...a question between power and liberty."28 Lincoln would pose the same question seventy years later: "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?"29 The issue has remained a subject of debate throughout American history. John Adams and...

...government so dedicated could long exist on the earth. "Must a government, of necessity," he asked, "be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?" It had been shown that popular government could be established and administered, but the war was the...

...the States. On July 4, 1861, in his first message to the Congress, he presented this vital question: "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?" Lincoln answered that question as Jackson had answered it-not by words, but by deeds. And America still...

...domestic foes ... It forces us to ask: 'Is there, in all republics, this inherent, and fatal weakness?' 'Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?' " Lincoln, "Message to Congress in Special Session," in Speeches and Writings, I859-I865, 250. 51....

...associated with such passivity and stated it this way in his Special Session Message on July 4, 1861: "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?" In another formulation, Lincoln queried: "Are all the laws but one to go unexecuted, and the Government...

...domestic foes. ... It forces us to ask: "Is there, in all republics, this inherent, and fatal weakness? Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...of its own people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?"38 Here we have the familiar argument that a modern state cannot allow territorial dismemberment...

...practically put an end to free government upon the earth." He phrased the critical question as this: "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?" So, too, the question was whether the rule of law could maintain its grip on even the most violent social...

...individual liberties by suspending habeas corpus and instituting military trials. Lincoln himself had asked, "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?" It was not irrational to fear that those liberties might also be casualties of war.4 The constitutional...

...upon the earth. It forces us to ask: "Is there, in all republics, this inherent and fatal weakness?" "Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...the war power of the government; and so to resist force employed for its destruction, by force for its preservation. It is now recommended that you give...

...upon the earth. It forces us to ask: 'Is there, in all republics, this inherent and fatal weakness?' 'Must a government, of necessity, be too strong for...people, or too weak to maintain its own existence?'" The argument of secessionists from Calhoun on—that states had a constitutional right to leave the...