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==Home front== [[File:Lincoln-Warren-1865-03-06.jpeg|thumb|upright|right|The last known high-quality photograph of Lincoln, taken March 1865]] ===Redefining republicanism=== Lincoln's [[rhetoric]] defined the issues of the war for the nation, the world, and posterity. The [[Gettysburg Address]] defied Lincoln's own prediction that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here." His second inaugural address is also greatly admired and often quoted. In recent years, historians have stressed Lincoln's use of and redefinition of [[Republicanism in the United States|republican values]]. As early as the 1850s, a time when most political rhetoric focused on the sanctity of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]], Lincoln shifted emphasis to the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] as the foundation of American political values—what he called the "sheet anchor" of republicanism.<ref>[[#Jaffa|Jaffa]], p. 399. </ref> The Declaration's emphasis on freedom and equality for all, rather than the Constitution's tolerance of slavers, shifted the debate. As Diggins concludes regarding the highly influential [[Cooper Union speech]], "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself."<ref>[[#Diggins|Diggins]], p. 307. </ref> His position gained strength because he highlighted the moral basis of republicanism, rather than its legalisms.<ref>[[#Foner|Foner]], p. 215. </ref> Nevertheless, in 1861 Lincoln justified the war in terms of legalisms (the Constitution was a contract, and for one party to get out of a contract all the other parties had to agree), and then in terms of the national duty to guarantee a "republican form of government" in every state.<ref>[[#Jaffa|Jaffa]], p. 263. </ref> That duty was also the principle underlying federal intervention in [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]]. In his [[Gettysburg Address]] Lincoln redefined the American nation, arguing that it was born not in 1789 but in 1776, "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." He declared that the sacrifices of battle had rededicated the nation to the propositions of democracy and equality, "that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." By emphasizing the centrality of the nation, he rebuffed the claims of [[sovereignty|state sovereignty]]. While some critics say Lincoln moved too far and too fast, they agree that he dedicated the nation to values that marked "a new founding of the nation."<ref>[[#Wills|Wills]], p. 39. </ref> ===Civil liberties suspended=== During the Civil War, Lincoln appropriated powers no previous President had wielded: he used his war powers to proclaim a [[Union blockade|blockade]], suspended the writ of [[habeas corpus]], spent money before Congress appropriated it, and imprisoned between 15,000 and 18,000 suspected Confederate sympathizers without trial.<ref>[[#Neely|Neely]], p. 253, n. 7.</ref> ===Domestic measures=== Lincoln believed in the Whig theory of the presidency, which left Congress to write the laws while he signed them; Lincoln exercised his [[veto|veto power]] only four times, the only significant instance being his pocket veto of the Wade-Davis Bill.<ref>[[#Donald2|Donald (2001)]], p. 137. </ref> Thus, he signed the [[Homestead Act]] in 1862, making millions of acres of government-held land in the West available for purchase at very low cost. The [[Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act]], also signed in 1862, provided government grants for state agricultural colleges in each state. The [[Pacific Railway Acts]] of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' [[First Transcontinental Railroad]], which was completed in 1869.<ref>[[#Paludan|Paludan]], p. 116. </ref> The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was made possible by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s.<ref>McPherson, James. ''Battle Cry of Freedom: the Civil War Era''. Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-19-516895-2, pp. 450–452</ref> Other important legislation involved two measures to raise revenues for the Federal government: tariffs (a policy with long precedent), and a Federal income tax (which was new). In 1861, Lincoln signed the second and third [[Morrill Tariff]] (the first had become law under [[James Buchanan]]). In 1861, Lincoln signed the [[Revenue Act of 1861]]<ref>Revenue Act of 1861, sec. 49, 12 Stat. 292, at 309 (August 5, 1861). </ref> creating the first U.S. [[income tax]]. This created a [[flat tax]] of 3% on incomes above $800 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|800|1861}}}} in current dollars), which was later changed by the [[Revenue Act of 1862]]<ref>Revenue Act of 1862, sec. 90, 12 Stat. 432, at 473 (July 1, 1862). </ref> to a progressive rate structure.<ref>[[#Paludan|Paludan]], p. 111. </ref> Lincoln also presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in several other areas. The creation of the system of national banks by the [[National Banking Act]]s of 1863, 1864, and 1865 allowed the creation of a strong national financial system. In 1862, Congress created, with Lincoln's approval, the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]], although that institution would not become a Cabinet-level department until 1889. The Legal Tender Act of 1862 established the [[United States Note]], the first [[banknote|paper currency]] in United States history since the [[Continental (currency)|Continentals]] that were issued during the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolution]]. This was done to increase the money supply to pay for fighting the war.<!--- ---- The following passage has been removed as uncited to a page number, and a review of the Paludan book cites no such claim: "During the war, Lincoln's [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]] effectively controlled all cotton trade in the occupied South – the most dramatic incursion of federal controls on the economy."<ref>[[#Paludan|Paludan]] </ref>---> In 1862, Lincoln sent a senior general, [[John Pope (military officer)|John Pope]], to put down the "[[Dakota War of 1862|Sioux Uprising]]" in [[Minnesota]]. Presented with 303 [[execution warrant|death warrants]] for convicted [[Sioux#Santee (Isáŋyathi or Eastern Dakota)|Santee Dakota]] who were accused of killing innocent farmers, Lincoln ordered a personal review of these warrants, eventually approving 39 of these for [[death penalty|execution]] (one was later [[pardon|reprieved]]).<ref> {{cite book |first=Hank H. |last=Cox |title=Lincoln And The Sioux Uprising of 1862 |year=2005 |isbn=9781581824575 |publisher=Cumberland House Publishing |location=Nashville |page=182}} </ref> Abraham Lincoln is largely responsible for the institution of the [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving holiday]] in the United States. Prior to Lincoln's presidency, Thanksgiving, while a regional holiday in New England since the 17th century, had only been proclaimed by the federal government sporadically, and on irregular dates. The last such proclamation was during [[James Madison|James Madison's]] presidency fifty years before. In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November to be a day of Thanksgiving, and the holiday has been celebrated annually then ever since.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/source/sb2/sb2w.htm |title=1863 Thanksgiving proclamation |author=National Park Service}} </ref>
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