It was
not, however, until the fourth day that the rebellion was finally
quelled, chiefly by New York regiments, hurried north by
Stanton--among them the famous Seventh--which swept the streets
with cannon.
The aftermath of the New York riots was a correspondence between
Lincoln and Seymour. The latter had demanded a suspension of the
draft until the courts could decide on the constitutionality of
the Conscription Act. Lincoln refused. With ten thousand troops
now assembled in New York, the draft was resumed, and there was
no further trouble.
The resistance to the Government in New York was but the most
terrible episode in a protracted contention which involves, as
Americans are beginning to see, one of the most fundamental and
permanent questions of Lincoln's rule: how can the exercise of
necessary war powers by the President be reconciled with the
guarantees of liberty in the Constitution? It is unfortunate
that Lincoln did not draw up a fully rounded statement of his own
theory regarding this problem, instead of leaving it to be
inferred from detached observations and from his actions.
Apparently, he felt there was nothing to do but to follow the
Roman precedent and, in a case of emergency, frankly permit the
use of extraordinary power.
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