Lincoln Creates the First Surveillance State...

Not only that but many congressmen and their families went on vacations during the recess with some traveling to Europe. Time had to be given to contact the lawmakers and more time for them to return home and then to Washington.

Also, the House needed a quorum which would have been at least 115 members out of the 229 representatives. Automatically absent from that quorum were the 36 members of the seven Southern states that had already seceded and whose seats remained in the House but were vacant. Add to that lot the 33 seats which hadn't been filled yet because state elections for those seats had not taken place as of April 15, 1861 when Lincoln called for the emergency session. At that point it meant that at least 69 members would not be part of the quorum leaving 160 total members remaining. Out of the remaining 160 members some would be in Europe or places unknown and some would be too sick or have other problems that prevented them from making the special session. And finally, add to the list the seats from the remaining Southern states that might become vacant between Lincoln's call and the convening of the special session of Congress. As it turned out, another 23 seats became vacant when Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas seceded in April and May 1861.
 
Also, the House needed a quorum which would have been at least 115 members out of the 229 representatives. Automatically absent from that quorum were the 36 members of the seven Southern states that had already seceded and whose seats remained in the House but were vacant. Add to that lot the 33 seats which hadn't been filled yet because state elections for those seats had not taken place as of April 15, 1861 when Lincoln called for the emergency session. At that point it meant that at least 69 members would not be part of the quorum leaving 160 total members remaining. Out of the remaining 160 members some would be in Europe or places unknown and some would be too sick or have other problems that prevented them from making the special session. And finally, add to the list the seats from the remaining Southern states that might become vacant between Lincoln's call and the convening of the special session of Congress. As it turned out, another 23 seats became vacant when Virginia, North Carolina, and Arkansas seceded in April and May 1861.
Funny thing. Lincoln had what he needed there at his inaugural speech.
 
Resolution adopted by the House of Representatives, July 12, 1861.

Resolved, That the Attorney-General be requested to lay before this House at his earliest, convenience a copy of the opinion mentioned in the message of the President delivered to this House on the opening of its present session, and also a copy of the General Order suspending the writ of habeas corpus.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 13, 1861.
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Resolution adopted by the House of Representatives, July 12, 1861.

Resolved, That the Attorney-General be requested to lay before this House at his earliest, convenience a copy of the opinion mentioned in the message of the President delivered to this House on the opening of its present session, and also a copy of the General Order suspending the writ of habeas corpus.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 13, 1861.
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The COMMANDING GENERAL RMY OF THE UNITED STATES:

You are engaged in repressing an insurrection against the laws of the United States. If at any point on or in the vicinity of any military line which is now or which shall be used between the city of Philadelphia and the city of Washington you find residence which renders it necessary to suspend the writ of habeas corpus for the public safety, you personally or through the officer in command at the point where resistance occurs are authorized to suspend that writ.

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at the city of Washington, this 27th day of April, 1861, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.

[L. S.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President of the United States:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/115/0019
 
Lincoln the Emperor.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas an insurrection exists in the State of Florida by which the lives, liberty and property of loyal citizens of the United States are endangered; and

Whereas it is deemed proper that all needful measures should be taken for the protection of such citizens and all officers of the United States in the discharge of their public duties in the State aforesaid:

Now, therefore, be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby direct the commander of the forces of the United States on the Florida coast to permit no person to exercise any office or authority upon the islands of Key West, the Tortugas and Santa Rose which may be inconsistent with the laws and Constitution of the United States, authorizing him at the same time if he shall find it necessary to suspend there the writ of habeas corpus and to remove from the vicinity of the United States fortresses all dangerous or suspencted persons.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this 10th day of May, A. D. 1861, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-fifth.

[L. S.] ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

By the President:

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

https://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/115/0019
 
It is worth noting that July 4, 1861,

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution, convene both houses of Congress. The Senators and Representatives are, therefore, summoned to assemble at their respective Chambers at twelve o’clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as, in their wisdom, the public safety and interest may seem to demand.

I will bring some clarity to the date...

So Lincoln just gives the finger to federal courts in general about Habeas Corpus... its from wiki...

Merryman's lawyers appealed, and in early June 1861, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, writing as the United States Circuit Court for Maryland, ruled in ex parte Merryman that Article I, section 9 of the United States Constitution reserves to Congress the power to suspend habeas corpus and thus that the president's suspension was invalid.[9] The rest of the Supreme Court had nothing to do with Merryman, and the other two Justices from the South, John Catron and James Moore Wayne acted as Unionists; for instance, Catron's charge to a Saint Louis grand jury, saying that armed resistance to the federal government was treason, was quoted in the New York Tribune of July 14, 1861.[10] The President's advisers said the circuit court's ruling was invalid and it was ignored.[11]

The next it seems Congress dropped the ball the more than Lincoln on Habeas Corpus but he still ruled as a tyrant... for two and a half years... from wiki...

