2.2 - 1) Limitations on civil liberties during the war

Question 1

The Merryman case

Answer 1

• May 1861
• Arrested for destroying railway bridges
• Roger Taney ruled it as illegal, but
• George Cadwalader refused to obey as Lincoln had dismissed habeas corpus
• Taney then ruled that only congress had the right to do so
• Released on bail in July 1861

Question 2

What did the North treat secession as?

Answer 2

• Rebellion
• If captured, they were traitors
• and their slaves were freed as rebel property - ‘contraband of war’

Question 3

Copperheads

Answer 3

Democrats opposing the war

Question 4

Why was West Virginia created?

Answer 4

Because of the minority of Southern unionists. Many joined union forces

Question 5

When did Confederacy introduce conscription

Answer 5

April 1862

Question 6

Why was Confederacy first to introduce the Conscription act?

Answer 6

Because of the smaller population

Question 7

Opposition in the government to the confederate conscription act

Answer 7

‘bold and dangerous usurpation by Congress of the reserved rights of the states and a rapid stride towards military despotism’

Question 8

What measures could white men take in order to avoid draft?

Answer 8

a) pay $300
b) send in a substitute

Question 9

What was another exemption to avoid draft introduced in October 1862?

Answer 9

‘Twenty slave law’ - excused overseer of plantation with 20+ slaves.
Said to be as a response to Emancipation Proclamation out of fear of slave rebellions

Question 10

What percent do historians estimate were conscripts in the confederacy?

Answer 10

20%

Question 11

Conscription in the union

Answer 11

March 1863 Enrolment act

Question 12

What was caused by the Enrolment act passed in March 1863

Answer 12

Five day riots in New York in June.
- initial focus was conscription, but then became an expression of fear of blacks taking over white worplaces
- estimated 120 deaths happened
- Lincoln sent army units to restore order

Question 13

How many northern privates were conscripts?

Answer 13

2%

Question 14

Why did Lincoln dismiss the writ of Habeas Corpus

Answer 14

After the Baltimore riots in April 1861
To keep the four strategic states in union
Creating martial law

Question 15

Who was detained during Lincoln’s dismissal of writ of habeas corpus

Answer 15

Marylanders who attacked troops and destroyed railways
John Merryman

Question 16

When did congress approve of Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus?

Answer 16

March 1863

Question 17

When did Lincoln extend suspension of habeas corpus from Maryland to whole US?

Answer 17

September 1862

Question 18

What did extension of suspension of habeas corpus lead to

Answer 18

military commissions
est. 400 military commissions during the war

Question 19

What were the criticisms against Lincoln’s war policies in 1863?

Answer 19

• He changed his war aim
• conscription
• suspension of habeas corpus

Question 20

Which court case caused rallies?

Answer 20

Valladingham case

Question 21

Valladingham case

Answer 21

Clement Valladingham, a Copperhead denounced the war and ordered soldiers to desert
In May 1863, he was arrested by the order of General Burnside
for ‘disloyal sentiments and opinions’

Question 22

What was Lincoln’s response to Valladingham’s situation

Answer 22

He banished him to the confederacy so the rallies don’t focus on him or name him a martyr

Question 23

When was Martial law passed in the Confederacy

Answer 23

February 1862

Question 24

Who decided the fate of prisoners of martial law in CSA

Answer 24

Habeas Corpus commissioners

Question 25

What steps did CSA take to limit southern liberties?

Answer 25

• Alien enemies act of 1861
• Sequestration act of 1861
• 1863 Impressment act
• 1863 Tax-In-Kind

Question 26

Alien enemies act of 1861

Answer 26

All southerners declare themselves citizens of the Confederacy or leave or face arrest

Question 27

Sequestration act of 1861

Answer 27

Allowed taking property of ex-inhabiting unionists

Question 28

1863 Impressment act

Answer 28

Gave power to confederate armies to seize goods from locals

Question 29

1863 Taxation-In-Kind act

Answer 29

enabled state officials to collect 10% of crops

Question 30

What were the reactions to the Taxation-in-kind act?

Answer 30

• Resentment
• As state regulated economy was unexpected of a country based on states’ rights
• Provoked the Richmond Bread Riot of April 1863

Question 31

How many people were detained by Lincoln’s suspension of writ of habeas corpus?

Answer 31

over 40,000

Question 32

What convinced Congress to permit Davis to suspend writ of habeas corpus?

Answer 32

The opposition to conscription

Question 33

What did public pressures exceed at in the confederacy?

Answer 33

imposing loyalty

Question 34

What would happen to the ones that questioned the confederacy?

Answer 34

Preachers and teachers could loose their jobs, if not live

Question 35

What did Lincoln declare in April 1861 about interference with slavery?

Answer 35

‘I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists’

Question 36

What did Radical Republicans want?

Answer 36

To abolish slavery and create a new order in the south