The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil LibertiesOxford University Press, 20. avg. 1992 - 304 strani If Abraham Lincoln was known as the Great Emancipator, he was also the only president to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. Indeed, Lincoln's record on the Constitution and individual rights has fueled a century of debate, from charges that Democrats were singled out for harrassment to Gore Vidal's depiction of Lincoln as an "absolute dictator." Now, in the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Fate of Liberty, one of America's leading authorities on Lincoln wades straight into this controversy, showing just who was jailed and why, even as he explores the whole range of Lincoln's constitutional policies. Mark Neely depicts Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus as a well-intentioned attempt to deal with a floodtide of unforeseen events: the threat to Washington as Maryland flirted with secession, disintegrating public order in the border states, corruption among military contractors, the occupation of hostile Confederate territory, contraband trade with the South, and the outcry against the first draft in U.S. history. Drawing on letters from prisoners, records of military courts and federal prisons, memoirs, and federal archives, he paints a vivid picture of how Lincoln responded to these problems, how his policies were actually executed, and the virulent political debates that followed. Lincoln emerges from this account with this legendary statesmanship intact--mindful of political realities and prone to temper the sentences of military courts, concerned not with persecuting his opponents but with prosecuting the war efficiently. In addition, Neely explores the abuses of power under the regime of martial law: the routine torture of suspected deserters, widespread antisemitism among Union generals and officials, the common practice of seizing civilian hostages. He finds that though the system of military justice was flawed, it suffered less from merciless zeal, or political partisanship, than from inefficiency and the friction and complexities of modern war. Informed by a deep understanding of a unique period in American history, this incisive book takes a comprehensive look at the issues of civil liberties during Lincoln's administration, placing them firmly in the political context of the time. Written with keen insight and an intimate grasp of the original sources, The Fate of Liberty offers a vivid picture of the crises and chaos of a nation at war with itself, changing our understanding of this president and his most controversial policies. |
Vsebina
1 Actions without Precedent | 3 |
2 Missouri and Martial Law | 32 |
3 Low Tide for Liberty | 51 |
4 Arrests Move South | 75 |
5 The Dark Side of the Civil War | 93 |
6 Numbers and Definitions | 113 |
7 The Revival of International Law | 139 |
8 The Irrelevance of the Milligan Decision | 160 |
9 The Democratic Opposition | 185 |
10 Lincoln and the Constitution | 210 |
Epilogue | 223 |
Notes | 237 |
269 | |
273 | |
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Pogosti izrazi in povedi
Abraham Lincoln American arbitrary arrests army arrests of civilians Baltimore blockade blockade-runners captured citizens civil liberties civilian prisoners Coll commander Confederacy Confederate Congress conscription Constitution defendants Democratic Department deserters disloyal draft emancipation Emancipation Proclamation enemy Ex parte Milligan example federal Fort Lafayette fraud Frémont Grant guerrilla habeas corpus Halleck held historians Holt hostages imprisonment international law issue James John judge advocate justice Kentucky letter Lincoln administration martial law Maryland military arrests military authority military commission military prisons Milligan decision Missouri necessity North Northern officers Old Capitol prison partisan party persons Philadelphia President Lincoln Press prisoners of war proclamation provost marshal punishment question Randall rebel rebellion records release Republican secretary sentence Seward slavery soldiers Southern speech Stanton Supreme Court suspend the writ trials by military Turner Turner-Baker Papers microfilm Union United Univ Vallandigham violation War Department Washington writ of habeas York
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