Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln (Dixie Forever)

The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln occurred in 1866, when the United States House of Representatives resolved to impeach President Abraham Lincoln, adopting twenty-three articles of impeachment detailing his "high crimes and misdemeanors", in accordance with Article Two of the United States Constitution. The House's primary charge against Lincoln was violation of the Writ of Habeas Corpus.

The House approved the articles of impeachment on May 2–3, 1866, and forwarded them to the Senate. The trial in the Senate began three days later, with Chief Justice of the United States Salmon P. Chase presiding.

This was the first impeachment of a President since creation of the office in 1789.

Articles of Impeachment

 * 1) Ordering the blockade of Southern ports without a declaration of war from Congress
 * 2) Sending naval convoys to the ports of Charleston and Pensacola to instigate a war with the South
 * 3) Ordering the closure of hundreds of newspapers across the nation that spoke out against the war and the administration in violation of the First Amendment.
 * 4) Ordering the arrest of newspaper owners and editors who wrote in newspapers disagreeing with the war and the administration.
 * 5) Ordering the arrest and deportation of Congressman Clement Vallandigham for speaking out against the administration and its policies.
 * 6) Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus in violation of the Constitution, per Ex Parte Merryman
 * 7) Writing an arrest warrant the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after ruling against his policies
 * 8) Committing treason against the United States by levying war against them, i.e. the South
 * 9) Sending troops door-to-door in Maryland to confiscate weapons in violation of the Second Amendment
 * 10) Ordering the arrest of Maryland Congressman Henry May
 * 11) Ordering the arrest of the legislature of Maryland to prevent a possible vote on secession, in violation of Article 4, Section 4
 * 12) Ordering the arrest of the city council of Baltimore
 * 13) Ordering the arrest of the police commissioner of Baltimore
 * 14) Ordering the arrest of the mayor of Baltimore
 * 15) Ordering the arrest of thousands of citizens of Maryland and holding them without trial in military prisons for years
 * 16) Sending a letter to General Winfield Scott giving him permission to bombard Maryland's Cities.
 * 17) The Emancipation Proclamation
 * 18) Allowing the seizure of private property for public use without due compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment.
 * 19) Authorizing the use of water torture against prisoners arrested and held without trial in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
 * 20) Not attempting to stop troops from destroying civilian property in the South, including but not limited to burning homes, killing livestock, seizing livestock, taking clothing or jewelry or other goods from private homes when it is not militarily necessary.
 * 21) Fighting a war to attempt to kill the people of the south in order to repopulate the states with citizens from the north.

As evidence in these, letters between Lincoln, Sherman, and Grant were read into the record:

''In a September 17, 1863, letter to the War Department, Gen. William Sherman wrote: “The United States has the right, and … the … power, to penetrate to every part of the national domain. We will remove and destroy every obstacle — if need be, take every life, every acre of land, every particle of property, everything that to us seems proper.” President Lincoln liked Sherman’s letter so much that he declared that it should be published. ''

On June 21, 1864, before his bloody March to the Sea, Sherman wrote to the secretary of war: “There is a class of people [in the South] — men, women, and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order.” 

On October 9, 1864, Sherman wrote to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant: “Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources.”