Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney: Slavery, Secession, and the President's War PowersThe clashes between President Abraham Lincoln and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney over slavery, secession, and the president's constitutional war powers went to the heart of Lincoln's presidency. James Simon, author of the acclaimed What Kind of Nation -- an account of the battle between President Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice John Marshall to define the new nation -- brings to vivid life the passionate struggle during the worst crisis in the nation's history, the Civil War. The issues that underlaid that crisis -- race, states' rights, and the president's wartime authority -- resonate today in the nation's political debate. Lincoln and Taney's bitter disagreements began with Taney's Dred Scott opinion in 1857, when the chief justice declared that the Constitution did not grant the black man any rights that the white man was bound to honor. In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, Lincoln attacked the opinion as a warped judicial interpretation of the Framers' intent and accused Taney of being a member of a pro-slavery national conspiracy. In his first inaugural address, President Lincoln insisted that the South had no legal right to secede. Taney, who administered the oath of office to Lincoln, believed that the South's secession was legal and in the best interests of both sections of the country. Once the Civil War began, Lincoln broadly interpreted his constitutional powers as commander in chief to prosecute the war, suspending the writ of habeas corpus, censoring the mails, and authorizing military courts to try civilians for treason. Taney opposed every presidential wartime initiative and openly challenged Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. He accused the president of assuming dictatorial powers in violation of the Constitution. Lincoln ignored Taney's protest, convinced that his actions were both constitutional and necessary to preserve the Union. Almost 150 years after Lincoln's and Taney's deaths, their words and actions reverberate in constitutional debate and political battle. Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney tells their dramatic story in fascinating detail. |
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... Liberties in Modern America Independent Journey: The Life of William O. Douglas The Judge In His Own Image: The Supreme Court in Richard Nixon's America Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney Slavery, Secession, and the President's.
... Liberties in Modern America Independent Journey: The Life of William O. Douglas The Judge In His Own Image: The Supreme Court in Richard Nixon's America Lincoln and Chief Justice Taney Slavery, Secession, and the President's.
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... judge or jury. Lincoln often embroidered his major legal points with folksy stories, but he never lost sight of the argument that would win the case for his client. Both men disapproved of the institution of slavery. As a young lawyer ...
... judge or jury. Lincoln often embroidered his major legal points with folksy stories, but he never lost sight of the argument that would win the case for his client. Both men disapproved of the institution of slavery. As a young lawyer ...
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... judges of the General Court. For the next three years, Taney pored over law books for twelve hours a day. And when he was not studying, he sat in court taking notes on the techniques and arguments of the leading trial lawyers. After ...
... judges of the General Court. For the next three years, Taney pored over law books for twelve hours a day. And when he was not studying, he sat in court taking notes on the techniques and arguments of the leading trial lawyers. After ...
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... judge panel that freedom of expression was protected by the Maryland Constitution, even a discussion of that most controversial subject, slavery. “No man can be prosecuted for preaching the articles of his religious creed,” said Taney ...
... judge panel that freedom of expression was protected by the Maryland Constitution, even a discussion of that most controversial subject, slavery. “No man can be prosecuted for preaching the articles of his religious creed,” said Taney ...
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... judges the high legal standard they should apply to find his client guilty: the Reverend Gruber could only be convicted if his words were “immoral,” and calculated to disturb the peace. With sure, lethal blows, Taney then proceeded to ...
... judges the high legal standard they should apply to find his client guilty: the Reverend Gruber could only be convicted if his words were “immoral,” and calculated to disturb the peace. With sure, lethal blows, Taney then proceeded to ...
Contents
1 | |
Chapter Two My Politics Are Short and Sweet | 45 |
Chapter Three The Monstrous Injustice of Slavery | 76 |
Chapter Four Dred Scott | 98 |
Chapter Five The Better Angels of Our Nature | 133 |
Epilogue | 269 |
Acknowledgments | 287 |
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionist Abraham Lincoln administration’s AL’s American anti-slavery argued argument army Attorney authority Baltimore bank blockade Booth Buchanan campaign challenge Charles River Bridge Chase Chief Justice Taney circuit court civil Clay coln Confederacy Confederate confidence conflict Cong Congress constitutional Court decision courtroom Curtis Curtis’s debate declared defended Democrats Douglas Douglas’s Dred Scott decision Dred Scott opinion election emancipation federal government field final first five framers free blacks Frémont Fugitive Slave Law Grier habeas corpus Ibid Illinois issue Jackson John judge judicial Justice’s Kansas-Nebraska Act Kentucky later legislation legislature Marshall Maryland McClellan McLean Merryman military Missouri Compromise nation North northern office officers official Ohio Party party’s political president presidential pro-slavery proclamation Republican Senate Seward slaveowners slavery South southern speech Springfield state’s statute Taney Court Taney wrote Taney’s opinion territories tion troops U.S. Supreme Court unconstitutional Union United Vallandigham victory Virginia vote Webster Whig writ of habeas York