Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War

Introduction

Abraham Lincoln's revolutionary decisions and the part played by him in freeing the slaves is well known and has been properly propagated and also holds a prominent position in the history of the world. However, there are other less known facts a well, which are not known to many. The immense misuse of power and the hidden reasons behind the civil war are among those major and worth considering issues, which remain hidden behind the screens, and one has to dig through history in order to get to them.

To begin with, the Independent Review claims that the civil war was not, in fact, fought over slavery. The statement thus negates all the concepts that have been formed since the beginning and presents another side of picture that has not been exposed before. There were other reasons mainly the differences between the financial policies of North and South, but that certainly had no direct link with slavery, as it is assumed. Thus, it can be concluded that the facts have been distorted and misinterpreted since the beginning, and the president has misused the constitution in a number of ways, which has been detailed in the following paragraphs:

Misuse of powers by Abraham Lincoln

There were a number of incidences where Abraham Lincoln bluntly misused his powers and authority, thus making the civil war both illegal and unjust. There was severe abuse of the civil rights during that era, as well as suspension of constitutional rights. In addition, the president is also known for allocating allowances to military without consulting the congress, which he is legally bound to do before allocating any sort of fund for any cause. This is one of examples where Lincoln considered himself as the supreme authority and practiced unlimited powers. The president looked for a clause in the constitution that made him the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States of America, and thus he assumed unlimited powers and authority, which was not actually meant for him.

Using the newly acquired powers, he was able to control the armies and navies of a number of states, the fact that has been explained with all the clauses below. He also declared that the powers grant him the right to use all the means to defeat the enemy, which implies that he declared himself capable of manipulating the resources and the man power, both in any desired way to get hold of power and to crush the opponent forces. On the base of the same clause, Abraham Lincoln also issued a number of executive without even consulting with the congress, which he is constitutionally bound to do. In addition, he was also responsible for summoning the militia, ordering blockade of the Confederacy ports and the expansion of the regular army beyond the acceptable limit. All the actions were not only illegal but were also outside the powers of the president—he was not constitutionally allowed to take all these ...