Six weeks after Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration, the nation erupted in civil war. As president of the United States and commander-inchief of its armed forces, Lincoln’s responses were both extremely bold and extremely controversial. Among the most contested was suspending the writ of habeas corpus, the fundamental right of protection against unlawful detention by authorities. This brief examination of legal challenges to Lincoln’s action provides a starting place for exploring the complex constitutional issues raised in the Civil War and evaluating their legacy for the present.
Lynne Curry is a professor of history at Eastern. She is the author of several works pertaining to American legal and constitutional history and co-editor of a four-volume collection of historical documents, The Constitution and the Nation. A member of the history department faculty since 1996, she has been named faculty laureate, the Rodney S. Raines graduate faculty mentor and distinguished honors college faculty. Her courses include an undergraduate survey on the U.S. Constitution and the nation, as well as a special topics graduate seminar on American civil liberties.
