Most historians portray President Abraham Lincoln as the champion of freedom.
But there is a more sinister side of Lincoln and his actions that most history book gloss over or ignore. He jailed thousands of innocent, loyal Americans without evidence or trial.
This is a story of one of those individuals -- Baltimore Mayor George W. Brown.
When the people of Baltimore elected reform candidate George W. Brown mayor by a landslide in 1860, they had no idea he would serve most of his term confined as a federal prisoner. He was arrested in the middle of the night along with more than a dozen other prominent Marylanders, including legislators, a member of Congress and several newspaper editors.
This was an action sanctioned by Lincoln's unprecedented suspension of habeas corpus. There were no formal charges filed against those arrested; there was no evidence presented against them; and none of them ever received a trial.
To some, this action represents a dark time in U.S. history when the rule of law that is guaranteed under the Constitution was suspended, supposedly to preserve the Union. For others, it represents an illegal action that set a dangerous precedent, which is being followed today and abused whenever those in power perceive our national security is threatened by terrorism, or any other internal or external threat.
Read this well-researched paper and get a glimpse of Lincoln's dark side!
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