When Congress was called into special session, July 4, 1861, President Lincoln issued a message to both houses defending his various actions, including the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, arguing that it was both necessary and constitutional for him to have suspended it without Congress.[12][13] Early in the session, Senator Henry Wilson introduced a joint resolution "to approve and confirm certain acts of the President of the United States, for suppressing insurrection and rebellion", including the suspension of habeas corpus (S. No. 1).[14] Senator Lyman Trumbull, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, had reservations about its imprecise wording, so the resolution, also opposed by anti-war Democrats, was never brought to a vote. On July 17, 1861, Trumbull introduced a bill to suppress insurrection and sedition which included a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus upon Congress's authority (S. 33). That bill was not brought to a vote before Congress ended its first session on August 6, 1861 due to obstruction by Democrats,[15][16][17] and on July 11, 1862, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary recommended that it not be passed during the second session, either,[18] but its proposed habeas corpus suspension section formed the basis of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act.

The last note I still can find no Congress action on Lincoln's and Stanton's illegal wiretap program. I do know Congress did learn about it but did nothing and Lincoln did not offer them chance to confirm it...
 
Another side story about Lincoln and the Telegraph. He received from the west coast... story...

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45007641/...o-primitive-internet-united-usa/#.XSNjsejYqQo

"It was huge," says Amy Fischer, archivist for Western Union, which strung the line across mountains, canyons and tribal lands to make the final connection. "... With the Civil War just a few months old, the idea that California, the growing cities of California, could talk to Washington and the East Coast in real time was huge. It's hard to overstate the impact of that."

On Oct. 24, 1861, with the push of a button, California's chief justice, Stephen J. Field, wired a message from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, congratulating him on the transcontinental telegraph's completion that day. He added the wish that it would be a "means of strengthening the attachment which binds both the East and the West to the Union."

A rudimentary version of the Internet — not much more advanced than two tin cans and a string — had been born. But it worked, and it grew.

Just a few years after the nation was wired, telegraph technology would be extended to the rest of North America, and soon cylindrical wires from Mexico to Canada would jangle with little bursts of electromagnetic juice, sending messages of every kind and redefining how communication can mean business.

As the United States rebuilt itself following the devastating Civil War, it did so in no small part with money wired from Washington. In 1869, when the final piece of track connecting the transcontinental railroad was laid in Promontory, Utah, a young news organization called The Associated Press sent a story about it out on the wire.

"I really see the telegraph as the original technology, the grandfather of all these other technologies that came out of it: the telephone, the teletype, the fax, the Internet," said telegraph historian Thomas Jepsen, author of "My Sisters Telegraphic: Women In Telegraph Office 1846-1950."
 
I wasn't talking about Sumter. He had the opportunity at his hand to hold Congress over as the States were seceding. The shooting war started with Buchanan was enough of a warning which he completely ignored.


He had no reason nor authority on March 4, 1861 to hold the previous 36th Congress over; that congress adjourned and was history by 12 pm noon on March 4, 1861. On this same date as soon as Lincoln swore his oath to the Constitution, the new 37th Congress took over and they were not scheduled to convene until December. Many newly elected members of Congress probably did not show up for the Inaugural and besides, what was Congress going to do to the states that had already seceded?
 
I will bring some clarity to the date...

So Lincoln just gives the finger to federal courts in general about Habeas Corpus... its from wiki...

Merryman's lawyers appealed, and in early June 1861, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, writing as the United States Circuit Court for Maryland, ruled in ex parte Merryman that Article I, section 9 of the United States Constitution reserves to Congress the power to suspend habeas corpus and thus that the president's suspension was invalid.[9] The rest of the Supreme Court had nothing to do with Merryman, and the other two Justices from the South, John Catron and James Moore Wayne acted as Unionists; for instance, Catron's charge to a Saint Louis grand jury, saying that armed resistance to the federal government was treason, was quoted in the New York Tribune of July 14, 1861.[10] The President's advisers said the circuit court's ruling was invalid and it was ignored.[11]

The next it seems Congress dropped the ball the more than Lincoln on Habeas Corpus but he still ruled as a tyrant... for two and a half years... from wiki...

