Civil War

Civil Liberties were one of many causalities of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln circumvented congress in 1861 by claiming a general “war power” that gave himself control over the military and exceeded what is allowable in the Constitution. With his power, Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which allows a prisoner to be brought before the court to determine if they are being held lawfully or if they should be released. Chief justice Roger Taney of the Supreme Court stated that Lincoln overstepped his bounds, and that only congress had the right to suspend the writ. When confronted with this, Lincoln refused to comply, and later stated “I think the constitution invest its commander-in-chief, with the law of war, in time of war (Smith, 111).”

Lincoln also gave power to his generals to impose censorship in the field. Telegraph censorship became a constant before most major battles. In July 1861, General Winfield Scott issued an order stating “Henceforth the telegraph will convey no dispatches concerning the operations of the Army not permitted by the Commanding General (Smith, 99).” Eight months later, an act of Congress allowed Lincoln to take military control of the nation’s telegraph lines.

The Chicago Times was a newspaper that sharply criticized Lincoln’s actions. In direct conflict with a federal court’s ruling, General Ambrose Burnside commanded his troops to seize and close the office of the Chicago Times on the grounds that “freedom of discussion and criticism, which is proper … in times of peace, becomes rank treason when it tends to weaken … confidence (Stone, 108).”