Act of Justice: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the Law of WarIn his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln declared that as president he would Òhave no lawful rightÓ to interfere with the institution of slavery. Yet less than two years later, he issued a proclamation intended to free all slaves throughout the Confederate states. When critics challenged the constitutional soundness of the act, Lincoln pointed to the international laws and usages of war as the legal basis for his Proclamation, asserting that the Constitution invested the president Òwith the law of war in time of war.Ó As the Civil War intensified, the Lincoln administration slowly and reluctantly accorded full belligerent rights to the Confederacy under the law of war. This included designating a prisoner of war status for captives, honoring flags of truce, and negotiating formal agreements for the exchange of prisonersÑpractices that laid the intellectual foundations for emancipation. Once the United States allowed Confederates all the privileges of belligerents under international law, it followed that they should also suffer the disadvantages, including trial by military courts, seizure of property, and eventually the emancipation of slaves. Even after the Lincoln administration decided to apply the law of war, it was unclear whether state and federal courts would agree. After careful analysis, author Burrus M. Carnahan concludes that if the courts had decided that the proclamation was not justified, the result would have been the personal legal liability of thousands of Union officers to aggrieved slave owners. This argument offers further support to the notion that LincolnÕs delay in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation was an exercise of political prudence, not a personal reluctance to free the slaves. In Act of Justice, Carnahan contends that Lincoln was no reluctant emancipator; he wrote a truly radical document that treated Confederate slaves as an oppressed people rather than merely as enemy property. In this respect, LincolnÕs proclamation anticipated the psychological warfare tactics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. CarnahanÕs exploration of the presidentÕs war powers illuminates the origins of early debates about war powers and the Constitution and their link to international law. |
Contents
5 | |
2 The Supreme Court on Private Property and War | 25 |
3 Criminal Conspiracy or War? | 41 |
4 The Union Applies the Law of War | 61 |
5 The Law as a Weapon | 71 |
6 Congress Acts and the Confederacy Responds | 83 |
7 Military Necessity and Lincolns Concept of the War | 93 |
8 The Proclamation as a Weapon of War | 117 |
Appendix A | 143 |
Appendix B | 145 |
Appendix C | 157 |
Appendix D | 163 |
Appendix E | 165 |
Appendix F | 169 |
Notes | 173 |
191 | |
Other editions - View all
Act of Justice: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the Law of War Burrus M. Carnahan Limited preview - 2007 |
Act of Justice: Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation and the Law of War Burrus M. Carnahan No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Papers American apply April arms August authority belligerent blockade British Butler captured Charles Sumner Chief Justice citizens Civil civilian claimed Colonel Confederacy constitutional criminal declared Department draft Emancipation Proclamation enemy’s enforce exchange Federal government forces freedom Frémont further enacted Governor Guelzo held hostile Hunter Ibid insurrection international law issued January John Quincy John Quincy Adams July labor law of nations law of war letter Lieber Lincoln administration McClellan ment military commissions military necessity militia Missouri Navy Official Records Orville Browning owners parole persons President Lincoln president’s prisoners of war private property punish reasons rebellion rebels recognized refugees from slavery Scott Second Confiscation Act Secretary section 9 seize seizure Seminole Senator September Seward Simon Cameron slavery South Stanton suppress Supreme Court Taney territory tion U.S. Army U.S. government U.S. marshals Union United unlawful combatants Washington Whiskey Rebellion