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Ex Parte Milligan and Supreme Court
Ex Parte Milligan 1866
"The United States Supreme Court ruled that a president could not suspend
habeas corpus without the consent of Congress"
Ex Parte Milligan was a celebrated case and landmark decision
by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1866, which limited the application of martial law. During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln authorized the use of military commissions to try all individuals suspected of aiding the Confederacy. Lambdin
Milligan, a civilian and a Confederate sympathizer, was arrested in Indiana and charged with conspiring to incite rebellion.
In 1864, he was tried before a military commission, convicted, and sentenced to death. The defense claimed that "Milligan
had been deprived of his constitutional rights to a trial by jury." The case was brought before the United States Supreme
Court, which overturned the conviction, ruling that civilians could not be tried by the military
when civil courts were in operation. The Court reiterated that the Constitution of the United States remained the law of the land in time of war as well as in peacetime. It was a landmark decision in the constitutional
history of the nation.
Source: EX PARTE MILLIGAN, 71 U.S. 2 (1866)
Recommended Reading: The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His
Agenda, and an Unnecessary War. Description: It hardly seems possible
that there is more to say about someone who has been subjected to such minute scrutiny in thousands of books and articles.
Yet, Thomas J. DiLorenzo’s The Real Lincoln manages to raise fresh
and morally probing questions, challenging the image of the martyred 16th president that has been fashioned carefully in marble
and bronze, sentimentalism and myth. In doing so, DiLorenzo does not follow the lead of M. E. Bradford or other Southern agrarians.
He writes primarily not as a defender of the Old South and its institutions, culture, and traditions, but as a libertarian
enemy of the Leviathan state. Continued below...
DiLorenzo holds Lincoln and his war responsible for the triumph of "big government" and the birth of the ubiquitous,
suffocating modern U.S. state. He seeks
to replace the nation’s memory of Lincoln as the “Great Emancipator” with
the record of Lincoln as the “Great Centralizer.”
Recommended Reading:
Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief (Hardcover). Description: Author James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize Winner and bestselling Civil
War historian, illuminates how Lincoln worked with—and
often against— his senior commanders to defeat the Confederacy and create the role of commander in chief as we know
it. Though Abraham Lincoln arrived at the White House with no previous military experience (apart from a couple of months
spent soldiering in 1832), he quickly established himself as the greatest commander in chief in American history. James McPherson
illuminates this often misunderstood and profoundly influential aspect of Lincoln’s
legacy. In essence, Lincoln invented the idea of commander
in chief, as neither the Constitution nor existing legislation specified how the president ought to declare war or dictate
strategy. In fact, by assuming the powers we associate with the role of commander in chief, Lincoln often overstepped the narrow band of rights granted the president. Good thing too,
because his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union.
Continued below...
For most of the conflict,
he constantly had to goad his reluctant generals toward battle, and he oversaw strategy and planning for major engagements
with the enemy. Lincoln was a self-taught military strategist (as he was a self-taught lawyer), which makes
his adroit conduct of the war seem almost miraculous. To be sure, the Union’s
campaigns often went awry, sometimes horribly so, but McPherson makes clear how the missteps arose from the all-too-common
moments when Lincoln could neither threaten nor cajole his commanders to follow his orders. Because Lincoln’s war took place within our borders, the relationship between the front lines
and the home front was especially close—and volatile. Consequently, Lincoln
faced enormous challenges in exemplary fashion. He was a masterly molder of public opinion, for instance, defining the war
aims initially as preserving the Union and only later as ending slavery— when he sensed the public was at last ready
to bear such a lofty burden. As we approach the bicentennial of Lincoln’s
birth in 2009, this book will be that rarest gift—a genuinely novel, even timely, view of the most-written-about figure
in our history. Tried by War offers a revelatory portrait of leadership during the greatest crisis our nation has ever endured.
How Lincoln overcame feckless generals, fickle public opinion,
and his own paralyzing fears is a story at once suspenseful and inspiring.
Recommended Reading: Team of Rivals: The Political
Genius of Abraham Lincoln (944 pages) (Simon & Schuster). Description: The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books.
Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Team of Rivals, esteemed
historian Doris Kearns Goodwin proves that we do. Though she can't help but cover some familiar territory, her perspective
is focused enough to offer fresh insights into Lincoln's leadership
style and his deep understanding of human behavior and motivation. Goodwin makes the case for Lincoln's political genius by examining his relationships with three men he selected for
his cabinet, all of whom were opponents for the Republican nomination in 1860: William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward
Bates. Continued below...
These
men, all accomplished, nationally known, and presidential, originally disdained Lincoln for his backwoods upbringing and lack
of experience, and were shocked and humiliated at losing to this relatively obscure Illinois lawyer. Yet Lincoln
not only convinced them to join his administration--Seward as secretary of state, Chase as secretary of the treasury, and
Bates as attorney general--he ultimately gained their admiration and respect as well. How he soothed egos, turned rivals into
allies, and dealt with many challenges to his leadership, all for the sake of the greater good, is largely what Goodwin's
fine book is about. Had he not possessed the wisdom and confidence to select and work with the best people, she argues, he
could not have led the nation through one of its darkest periods. Ten years in the making, this engaging work reveals why
"Lincoln's
road to success was longer, more tortuous, and far less likely" than the other men, and why, when opportunity beckoned, Lincoln was "the best prepared to answer the call." This multiple biography further provides valuable
background and insights into the contributions and talents of Seward, Chase, and Bates. Lincoln may have been "the indispensable ingredient of the Civil War," but these three men were invaluable
to Lincoln and they played key roles in keeping the nation intact.
Recommended Reading:
Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe. Description: While many view our 16th president as the nation’s greatest president and hero, Tom Dilorenzo,
through his scholarly research, exposes the many unconstitutional decisions of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln Unmasked, a best-seller, reveals that ‘other side’ – the inglorious character
– of the nation’s greatest tyrant and totalitarian. A book that is hailed by many and harshly criticized by others,
Lincoln Unmasked, nevertheless, is a thought-provoking study and view of Lincoln
that was not taught in our public school system. (Also available in hardcover: Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest
Abe .)
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