The Importance Of The Emancipation Proclamation

In the book American Past and Present, it explains the reason to submit the Emancipation Proclamation like this: “Last in the summer, Lincoln responded publicly to critics of his cautious policy, indicating that he would take any action in regard to slavery that would further the Union cause. Finally on September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation” (Divine 374.) It took a great deal of time and effort to make such a proclamation like this to happen. It did not happen overnight like people sometimes like to think. The Emancipation Proclamation did not become an idea until the Civil War, and because of this, it resulted in controversy and the changing of our country.
Many people think that the Civil War was fought to end
A state legislator in Maryland, John Merryman, was arrested for attempting to stop Union troops from going from Baltimore to Washington. His attorney immediately attempted to use the writ of habeas corpus. This was so the federal court could examine the charges. However, President Abraham Lincoln took the action into his own hands and chose to suspend the right of habeas corpus. Because Lincoln made this decision, the general in command of Fort McHenry refused to turn Merryman over to the authorities. This is extremely controversial because federal judge Roger Taney, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, delivered a ruling that President Lincoln did not have the authority to suspend habeas corpus. However, Lincoln still didn’t respond, appeal, or order the release of Merryman. During a July 4 speech, Lincoln insisted that he had to suspend the writ of habeas corpus in order to stop the rebellion in the South. Because of this ruling, many people pair this with the Emancipation Proclamation because they came around the same time. People consider this proclamation to be unconstitutional, but was a needed act for the time