When Congress was called into special session, July 4, 1861, President Lincoln issued a message to both houses defending his various actions, including the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, arguing that it was both necessary and constitutional for him to have suspended it without Congress.[12][13] Early in the session, Senator Henry Wilson introduced a joint resolution "to approve and confirm certain acts of the President of the United States, for suppressing insurrection and rebellion", including the suspension of habeas corpus (S. No. 1).[14] Senator Lyman Trumbull, the Republican chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, had reservations about its imprecise wording, so the resolution, also opposed by anti-war Democrats, was never brought to a vote. On July 17, 1861, Trumbull introduced a bill to suppress insurrection and sedition which included a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus upon Congress's authority (S. 33). That bill was not brought to a vote before Congress ended its first session on August 6, 1861 due to obstruction by Democrats,[15][16][17] and on July 11, 1862, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary recommended that it not be passed during the second session, either,[18] but its proposed habeas corpus suspension section formed the basis of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act.

The last note I still can find no Congress action on Lincoln's and Stanton's illegal wiretap program. I do know Congress did learn about it but did nothing and Lincoln did not offer them chance to confirm it...

Care to show me what Article in the Constitution mandates that the Executive branch must obey a Federal Circuit judge? You do know that all 3 branches of the government interpret the law, correct? Had the Congress felt Lincoln was incorrect or criminal in his action(s), the Constituion has impeachment as a remedy.
 
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The last note I still can find no Congress action on Lincoln's and Stanton's illegal wiretap program. I do know Congress did learn about it but did nothing and Lincoln did not offer them chance to confirm it...

Could you please list the law or the Congressional action that stated it was illegal for Lincoln's and Stanton's actions with the telegraph lines of the period?
 
Care to show me what Article in the Constitution mandates that the Executive branch must obey a Federal Circuit judge? You do know that all 3 branches of the government interpret the law, correct? Had the Congress felt Lincoln was incorrect or criminal in his action(s), the Constituion has impeachment as a remedy.

As we all know, President Jackson let us all know a president can ignore the courts.
 
Could you please list the law or the Congressional action that stated it was illegal for Lincoln's and Stanton's actions with the telegraph lines of the period?

There is none because Congress seemed to ignore the concept of electornic surveillance. The concept of electornic spying would have been knew to the people of 1860's... It is why Lincoln and Stanton got away their invasion of the electornic media...
 
There is none because Congress seemed to ignore the concept of electornic surveillance. The concept of electornic spying would have been knew to the people of 1860's... It is why Lincoln and Stanton got away their invasion of the electornic media...

"There is none, no 19th century law declaring use of the telegraph lines of the period by Stanton and Lincoln as illegal.

Got it.

If something is unconstitutional today than it should also be unconstitutional in the past, even if it was not seen to be at that time in the past...

Opinion. Without a Wayback Machine, I foresee difficulty in enforcing this opinion.
Edited.
 
If something is unconstitutional today than it should also be unconstitutional in the past, even if it was not seen to be at that time in the past...

...What Lincoln did with the telegraph would be unconstitutional today so it would have been unconstitutional then...

But @5fish,

What you advocate above IS unconstitutional.

Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 of the US Constitution states:

"No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed."

It would be impossible to try and convict Lincoln on constitutional grounds for wiretapping charges that were not illegal at the time, as the above prohibits such reaching back through time to convict someone.

Just sayin'.

Unionblue
 
Another side story about Lincoln and the Telegraph. He received from the west coast... story...

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45007641/...o-primitive-internet-united-usa/#.XSNjsejYqQo

"It was huge," says Amy Fischer, archivist for Western Union, which strung the line across mountains, canyons and tribal lands to make the final connection. "... With the Civil War just a few months old, the idea that California, the growing cities of California, could talk to Washington and the East Coast in real time was huge. It's hard to overstate the impact of that."

On Oct. 24, 1861, with the push of a button, California's chief justice, Stephen J. Field, wired a message from San Francisco to President Abraham Lincoln in Washington, congratulating him on the transcontinental telegraph's completion that day. He added the wish that it would be a "means of strengthening the attachment which binds both the East and the West to the Union."

A rudimentary version of the Internet — not much more advanced than two tin cans and a string — had been born. But it worked, and it grew.

Just a few years after the nation was wired, telegraph technology would be extended to the rest of North America, and soon cylindrical wires from Mexico to Canada would jangle with little bursts of electromagnetic juice, sending messages of every kind and redefining how communication can mean business.

As the United States rebuilt itself following the devastating Civil War, it did so in no small part with money wired from Washington. In 1869, when the final piece of track connecting the transcontinental railroad was laid in Promontory, Utah, a young news organization called The Associated Press sent a story about it out on the wire.

"I really see the telegraph as the original technology, the grandfather of all these other technologies that came out of it: the telephone, the teletype, the fax, the Internet," said telegraph historian Thomas Jepsen, author of "My Sisters Telegraphic: Women In Telegraph Office 1846-1950."
Interesting story. We all know how important the telegraph was. But what does this have to do with the claim that Lincoln created the "first surveillance state"?
 
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