Illegal use of the Whiskey Rebellion, theft of 2 million dollars from the US Treasury to outfit his 75,000 'volunteers', building of ships and purchase of more ships without Congressional approval during their three month 'sabbatical'
How can you call a nation that held regular elections, including a hotly contested presidential election, in the midst of its greatest crisis in history, a toleration state?
Tell the voters in Maryland that. They were required to carry different color ballots, Federal troops not even from Maryland voted in the election, and 31 legislators arrested for doing nothing wrong. Voter fraud Al Gore couldn't have even pulled off
In the North, one could have anti-war views, have anti-government views, express those views in public, and still be on the ballot and in many cases be elected
Would these be the same anti-war folks that were summarily expelled from the country? Or the ones rounded up and thrown in the American Bastille, such as Francis Scott Key's grandson. Or would these be the editors of the newspapers that were shut down for printing anti-war views, some whose presses were destroyed and chased by mobs in the street? As history looks upon this for years to come and more surfaces about this tyrant, April 1861 will be come to be known as the month the Constitution died
LOL. Expelled from the country? You guys are so dramatic. That would be the clown from Ohio, Vellingham(sp?), who lost re-election to congress in 1862 because of his rabid pro-confederate stance. He publically advocated that Union soldiers desert from the Army. That is sedition, and any soldier who followed his advice was subject to courts martial and death. As far as being "expelled" he was simply sent over to the confederate side where he belonged. He went to Tennessee, not some Siberian salt mine. He could have been shot, but he wasn't. Lincoln said better to expell one old fool than to have to put a noose around the necks of any young fools who may listen to him.
And since congress approved every penny Lincoln spent in response to the emergency in the spring of 61 when they returned in July, it seems that they had no problem with his decisions. In fact, they even added more money. Nor did the Supreme Court which was stacked with southerners.
Now lets talk about the father of Texas, Sam Houston who as governor in 1861 was damn near hanged by a slaver mob because he opposed secession. Was it 'constitutional' the way the Texas slavers simply drove him from office? Or how about the 60 or so North Texans farmers who were hanged because they were pro-Union. Or the score of Tennessee and North Carolina men who were hanged because they were pro Union? Or the many hundreds who had their houses and barns tourched by the confederate militia. How many pro-southerners were hanged in the North? None. How many southern Unionists had to run for their lives to escape those freedom-loving confederate mobs? Many thousands.