1. States do not have a right to secede by a historical understanding of the nature of our union, the Union’s victory in the Civil War, and by subsequent SCOTUS decisions.
2. According to the Articles of Confederation, the original states entered into a “perpetual union,” and that the rules of AoC were to be "inviolably observed by every state." By a “perpetual union” the Union is understood to be continual and indissoluble.
3. Some have argued that because the AoC stipulates that it can only be altered by Congress and the legislatures of every state, that the Constitution having been ratified by only 9 states violates the AoC.
4. The Constitution’s ratification satisfies the AoC, however, in that Congress, and the legislatures of every state agreed to the Constitutional Convention and a new process which ultimately included the ratification process. You can’t agree to a vote only if it goes your way.
5. Some have argued that the right to secede was supported by the Founding Fathers because the states of Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island agreed to ratify the Constitution on the condition that they reserved the right of secession. This argument has no merit.
6. It’s true that the idea of ratification conditioned upon the reservation of the right to secede was introduced in each of these state ratification conventions, but in each case, it was rejected.
7. Al Mackey does an excellent job of refuting this lie in his blog, 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘞𝘢𝘳. You can read it at: studycivilwar.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/did…
8. I think James Madison’s response to a letter from Alexander Hamilton on the matter well represents the prevailing view. I think all can agree that Madison knew a little about the Constitution. In his letter Madison writes,
9. “My opinion is that a reservation of a right to withdraw if amendments be not decided on under the form of the Constitution within a certain time, is a conditional ratification, that it does not make N. York a member of the New Union,
10. and consequently that she could not be received on that plan. Compacts must be reciprocal, this principle would not in such a case be preserved. The Constitution requires an adoption 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐨 and 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫.” (Emphasis mine)
11. Also from the same letter:” This idea of reserving right to withdraw was started in Richmd. & considered as a conditional ratification which was itself considered as worse than a rejection.”
12. In the case of 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘷. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 (1869), Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase wrote, “The union between Texas and the other states was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original states.
13. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.” The South did not have the consent of the states to secede, and they failed in their attempt at revolution.
14. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote in 𝘍𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷. 𝘗𝘦𝘤𝘬 (1810), “But Georgia cannot be viewed as a single, unconnected, sovereign power, on whose legislature no other restrictions are imposed than may be found in its own constitution.
15. She is a part of a large empire; she is a member of the American union; and that union has a constitution the supremacy of which all acknowledge, and which imposes limits to the legislatures of the several states, which none claim a right to pass.”
16. You claimed that the Constitution supported the South’s secession, but Article X, Section 1 states, “No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation….”
17. The phrase, “no states,” included the southern states, and I think the Confederated States of America constituted a confederation. The usual rebuttal to this is that having seceded from the Union, the South was no longer governed by the Constitution.
18. The idea that one is justified in breaking a vow or compact in that once the compact is broken, they are no longer bound by it is specious and circular. What is the point of a compact if you may vitiate it merely by telling the other party to shove it?
19. Most agreements do contain an escape clause. Here’s a challenge for you: find in the Constitution the mechanism for states to leave the Union – there is none. There are clearly defined procedures for adding states and even subdividing existing ones, but none for seceding.
20. The South is not enslaved and their sovereignty is intact, just not absolute sovereignty. I am free and sovereign over my affairs. The law forbids me, nevertheless, from committing crimes against society. Am I then a slave? Of course not.
21. The Confederacy had no right to secede; they tried it by force and failed. It’s a done deal and a matter of settled law, time to move on.
@threadreaderapp please unroll, thank you.
