LibertyBurns
Member
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2012
- Messages
- 203
- Reaction score
- 56
- Location
- Louisiana
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
Lincoln was my choice. Suspension of habeas corpus was a huge overreach of his powers, but this was the last of a large string of abuses, I don't think the north's hand was "forced" any more than the south's was. Slavery was a horrid institution that needed to be ended, that said as was pointed out it was a consequence of Lincoln's war against secession, not slavery. The south had a severe contention prior to the slavery issue due to unfair tariffs of southern goods, a legitimate commerce clause gripe and especially heated due to european interests getting favorable trade rates. Lincoln's worst abuse though was making secession without violence impossible, this would set the table for the federal government to eventually centralize to it's current point, for that reason alone he is the father of government overreach.
Good job on the tariffs, was waiting for someone to talk about that. You could also talk about how the war was waged, mainly in the south, Shermans March. What were government responses to the riots in northern states? Drafts are so libertarian huh guys? Shutting down newspapers? Nationalizing railroads?