A Case of Extremest Necessity? : Baltimore and Habeas Corpus in April 1861.

Abstract

Executive war powers are embedded in the United States Constitution.The circumstances in which they are used take on an even greater importance when these war powers come in conflict with an individual's constitutionally guaranteed rights. The needed protection of a military route was the reasoning provided when President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus along a military line, in April 1861. There has been minimal academic attention given to the condition of the alternative military route or to the state of the city that had briefly obstructed the passage of troops along the initial military route. This treatise examines the circumstances surrounding the military route and Baltimore during the period when it was determined that the protection of this military line required the suspension of the writ. An executive decision based on military necessity is a frequent argument supporting Lincoln's action. An analysis of troop movements, frequency of tumults, events occurring in Baltimore, and civilian detainments by the military demonstrated that the military necessity reasoning has a tenuous claim.