presented as a matter of military necessity
 Accordingly, limited in scope to parts of the nation in
rebellion against the government
 Question of Lincoln’s consistency: Is the Emancipation
Proclamation consistent with the concerns in the letter
to O.H. Browning?