AP US History Question of the Day

Practice AP US History with the production-style question-of-the-day selection for this public URL.

Question 1

A PROCLAMATION

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, first, 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 Rebels against the authority of 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 of 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 87th.

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln's suspension of the Writ of Habeus Corpus during the Civil War was Constitutionally significant because .

it allowed the US government to indefinitely imprison any person it chose by imposing martial law
it showed the US government's desperation to draft new soldiers
it was the instigation behind Congress' threat to impeach Abraham Lincoln
it denied citizen's First Amendment rights
None of these answers accurately reflect the constitutional significance of Lincoln's actions

Explanation: Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 of the US Constitution states, "The Privilege of the Write of Habeus Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it." The Writ of Habeus Corpus ensures prisoners a speedy trial and the right to be told what crimes they are charged with. It is considered a basic building block of a democratic legal system. Due to the nature of the Civil War, spies were prevalent. Lincoln rightly believed that many US soldier's lives were lost due to the passing of important information to the Confederacy. His suspension of the Writ of Habeus Corpus, and proclaiming his ability to declare martial law wherever he felt the need, was a military necessity, but it's Constitutional legality is still debated. (Passage adapted from Abraham Lincoln's Presidential Proclamation #94 (1862))

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AP US History