Lincoln's Constitutional Acts: Slavery's Legal Battle

Abraham Lincoln was morally and politically opposed to slavery and its expansion into western territories. Lincoln believed that the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which enabled the spread of slavery into free states, was a monstrous injustice. Lincoln's views on slavery were also shaped by the United States Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which held that Black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution. Lincoln's opposition to slavery led him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation during the Civil War, freeing slaves in states that were in rebellion as a `military necessity` and war measure. However, Lincoln's actions were limited by his interpretation of the Constitution, which he believed restricted the federal government's power to end slavery in peacetime. Lincoln's plan to abolish slavery was enacted in several states during his presidency, and he ran on a platform to abolish slavery by constitutional amendment in his second campaign.

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Lincoln's view was that the US Constitution could sanction emancipation only under the president's war powers

Abraham Lincoln personally abhorred slavery and was morally opposed to it. However, he felt confined by his constitutional authority as president to challenge slavery only in the context of necessary war measures. Lincoln believed that the US Constitution could sanction emancipation only under the president's war powers, freeing slaves could only be justified as a means of suppressing the Southern rebellion and winning the war. Lincoln, therefore, postponed executive action against slavery until he believed he had both the legal authority to do so and broader support from the American public.

Lincoln's view was that the US Constitution limited the federal government's power to end slavery in peacetime, committing the issue to individual states. This interpretation of the Constitution held that the federal government lacked the authority to abolish slavery in states where it already existed. Lincoln, however, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy under Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution, had the authority to issue the Emancipation Proclamation as a wartime measure.

Lincoln's stance on emancipation evolved over time. Initially, he sought to save the Union without freeing any slaves. However, he eventually proposed a plan for the Reconstruction of the captured Confederate State of Louisiana, requiring the state to accept the Emancipation Proclamation and abolish slavery in its new constitution. Lincoln also took steps to advance emancipation, such as issuing the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and taking actions to suggest that he continued to consider freeing slaves as a possibility.

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War, freed slaves in those states that were in rebellion "as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion". Lincoln believed that the Proclamation was justified as a military tactic, as it deprived the South of labour and allowed formerly enslaved people to join the armed forces. While Lincoln faced opposition to his emancipation efforts, he remained committed to his official position that the Constitution recognized slavery in the states, and emancipation was a military necessity.

Lincoln's views on slavery also extended to its expansion into western territories. He opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, arguing that it enabled the spread of slavery into free states and contradicted the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln's beliefs were shaped by the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which held that Black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution. Lincoln denounced this decision as a conspiracy to support the Slave Power.

Lincoln believed that the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision was a conspiracy to support the Slave Power

Abraham Lincoln was morally opposed to slavery and politically opposed to any expansion of it. On October 16, 1854, in his Peoria speech, Lincoln declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated as he sought the presidency. In 1857, Lincoln was appalled by the United States Supreme Court's decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which held that Black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who authored the majority opinion, stated that enslaved people were not citizens of the United States and, therefore, could not expect any protection from the federal government or the courts. The opinion also stated that Congress had no authority to ban slavery from a Federal territory.

Lincoln denounced the Dred Scott decision as the product of a conspiracy to support the Slave Power. He believed that the decision, together with the Kansas-Nebraska Act, could enable slavery to spread into the free states. Lincoln argued that the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence. He said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men were equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

The Dred Scott decision is widely considered one of the worst, if not the worst, in the Supreme Court's history. It has been denounced for its overt racism, judicial activism, and poor legal reasoning. The decision de facto nationalized slavery, playing a crucial role in the events leading to the American Civil War four years later. Legal scholar Bernard Schwartz called it "the Court's greatest self-inflicted wound."

Lincoln felt confined by his constitutional authority as president to challenge slavery only in the context of necessary war measures. He also worried about the reactions of those in the loyal border states where slavery was still legal. Lincoln believed that the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed millions of enslaved people on paper, was constitutionally justified as a ""military necessity." During his second presidential campaign, he ran on a platform to forever abolish slavery by constitutional amendment. The Thirteenth Amendment, brought about by the Civil War, was an important milestone in the long process of ending legal slavery in the United States.

Lincoln's Kentucky accent and powerful voice were on display during his Peoria speech against slavery

Abraham Lincoln's views on slavery were clear: he was morally opposed to it and politically opposed to any expansion of it. Lincoln's famous Peoria speech in October 1854, in which he declared his opposition to slavery, was delivered in his Kentucky accent and with a powerful voice. The speech, which lasted three hours, presented thorough moral, legal, economic, and historical arguments against slavery. Lincoln's words came faster as he progressed, and his face lit up with the "rays of genius". His body moved in unison with his thoughts, and his gestures were made with his body and head.

