![]() President Lincoln signs off on the action. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton orders an Army general to shut down both newspapers and arrest their editors. Government and military officials are alarmed by this fake proclamation, fearing it could provoke unrest. Both of these newspapers have a history of criticizing the Lincoln administration and were blamed by Republicans (Lincoln’s party) for starting the 1863 Draft Riots by publishing anti-war editorials. But two newspapers, the World and the Journal of Commerce, print the fake proclamation in their morning editions. Most newspapers check on the validity of the proclamation and don’t print it. The proclamation calls for 400,000 more troops through either voluntary enlistment or a new draft. When Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4, 1861, secession was an accomplished fact. At 3:30 a.m., a messenger pretending to be from the Associated Press news service delivers a forged presidential proclamation to a number of New York City newspapers. In July 1863, deadly riots break out in New York City and other Northern towns over the start of a military draft, which forces selected citizens to enlist in the military and fight in the war.Ī new crisis strikes on May 18, 1864. Many Northern Democrats sympathize with the Confederacy and want to seek peace with them. In the North, people are divided over whether the war is justified and worth fighting. The Confederacy is attempting to break away from President Abraham Lincoln and the Union. The United States has been fighting a bloody civil war for three years. Can First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press be limited during a time of civil war? ![]()
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