From Bangor To Washington

Union President Abraham Lincoln extended the reach of the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus on October 14^th 1861.

Near the beginning of the Civil War Union President Abraham Lincoln ordered a suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in Maryland and parts of the Midwestern states.  This was in response to the arrest by Union troops in Maryland of secessionist John Merryman, whom Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B Taney ordered released under a writ of habeas corpus.  Lincoln and the military ignored the ruling.

On October 14^th 1861 Lincoln expanded the suspension with this written order:

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT:

The military line of the United States for the suppression of the insurrection may be extended so far as Bangor, in Maine. You and any officer acting under your authority are hereby authorized to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in any place between that place and the city of Washington.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.

The 16th President

Abraham Lincoln became the 16^th President of the United States on March 4^th 1861.

Abraham Lincoln was elected president on November 6^th 1860, between then and his inauguration on March 4^th 1861 four states had seceded from the Union.  Lincoln began traveling to Washington, DC by train on February 11^th 1861 with his wife Mary and their three sons.  During the next 10 days the train made numerous stops, ending with late night train through Baltimore, Maryland to avoid an assassination plot.

The outgoing President James Buchanan arrived at the Capital just before 1 pm.  Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B Taney administered the presidential oath of office to Abraham Lincoln shortly after one on March 4^th 1861.

Suspension Of Rights

President Abraham Lincoln had the writ of Habeas Corpus suspended April 27th 1861 in Maryland.

In a response to riots, and the threat that Maryland would secede from the Union, President Abraham Lincoln had Habeas Corpus suspended April 27th 1861. The suspension covered Maryland and some parts of the Midwestern states. The suspension of Habeas Corpus allowed for private citizens to be tried in military courts. Lincoln was encouraged to this move as a way to control Peace Democrats and those who lived in Union but supported the Confederate cause.

The suspension was challenged and overturned by the United State Circuit Court in Maryland, under the leadership of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger B Taney. Taney ruled the suspension of Habeas Corpus was unconstitutional as is could only be suspended by an Act of Congress. Lincoln ignored the courts decision. There were 13,000 arrested under martial law during the course of the war. It wasn't until 1866 that the Supreme Court officially restored Habeas Corpus, ruling that trying civilians in a military court was illegal.

Lincoln’s act read, “Whereas, It has become necessary to call into service, not only volunteers, but also portions of the militia of the States by draft, in order to suppress the insurrection existing in the United States, and disloyal persons are not adequately restrained by the ordinary processes of law from hindering this measure, and from giving aid and comfort in various ways to the insurrection. Now, therefore, be it ordered, that during the existing insurrection, and as a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia drafts, or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and comfort to the rebels against the authority of the United States, shall be subject to martial law, and liable to trial and punishment by courts-martial or military commission.

Second: That the writ of habeas corpus is suspended in respect to all persons arrested, or who are now, or hereafter during the rebellion shall be, imprisoned in any fort, camp, arsenal, military prisons, or other place of confinement, by any military authority, or by the sentence of any court-martial or military commission.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Twenty-fourth day of September,/// in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.”

Slavery Protected By The Constitution

The United States Supreme Court in the case Jones vs. Van Zandt decided on March 5th 1847, that Congress had the right to make laws controlling slavery.


John Van Zandt an abolitionist illegally hid escaping slave in his Evendale Ohio basement, then helped them to the north. In 1842 Van Zandt was sued by Wharton Jones for monetary damages do the loss of property. Jones said he was owed $450 for the cost of a slave catcher, and $500 for slave named Andrew whom Van Zandt helped escape. Abolitionist pressed the case known as Jones vs. Van Zandt hoping to challenge the constitutionality of slavery. Van Zandt’s attorney was Samuel Chase, Abraham Lincoln’s future Secretary of Treasury. On March 5th 1847 in the US Supreme Court’s decision, written by Chief Justice Roger B Taney, the court decided that slavery was protected by the United States Constitution. This ruling upheld the 1793 Fugitive Slave Law, saying that each state could determine if slavery was legal within its borders. Do to the cost of challenging his legal case, Van Zandt was ruined financially, and even had to send his children to live with relatives. He died shortly after the case was settled.

Supreme Court and Slaves

Before the United State Supreme Court on February 1, 1847 is brought the case Jones v Van Zandt.

John Van Zandt was a farmer and abolitionist from Hamilton County, Ohio. On April 24th 1842,he concealed nine runway slaves from Boone County, Kentucky in his wagon. The of the slaves were owned by Wharton Jones. When slave catchers show up in Ohio, they took seven of the slaves and John Van Zandt back to Kentucky, where they were placed in jail, in Covington, Kentucky. Van Zandt was released, but charged with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. He was represented by Ohio attorney Salmon P Chase, but loosing in both the lower and appellate courts, they appeal the case to the Supreme Court. Before reaching the Supreme Court, New York Lawyer William Seward joined the case. The court under Chief Justice Roger B Taney found against Van Zandt, up holding as constitutional the Fugitive Slave Law.