Lincoln's speech was not just powerful in its delivery but also in its content. He denounced the Kansas-Nebraska Act, stating that he hated it because of the "monstrous injustice of slavery itself". He also believed that the Act would allow slavery to spread into free states, which was at variance with the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln's views on slavery were shaped by his belief in the inalienable rights of all men, including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

Lincoln's powerful voice and Kentucky accent were also on display during the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858, which brought him national attention and solidified his position as a prominent political figure. Lincoln's eloquence was described as being of the "higher type", which produced conviction in others because of his own conviction. His speaking went to the heart because it came from the heart.

Lincoln's stance on slavery was further demonstrated through his actions as president. He issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a military necessity during the Civil War, believing that the U.S. Constitution would not permit it on any other basis. The proclamation immediately freed millions of enslaved people on paper, but its practical effect was limited until the Union Army was present to enforce it. Lincoln also supported the Second Confiscation Act and the Militia Act, which authorized the employment of African Americans in the military and emancipated those who were enslaved.

Lincoln's ultimate goal was to end slavery irrevocably, which he achieved through the Thirteenth Amendment brought about by the Civil War. This amendment, signed by Lincoln and all members of Congress who voted for it, was an important milestone in the long process of ending legal slavery in the United States.

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Lincoln's presidential oath bound him to preserve, protect, and defend the US Constitution

Abraham Lincoln's personal views on slavery were clear: he abhorred it. In his Peoria speech in 1854, Lincoln stated that he believed slavery to be a “monstrous injustice”. He also believed that it deprived "our republican example of its just influence in the world". Lincoln's stance on slavery was further solidified by the United States Supreme Court's 1857 decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, which appalled him. In the decision, Chief Justice Roger B. Taney held that Black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution. Lincoln denounced the decision as a conspiracy to support the Slave Power and believed that it, together with the Kansas–Nebraska Act, could enable slavery to spread into free states.

Despite his personal views, Lincoln felt confined by his constitutional authority as president to challenge slavery only in the context of necessary war measures. He believed that the US Constitution would not permit emancipation on any other basis. Lincoln's presidential oath bound him to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States", and he felt that each step in the process of emancipation was in the interest of preserving the nation, and thus preserving the Constitution.

Lincoln's hands were tied by the interpretation of the Constitution before 1865, which limited the federal government's power to end slavery in peacetime and committed the issue to individual states. However, during the Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation under his authority as "Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy" under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution. In the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, he declared that all slaves would be permanently freed in all areas of the Confederacy that were still in rebellion on January 1, 1863. Lincoln justified this as a “military necessity”, as by freeing enslaved people, the South would be deprived of their labour, and it would allow them to "be received into the armed service of the United States".

Lincoln also took action to end slavery in the captured Confederate states. In 1863, he proposed a plan for the Reconstruction of Louisiana, which required the state to accept the Emancipation Proclamation and abolish slavery in its new constitution. By December 1864, the Lincoln plan abolishing slavery had been enacted not only in Louisiana but also in Arkansas and Tennessee. Despite these efforts, slavery remained legal in Delaware and Kentucky until December 18, 1865, when the Thirteenth Amendment went into effect.

Lincoln's actions towards emancipation were unpopular with many Northerners, and he found it necessary to defend his actions in an 1864 letter to Albert G. Hodges. Lincoln distinguished his own opinions from the actions he felt constitutionally justified in taking. He wrote that while he was naturally anti-slavery, the Presidency did not confer upon him an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment. Lincoln believed that the only way to end slavery irrevocably was through an amendment to the United States Constitution. The Thirteenth Amendment, brought about by the Civil War, was an important milestone in the long process of ending legal slavery in the United States.

Lincoln's view was that the 13th Amendment would end slavery irrevocably

Abraham Lincoln was morally opposed to slavery and politically opposed to any expansion of it. Lincoln believed that the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, in which Chief Justice Roger B. Taney held that Black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution, was at variance with the Declaration of Independence. Lincoln argued that the founding fathers believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Lincoln's opposition to slavery was evident in his Peoria speech on October 16, 1854, where he declared his hatred for the Kansas-Nebraska Act's indifference toward the spread of slavery. He believed that the Kansas-Nebraska Act, together with the Dred Scott decision, could enable slavery to spread into free states. Lincoln also postponed executive action against slavery until he believed he had both the legal authority and broader public support.

Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation, which he issued in 1863, would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolishment of slavery. The Proclamation, brought about by the Civil War, was an important milestone in ending legal slavery, but it did not end slavery in the nation as it only applied to areas of the Confederacy in rebellion and not to the loyal "border states" in the Union. Lincoln issued the Proclamation as a military necessity and a war tactic, as it deprived the South of their labour force.

Lincoln's view was that only an amendment to the United States Constitution could end slavery irrevocably. The 13th Amendment, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery in the United States. It provided that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." With the adoption of the 13th Amendment, the United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery.

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