Civil War Federal Power Essay

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The American Civil war was a time where many issues were raised and resolved due to the lack of cooperation between the two sides of the war. Many principles that were unspecific or undefined in the constitution were determined due to the federal government taking more power during the war. During a crisis, it is not unusual that the people of a nation are more willing to entrust their government with more power. The Civil War was certainly no exception. Lincoln was able to take advantage of this crisis, and create large amounts of progress in redefining and adding to our constitution. In this time period, Congressional power evolved and expanded until an end to the war was reached in 1865. One of the biggest examples of the rise of federal power in the 20th century was Lincoln’s suspension of the writ of Habeus Corpus. John Merryman was arrested for attempting to prevent Union troops from moving to Washington. He was held by union officials and immediately demanded a writ of habeas corpus so that he could be tried by a federal court.
Lincoln refused to turn him over to authorities, and even when the Supreme Court decided that Lincoln had no right to do so, he ignored the Supreme Court and claimed that he needed to suspend the rules in order to end the war with the south. This is one of many times in United States history where the government had ignored their own rules in response …show more content…
Congressional power evolved from being inaccurate and vague to be an efficient tool to prevent and deal with a crisis. This war is often viewed as a second American Revolution because it resolved so many issues from when the constitution was first written by the founding fathers. This was in no small part due to Lincoln’s involvement in expanding the federal powers, for the purpose of ending slavery and the war with the
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