Limiting Rights in Times of Crisis: Our Civil War Experience - A History Lesson for a Post-9-11 America

Abstract:     
In the post-September 11th world, Americans must rethink the meaning of civil liberties in a free country. Has this new reign of terrorism fundamentally undermined the possibility of a "free" society, or has it merely forced us to accept some inconveniences?
As we begin the process of learning how to balance security and liberty in an age of global terrorism, it is important to understand the ways in which claims of "necessity" or assertions of "dangerous times" have been used and misused in the past.
This article examines critical lessons we can learn from the history of the nation in crisis times.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 22

Keywords: terrorism, civil liberties, national security

Accepted Paper Series