What do you think of when
someone mentions the name Abraham Lincoln? America's 16th president and great
emancipator of Black slaves after the Civil War? Maybe even just the fact
that he wore a really tall hat in which he kept letters.
What most people do not
know about President Lincoln is that in the years during the Civil War, he
suspended the right to Habeas Corpus, or the arrestee’s right to a trial. He
did so without the consent of Congress, and he therefore acted
unconstitutionally. He did so for the main purpose of being able to arrest
editors and journalists who put out misinformation that led to negative
consequences on either side.
Lincoln was in no way a
horrible president who gagged peoples’ right to the First Amendment, because in fact he showed great
restraint toward the media. He allowed them to write about him as a “tyrant” or
“fiend” throughout the entire war, and when he did arrest someone, he would
immediately release them as long as they pledged loyalty to the Union.
The controversial aspect of this moment in history, stress
of being a president of a divided country aside, rests on the fact that
President Lincoln unconstitutionally suspended the First Amendment. Anyone who
spoke out criticizing the government could be arrested immediately without any
right to a trial and no specification as to how long they could remain in
prison. This is a terrifying thought for most Americans who treasure their
right to speak freely in criticism of the government.
Bringing the stress of being president of a broken country
back into the discussion, it is completely understandable as to why Lincoln
chose to do this. He believed that he needed to throw some caution to the wind
in order to maintain some semblance of order in America. In the end, it worked
in favor of the Union though it cost Lincoln his life.
Related Link:
https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/2009/02/11/civil-war-tested-lincolns-tolerance-for-free-speech-press/
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