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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Johnston, James F. (fl. 1862) The suspending power and the writ of habeas corpus.

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC08599.09 Author/Creator: Johnston, James F. (fl. 1862) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Pamphlet Date: 1862 Pagination: 1 v. : 48 p. ; 22.5 x 14.8 cm. Order a Copy

Published by John Campbell. Johnston states "it has been said that the 'President has no power that can be abused, except with more danger to himself than to the community,' and that ... ours is 'the most feeblest Executive perhaps ever known in a civilized community.' Is it not plain that the inference from all that is against the President's having the power to suspend the Habeas Corpus?" (page 48). Cover is missing.

In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus for all military related cases. Suspension of this writ, which is guaranteed by Article I of the United States Constitution, provoked much controversy.

Johnston, James F., fl. 1862
Binney, Horace, 1780-1875
Campbell, John, 1810-1874

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