Lesson 17: How Did the Civil War Test and Transform the American Constitutional System?

Lesson Objectives

When you have finished this lesson, you should  be able to

• describe several important constitutional issues raised by President Lincoln’s actions, including the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus and the Emancipation Proclamation,
• explain the similarities and differences between the United States Constitution and the constitution of the Confederate States of America,
• explain how the Civil War led to the creation of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and
• evaluate, take, and defend positions on the conditions under which the writ of habeas corpus might be suspended and the constitutionality of secession.