Secession disagreement
Dear editor:
I disagree with Stephen Orr Manning’s letter concerning the illegality of secession, and here’s why:
William Rawle was a federal judge from Pennsylvania who wrote a book, “A View of the Constitution,” that was used as a textbook at West Point Military Academy during 1825-1840 to teach the young officers about the Constitution, which they would later swear to uphold. Mr. Rawle devotes an entire chapter to how a sovereign state may secede from the American Union, which is based on the 10th Amendment. In part, he affirms: “The secession of a State from the Union depends on the will of the people of such State. The people alone, as we have already seen, hold the power to alter their constitutions … Still, however the secession must in case be distinctly and peremptorily declared to take place on that event … but in either case the people is the only moving power” (Page 238-9).
According to the logic of Mr. Manning, our nation’s highest military academy was, in fact, teaching sedition to its cadets, which of course is not true. It is commonly understood that one can rebel only against lawful authority and the lawful authority of course is the U.S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. Therefore, no rebellion took place during 1860-1865 per the Confederate States.
He also refers to Article I, Section 10, Clause 1: “No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation,” etc., which is absolutely true. What Mr. Manning fails to comprehend is the fact that the U.S. Constitution applies only to the states that are members of the Federal Union. After the Southern States lawful secessions occurred, the U.S. Constitution no longer applied to them.
The pre-eminent authority on secession is former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, who also authored the Declaration of Independence, which was America’s legal argument for seceding from England. In his first inaugural address, he said: “If there be any among us who wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.”
Furthermore, in order for any type of act to be deemed illegal, it has to be codified in law. I challenge Mr. Manning to cite the article, section and clause of the U.S. Constitution or any other law passed by an American legislative body that makes it crime to agree with Thomas Jefferson.