cklarson-1

Having seen Spielberg's Lincoln film Thanksgiving afternoon, I'd like to comment on the president's war powers, which "Lincoln" said he wasn't sure of, which is incorrect. First, a president's powers as commander-in-chief are implemented under the 1795 Act of Insurrection. Secondly as Anna Ella Carroll, Lincoln's legal adviser wrote, given that the Confederate government had imposed itself upon the Southern people, the Confederacy could be treated as a defacto belligerent (read: foreign) government. Under the doctrine of military necessity, slaves could be freed as a temporary war measure to prevent their public use to provide material aid to the Confederate Army. Carroll was the first to write publicly on war powers and her two major pamphlets "The War Powers of the General Government" and "The Relation of the National Government to the Revolted Citizens Defined" were partly financed by the War Dept. and distributed widely in Washington, D. C. and the Border States. My definitive biography of Carroll, Great Necessities: The Life, Times, and Writings of Anna Ella Carroll, 1815-1894 reprints these. Also see and join www.friendsofannaellacarroll.org Otherwise, kudos to Mr. Spielberg et al. for a superb movie, and to Mr. Lewis, for the best portrayal of Lincoln ever. The main topic of the passage of the 13th Amendment is one I'm not familiar with in detail. Brilliant idea. The script was dense and a chef d'oeuvre in and of itself. I do wish, however, for less reality in lighting. I know gas lighting was not very bright, but with all those beards, and a number of male characters, it'd be nice to get clearer images to keep the players straight. This is a serious film, not dumbed down. As a matter of fact to catch its full implications, one would have to see it more than once.

Adding to another reviewer's comments about key elements being left out of the movie "trial" of Surratt, besides being a Catholic slaveholder (the Catholic Church held slaves in Maryland), Surratt's tavern in Surrattsville was a rendez-vous for Confederate couriers smuggling intelligence and contraband back and forth between VA and MD and the family had previously been under investigation. For a good account of these details see Surratt's biography on Wikipedia and the recent book Manhunt, on the search for Booth and the other assassins. Also to clarify some legal points, historically the Supreme Court has deferred to the military in judging military necessity, that is measures that need to be taken to overcome a belligerent enemy force. Having researched and written on this issue in my biography of Anna Ella Carroll, Lincoln's legal adviser, to my mind the fact that, as I remember, at least 2 of the assassin conspirators were former Confederate soldiers and that the nation's commander-in-chief was assassinated, provides sufficient grounds for a military commission trial. The 1942 Supreme Court Quirin decision on the German saboteurs upheld the military's right to try belligerent US citizens. Further, especially in Missouri, thousands of military commission trials tried guerrillas while civil courts still functioned. The defining criteria, as Anna Ella Carroll wrote in her war powers pamphlets is the connection of defendants to the armed forces of the rebellion. For instance, spies are always considered war criminals because they operate in conjunction with armed forces and behind lines, out of uniform. Writs of habeas corpus are also suspended for reasons of military necessity. For instance John Merryman was a MD insurrectionist in April 1861 and arrested by federal troops for his role in trying to obstruct movement of US troops to the capital to protect it. Chief Justice Roger Taney issued a writ of habeas corpus to bring him to a civil court to be charged. The commanding officer holding Merryman refused to recognize the writ citing contrary orders from the president of the United States. Also see Wikipedia about Surratt's trial results.

To my mind this is another one of the Hollywood "pro-Confederate" movies that have been prevalent since the 1940s, featuring former Confederates as poor abused souls, by those bad Yankees. Let us remember Southern slaveowners were the experts at abusing people and civil liberties in the Confederacy were severally abused.

Finally, why don't Hollywood producers produce films about Union women heroines, like Anna Ella Carroll, Mary Louvestre, Mary Bickerdyke, and Elizabeth Van Lew who lived, rather than a traitor who upheld a cause that upheld slavery at its base.