In an article entitled "The Foundations and Meaning of Secession" which appeared in the Stetson Law Review (1986), Pepperdine University Law Professor H. Newcomb Morse provides convincing evidence that the American states do indeed have the right to secede and that the Confederate states did so legally.
First, three of the original thirteen states-Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island-ratified the U.S. Constitution only conditionally. Each of these states explicitly retained the right to secede. By accepting the right of these three states to leave the Union, has the United States not tacitly accepted the right of any state to leave? YES. If that was the condition, the condition applies to all.
Second, over the years numerous states have nullified acts of the central government judged to be unconstitutional. These instances where national laws have been nullified give credence to the view that the compact forming the Union has already been breached and that states are morally and legally free to leave. The North was violating states "Rights" therefor nullifing the Union. So actually, the North broke up the Union it just never made a formal decleration.
Third, and most importantly, the U.S. Constitution does not forbid a state from leaving the Union. According to the tenth amendment to the Constitution, anything that is not expressly prohibited by the Constitution is allowed. Therefore, all states have a Constitutional right to secede.
The problem we have had is that the history books are full of the victors side of events. There is no question, that constitutionally any sate can leave the Union. If it joined the Union and they did, they can remove the ties at their will. In addition, we can find clear evidence that our form of government gave more power to the states than to the federal government as dictated by the section 8 & 10. So the federal government is in NO position of higher authority on this specific issue than a state. The states are like the Supreme Court on this subject and more. They are the final rulers & arbiters on secession, not the feds.
Liberals and alike love to twist and contort this issue to provide cover for Lincoln’s illegal actions, aggression and killing spree. We always hear the cries about slavery from them on this as additional cover & justification for violating states rights and killing. And while we can argue the slavery issue, it has NOTHING to do with the issue of secession nor justification for Lincoln's acts. Liberals & alike MUST twist and Contort the constitution on this because they don’t agree with it. So twisting and contorting is their only means of trying to convince people to their side of this or any similar argument.
