William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Abstract
This article by Michael Kent Curtis examines the 1863 arrest, military trial, and banishment of Clement L. Vallandigham—a prominent Ohio Democrat and vocal critic of President Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War policies—for delivering an anti-war speech in Mount Vernon, Ohio. Framing the episode within a broader historical tradition of robust protection for political dissent, Curtis explores the constitutional tensions between First Amendment free speech rights and wartime national security powers. The study analyzes the political context of Vallandigham’s arrest, the legal arguments for and against suppression of anti-war speech, and the role of military authority in prosecuting civilians in non-combat zones. It further evaluates contemporary public and political reactions, including the suppression and reinstatement of the Chicago Times, and situates these events within a continuum of antebellum and Civil War–era free speech struggles. Curtis argues that even in times of national crisis, free speech serves as a cornerstone of representative government and that the Vallandigham case illustrates both the resilience and vulnerability of civil liberties under the pressures of war.