"The denial of the right to secede from a voluntary union is itself a primary justification for secession"
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Secession as a Legitimate Recourse of the States - is secession legal?
Secession is a term and a concept that holds various and differing connotations to many individuals. It is an idea seldom thought about by most Americans in our day. Those that have some familiarity with the term generally associate it primarily with the War of 1861-1865. To the majority the concept of secession is a far away notion, little understood and even less thought of as a practical concept applicable to our current political arrangement. After all, most Americans believe that whatever secession was all about the issue must have been settled when the forces of the Union defeated the South.
This treatment of secession is one dimensional and flawed. Most Americans would agree that it is impossible, nay unjust, to settle matters of legal principle through the use of force. On the schoolyard we do not reward the bully that is stronger than his fellows by accepting that his point of view must be right just because he is stronger. We do not accept this in our system of civil law. A mere individual with a right and just cause can and often does prevail against large and powerful corporations on points of justice and legality. It seems un-American to simply accept that a question as powerful as the nature of the compact that holds the Union together might be answered in no other way than force.
The commonplace view of secession is also flawed in that the idea is generally applied only to the South and the Southern political mind. This treatment of secession denies the fact that our very independence from the British Crown was a result of secession. It also ignores the principles expressed in the founding documents and the words and thoughts of those that shaped our early history. Finally this line of thought also ignores the fact that secession was first proposed not in the South but in New England. Secession is as American as apple pie. The first American Patriots were secessionist and throughout our history men that understood the primary nature of the federal compact supported the principle of secession.
A Summary of the Nature and Role of Government
Man is by necessity a social creature. It has been thus since the dawn of man. We banded together in small hunter-gatherer groups in prehistoric times, we built tribal communities and over time developed the system of government that gave rise to the modern nation state. Government is the guarantor of greater peace, tranquility and health than might otherwise be obtainable. It serves to protect property and rights; its does not grant or create them.
John C. Calhoun in his Disquisition on Government viewed the institution of government as; "although intended to protect and preserve society, has itself a strong tendency to disorder and abuse its powers, as all experience and almost every page of history testify.”
What then are we to make of this fearful beast that we rely on so heavily. How might a people make government a servant of their needs and avoid becoming servants of the government itself? John Ponet in 1556 argued that the power of any ruler is not absolute but is constrained by natural law. Christopher Goodman in 1558 expanded on the ideas of Ponet and argued that The People were not required to obey unjust rulers in every circumstance. These thoughts and those of others combined to bring an end to the concept of the divine right of kings. Our tradition of political thought in the West is heavily influenced by the idea that no government retains absolute right to rule.
A Brief Primer on the Origin, Nature and Role of the Federal Compact
It is pointless to discuss the justness of the principle of secession without first discussing our federal compact. Our thoughts on the perpetuity of the Federal Union have been continually reinforced since 1892 by items like the Pledge of Allegiance with the "indivisible" phrase (never mind that the Pledge itself was written by a socialist with grand ideas of a Socialist Utopia in the US based upon very un-American ideals). US history as taught in most US schools only adds to the confusion and misunderstanding concerning the true nature of the federal compact as envisioned by those who created the nation.
The Undeniable Legality of Secession
At the most fundamental and basic level of our political belief system as Americans rests the idea that men ought to be free to determine their own form of government. Our Declaration of Independence states this fact clearly:
...That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...
Few Americans would deny that our founders in 1776 had among other inalienable rights the justification and right to assert a form of government "most likely to effect Safety and Happiness". With such a strong sense of the rights of the people inherent in our most foundational of beliefs, it is amazing that Americans so easily view these concepts as applicable only to another time and place.
Secession is legal under natural law, biblical law and in accordance with the State-Federal compact theory of government.
The Unconstitutionality of Using Force to Coerce a State
President James Buchanan stated succinctly in a speech before Congress, December 1860 that the Constitution does not delegate to the Federal government the power to use force against a state:
"The question fairly stated is, Has the Constitution delegated to Congress the power to coerce a State into submission which is attempting to withdraw or has actually withdrawn from the Confederacy? If answered in the affirmative, it must be on the principle that the power has been conferred upon Congress to declare and to make war against a State. After much serious reflection I have arrived at the conclusion that no such power has been delegated to Congress or to any other department of the Federal Government. It is manifest upon an inspection of the Constitution that this is not among the specific and enumerated powers granted to Congress, and it is equally apparent that its exercise is not " necessary and proper for carrying into execution " any one of these powers. So far from this power having been delegated to Congress, it was expressly refused by the Convention which framed the Constitution."
Additional Resources:
Dr. Walter Williams
Declaration of Causes of Seceding States
Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas make their cases for the right to secede.
Joe Sobran demonstrates that “Jefferson was an explicit secessionist.”
Dr. Walter Williams suggests that peaceful independence might be the only solution.
“A little-known fact of the Constitution is that two of the largest states -- Virginia and New York -- made the right to withdraw from the union explicit in their acceptance of the Constitution. And in such an agreement between parties as is represented by the Constitution, a right claimed by one is allowed to all.”
Dr. Walter Williams demonstrates that the federal government is violating the U.S. Constitution.
Adam Young quotes Lincoln and demonstrates the legality of secession.
Dr. Walter Williams proposes an idea for secession and supports it legally.
Dr. Walter Williams demonstrates that secession is entirely legal.
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
Thomas Jefferson & James Madison
Would you support Walter Williams' plan for secession?
80% of WorldNetDaily readers say “Yes”.
Donnie Kennedy
Secession the Separate and Legal Act of the States
“There is in our American system what is not found elsewhere, a power above that of the Federal or of the State government, the power of the people of a State.”
Southern Defence Of The Constitutional Union 1845-61
Dr. John M. Phillips M.A.
States' Rights vs. Monetary Monopoly
Thomas J. DiLorenzo
Dr. Walter E. Williams. New York Tribune (2/5/60): "If tyranny and despotism justified the Revolution of 1776, then we do not see why it would not justify the secession of Five Millions of Southrons from the Federal Union in 1861."
They Aren’t What They Used to Be
Joe Sobran. “Before the Civil War, the United States was a plural noun. The U.S. Constitution uses the plural form when, for example, it refers to enemies of the United States as “their” enemies. And this was the usage of everyone who understood that the union was a voluntary federation of sovereign states, delegating only a few specified powers, and not the monolithic, “consolidated,” all-powerful government it has since become.”
David Alan Black. “America was founded on a revolution against England, yet many Americans now believe the myth that secession was treasonable. The Declaration of Independence was, in fact, a declaration of secession.”
North American * Secession and Independence Movements
*Hawaii and Puerto Rico are obviously not part of North America, no offense intended
Active Secession Movements Around the World
One Nation Indivisible? A Study of Secession and the Constitution