{"id":2675,"date":"2024-01-21T16:11:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T16:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/?page_id=2675"},"modified":"2024-04-09T17:36:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T17:36:47","slug":"lincoln-and-war-powers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/course-syllabus\/lincoln-and-war-powers\/","title":{"rendered":"Lincoln and War Powers"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<h2><strong>I think the constitution invests its\u00a0commander-in-chief,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>with the law of war,\u00a0<\/strong><strong>in time of war. &#8212;<\/strong><strong><em>Abraham Lincoln, August 26, 1863<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/warpowers\/constitutional-text\/\"><strong>Constitutional Text<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There was relatively little debate over war powers issues at the 1787 convention.\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/teachingamericanhistory.org\/convention\/debates\/0817-2\/\" rel=\"noopener\">August 17: \u00a0Delegates\u00a0discuss war powers.<\/a>\u00a0 Highlights include:\n<ul>\n<li>Oliver Ellsworth (CT) stating, \u201cIt should be more easy to get out of war than into it.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>George Mason\u00a0(VA) claiming he \u201cwas against giving the power of war to the Executive, because not safely to be trusted with it.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The Constitution addresses the concept of war powers mainly in three\u00a0brief\u00a0clauses.\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/tocs\/a1_8_11.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11<\/a>\u00a0(\u201cThe Congress shall have Power \u2026 To declare War\u201d)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/tocs\/a1_10_3.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3<\/a>\u00a0(\u201cNo State shall \u2026 engage in war, unless\u2026\u201d)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/press-pubs.uchicago.edu\/founders\/tocs\/a2_2_1.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Article II, Section 2, Clause 1<\/a>\u00a0(\u201cThe President shall be Commander in Chief\u2026\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/warpowers\/chronology-of-powers\/\"><strong>Chronology of Powers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Presidents act<\/li>\n<li>Congress reacts<\/li>\n<li>Courts review<\/li>\n<li>People decide<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p>Such is the case now before me, and I can only say that, if the authority which the Constitution has confided to the judiciary department and judiciary officers, may thus, upon any pretext, or under any circumstances, be usurped by the military power at its discretion, the people of the United States are no longer living under a government of laws, but every citizen holds life, liberty and property, at the will and pleasure of the army officer in whose military district he may happen to be found. &#8211;Roger Taney, <em>ex parte Merryman\u00a0<\/em>(1861)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_51\" style=\"width: 260px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2012\/02\/HD_taneyRB1c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2012\/02\/HD_taneyRB1c.jpg\" alt=\"Taney\" width=\"250\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-51\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chief Justice Roger B. Taney (Library of Congress)<\/p><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/warpowers\/law-of-war\/\">Law of War<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h1><strong>January 1, 1863 (public)<\/strong><\/h1>\n<div id=\"attachment_2515\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/emancipation\/2012\/11\/06\/emancipation-among-black-troops-in-south-carolina\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2515 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM-300x235.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM-300x235.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM-1024x802.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM-1536x1203.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM-383x300.png 383w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2021\/10\/Screen-Shot-2021-10-28-at-7.52.57-AM.png 1596w\" alt=\"January 1st\" width=\"300\" height=\"235\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2515\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-2515\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beaufort, South Carolina, January 1, 1863<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cAnd upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/warpowers\/law-of-war\/\">final sentence of the Emancipation Proclamation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/warpowers\/civil-liberties\/\"><strong>Civil Liberties<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Blind-Memo.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2872\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Blind-Memo.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"893\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Blind-Memo.png 893w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Blind-Memo-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Blind-Memo-768x483.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 893px) 100vw, 893px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2873\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-1.13.26-PM.png\" alt=\"Reverse\" width=\"300\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-1.13.26-PM.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/files\/2024\/04\/Screen-Shot-2024-04-09-at-1.13.26-PM-224x300.png 224w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMust I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wiley agitator who induces him to desert?\u201d\u00a0 &#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/letter-to-erastus-corning-and-others-june-12-1863\/\">Abraham Lincoln, June 26, 1863<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;We cannot have free government without elections.&#8221; &#8212;<a href=\"https:\/\/housedivided.dickinson.edu\/sites\/lincoln\/response-to-serenade-november-10-1864\/\">Abraham Lincoln, November 10, 1864<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think the constitution invests its\u00a0commander-in-chief,\u00a0with the law of war,\u00a0in time of war. &#8212;Abraham Lincoln, August 26, 1863 Constitutional Text There was relatively little debate over war powers issues at the 1787 convention. August 17: \u00a0Delegates\u00a0discuss war powers.\u00a0 Highlights include: Oliver Ellsworth (CT) stating, \u201cIt should be more easy to get out of war than [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":373,"featured_media":0,"parent":13,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2675","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/373"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2675\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/hist-288pinsker\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}