In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln declared that as president he would "have no lawful right" to interfere with the institution of slavery. Yet less than two years later, he issued a proclamation intended to free all slaves throughout the Confederate states. When critics challenged the constitutional soundness of the act, Lincoln asserted that he was endowed "with the law of war in time of war."

In Act of Justice, Burrus M. Carnahan contends Lincoln was no reluctant emancipator; he wrote a truly radical document that treated Confederate slaves as an oppressed people rather than merely as enemy property. In this respect, Lincoln's proclamation anticipated the intellectual warfare tactics of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Burrus M. Carnahan is a professorial lecturer at George Washington University Law School. He is also a foreign affairs officer in the U.S. Department of State.

Reviews:

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"Act of Justice is a valuable resource for scholars wanting to understand better the historical precedent for military emancipation and its legality under the laws of war." --OhioValley History, R. Owen Williams

"A worthy addition to academic and large public libraries, especially given current attention to presidential use of war powers."-- Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal

"Carnahan reminds serious readers what was entailed in Lincoln's recourse to the law of war in order to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. He explains the context and limits of Lincoln's implementation and why it was upheld by the courts."--Library Journal

"Just when you think the Lincoln mine has been tapped out, Carnahan works a new seam with a thorough look at the legal underpinnings of the Emancipation Proclamation."--Kentucky Monthly

"With the war powers of the President once again under review, it is refreshing and helpful to see these important issues in context. Carnahan's outstanding work does this and more. The author demonstrates the strength and political courage of Abraham Lincoln and his willingness to take major risks--politically, militarily, and legally--by issuing the Emancipation Proclamation as a war measure. An outstanding contribution in anticipation of Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial in 2009."--Frank J. Williams, Chief Justice, Rhode Island Supreme Court and founding Chair, The Lincoln Forum

"Carnahan's patient re-creation of the legal context of the proclamation, and Lincoln's legal craft in composing it, deal a powerful blow to the hit-and-run dismissals of Lincoln as a 'racist' and a 'half-heart' who was 'forced into glory. The more we learn, through Carnahan, of the nineteenth century's 'laws of war' and Lincoln's radical prudence in interpreting them, the greater Lincoln stands as a presidential commander-in-chief and an Emancipator."--Allen C. Guelzo, Gettysburg College

Carnahan has taken the creation, context, and impact of the Proclamation to new depths of analysis, utilizing primary and secondary sources, while simultaneously creating an interesting and highly readable book. It is a work that demands its readers to consider their previous notions of how and why Lincoln issued the Proclamation, and establishes itself as a major contribution to the study of Lincoln and Civil War historiography.-Jason Emerson, The Historian

"This fine book demonstrates . . . that in our day, a great power must wait until a people want freedom before trying to impose it upon them."--Journal of American Cultures

"Carnahan skillfully shows the interaction among developments on the battlefield, principles of constitutional and international law, and political prudence, to demonstrate just how carefully and thoughtfully Lincoln maneuvered toward emancipation."--The Lincoln Herald