Have you all any thoughts on the letter written by Abraham Lincoln to Erastus Corning on June 12, 1863 regarding suspension of Habeas Corpus and the justification of the arrest of Charles Vallandingham? Seems to go in depth on Lincoln’s reasons for his actions.
The question boils down to whether secession was constitutional, in which case everything Lincoln did to repress it was unconstitutional–if not the case, then reasonable steps by the president and Congress to suppress the rebellion arguably were constitutional (bearing in mind that Congress, not the president, was assigned constitutional authority to do such things as raise armies, suspend the writ, etc.).
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