Events
1861
Congress passes Morrill Tariff
Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpusTrent Affair occurs
1862
Congress passes Legal Tender Act, Homestead Act,
and Morrill Land Grant Act
1863
Congress passes National Banking Act
Drafts initiated in the NorthDraft riots in New York CityFrance invades Mexico
Key People
-
Abraham Lincoln
16th
U.S. president; tested limits of constitutional powers with several controversial
executive orders during the war
The Border States
When South Carolina seceded from the Union in 1860,
only ten of the other fourteen slave states followed. The legislatures
of the remaining four—Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky,
and Missouri—chose to remain in the Union. West
Virginia eventually seceded from Virginia in 1861 and
then in 1863 was
admitted as a nonslave state in the Union.
To ensure the continued loyalty of these border
states, Lincoln always had to maintain a moderate course
in his policies. At times, he had to resort to force to prevent
the border states from joining the Confederacy. In the spring of 1861,
for example, Lincoln declared martial law in Maryland and sent troops
to occupy the state after protesters attacked Union soldiers marching
to Washington, D.C.
Importance of the Border States
Had the border states seceded with the other slave states,
the outcome of the Civil War might have been very different. First,
the border states provided a geographical and ideological buffer
between the combatants: had Maryland seceded, Washington, D.C.,
would have been entirely surrounded by Confederate territory. Second,
the border states were important economic engines for the Union,
primarily because Maryland and Delaware had so many factories. Had just
those two states seceded, the Confederacy’s manufacturing capabilities
would have nearly doubled. Because the Civil War was in many ways
an economic war as much as a military one, doubling Southern manufacturing
output could have seriously altered the duration and even the outcome
of the war.
The fact that these slave states chose to remain in the
Union also weakened the South’s claim that it had seceded to save
its slavery-based economy. Nevertheless, Lincoln had to be careful
not to offend slave owners in the border states, which is why, for
example, the 1863 Emancipation
Proclamation declared slaves free in only the secessionist states—not
the loyal border states.
Controversial Wartime Acts
During the war, Lincoln faced opposition and criticism
from a variety of groups in the North. Peace Democrats accused
him of starting an unjust war on one side, while Radical Republicans in
his own party accused him of being too soft on the Confederacy on
the other.
In addition, many criticized Lincoln for using unconstitutional powers to
achieve his goals. To prevent an insurrection in Maryland, he
arrested several proslavery leaders in the state, suspended the
writ of habeas corpus (which requires police to inform
suspects of the charges against them), and imprisoned them until
the war was over. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Roger
Taney ruled that the suspension was illegal and
unconstitutional, but Lincoln ignored him, believing that his actions
had been necessary to prevent further rebellion.
