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Is Secession Legal?
01/19/2020 | Rfreedom4u

Posted on 01/19/2021 4:38:09 PM PST by rfreedom4u

Many people have stated that secession is illegal and not allowed as determined by the American Civil War. But is it really? Throughout the history of the United States our government has supported the independence/secession of states/territories/colonies from various other nations.

Haiti seceded from the French empire through a slave revolt. South Sudan broke from Sudan. Yugoslavia broke into several countries and later Kosovo seceded from Serbia. Czechoslovakia split into two countries. The Soviet split into quite a few countries. The UK left the European Union. And many others….

So why do people say secession is illegal in the United States? There’s nothing in the US Constitution that mentions secession. The Tenth Amendment states “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Using my logic this means that since the issue of secession is not given to the federal government it is reserved to the states or the people themselves to determine. I’ve read the constitution of my own state (Texas) and secession is not mentioned at all. This even furthers my belief that is should be determined by the people.

If I were to join a club and did not like what the club became, I would be well within my rights to quit that club. If I go to see a movie and don’t like it, I can walk out. So why would anyone believe that the United States is a “once you’re in you can’t leave” type of deal? When someone doesn’t like the state in which they live they are free to move to another state or even another country.

If secession/independence/splitting up is supported for other people in the world why is it not ok for citizens of the United States? And yes, I know that politicians are garbage and want to maintain their power and control. So please give me your opinion on whether it is legal or not and why you think that way? But please spare me the “if it’s broke, we don’t run away, we fix it” argument. At this point I am fairly certain that it is not repairable.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: notstatesrights; notthisagain; secession; statesrights; vanity
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To: Lurking Libertarian
Each time, with the consent of all states involved and the consent of Congress.

Not True. Each of the seceding entities were admitted with the consent of Congress, but only Virginia consented to the secession. And Congress didn't even exist at the time Vermont carved itself out. They threatened to join Canada if they weren't recognized as an independent colony by the Continental Congress, which agreed over the objections of New York and New Hampshire.

141 posted on 01/19/2021 6:48:12 PM PST by SeeSharp
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To: bakeneko

That’s right! The moment your county or state does break away, the legal authority is gone, by definition.

No legal entity can be forced to stay in an ageeement. It can be sued for breach of contract, but, here, there isn’t a contract that defines the terms that were broken.

The Federal leviathan will invent terms, however, and completely destroy and imprison the “terrorist” Goldstein-like counties that try to leave, with the full blessing of the media.


142 posted on 01/19/2021 6:49:49 PM PST by ReaganGeneration2
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To: Lurking Libertarian

In Plessy v Ferguson the Supreme Court ruled that segregation based on race is legal so long as the standard of “separate but equal” is met.

In Dred Scott v Sanford, the court ruled that blacks were not and could not be citizens and that “The black man has no civil rights that the White man is bound to respect”.

In Roe v Wade the court ruled that laws making abortion illegal during thre first trimester of pregnancy are unconstitutional.

The first two of these have been overturned, and hopefully the third will be. A SCOTUS decision carries weight, but is neither infallible nor unchangeable.


143 posted on 01/19/2021 6:50:03 PM PST by stremba
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To: joshua c

Sounds about right.

But since the other side is afraid of bullets, we can use that to our advantage and push for a peaceful divorce, divide up the territories.

Then every time there’s supposed to be a census, for 4 or 5 decades, you hold a referendum in every county in both countries... which country you want to be in. Once the borders settle, then there is the remaining issue of enclave countries surrounded by another country.

We already have enclave countries: Soveriegn indian Nations on reservations. Plus, we can let the World Court at the Hague decide the most momentus issues. No doubt they’ll find for the libtard previous Administrations but by then it will not make much difference.


144 posted on 01/19/2021 6:52:57 PM PST by Kevmo (I'm in a slow motion Red Dawn reality TV show. The tree of liberty is thirsty.)
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To: SeeSharp
You do see the contradiction there don't you?

I see no contradiction.

145 posted on 01/19/2021 6:54:18 PM PST by rockrr ( Everything is different now...)
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To: Slyfox

“It was the Union that made Lincoln fight so hard during his presidency.”

I’ve been revisiting all this while playing teacher for my homeschooled Jr High student. It’s odd reading words from Lincoln’s inaugural address preaching platitudes that could have been interchangeable with arguments the British Crown might have made against The Declaration of Independence.

Allegedly Lincoln served in a militia during the Revolution. Seems he’d have better suited in a Red Coat.


146 posted on 01/19/2021 6:55:10 PM PST by moehoward (.)
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To: Slyfox

He was fighting for freedom. Union was secondary, until the secret convention, which was years later. He realized LATER that union was important because he knew britain would divide and conquer. But that isn’t what he fought for.


147 posted on 01/19/2021 6:56:26 PM PST by Kevmo (I'm in a slow motion Red Dawn reality TV show. The tree of liberty is thirsty.)
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To: Captain Walker
Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island would never have ratified the Constitution without assurance that each of them had the right of secession.

And yet they did.

148 posted on 01/19/2021 6:56:39 PM PST by rockrr ( Everything is different now...)
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To: Breeda

+1


149 posted on 01/19/2021 6:59:30 PM PST by Kevmo (I'm in a slow motion Red Dawn reality TV show. The tree of liberty is thirsty.)
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To: Secret Agent Man

Then post a correction.


150 posted on 01/19/2021 7:00:23 PM PST by Kevmo (I'm in a slow motion Red Dawn reality TV show. The tree of liberty is thirsty.)
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To: rockrr
I see no contradiction.

OK. First you note that the Constitution is silent on the issue, then you say SCOTUS has ruled it unconstitutional. The contradiction couldn't be any clearer.

151 posted on 01/19/2021 7:04:33 PM PST by SeeSharp
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To: stremba
+1
152 posted on 01/19/2021 7:08:07 PM PST by Kevmo (I'm in a slow motion Red Dawn reality TV show. The tree of liberty is thirsty.)
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To: moehoward
Allegedly Lincoln served in a militia during the Revolution.

LOL. Who alleged that?

153 posted on 01/19/2021 7:08:13 PM PST by SeeSharp
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To: moehoward

Lincoln was born decades after the revolution.

And you are teaching kids?


154 posted on 01/19/2021 7:11:09 PM PST by Vermont Lt (We have entered "Insanity Week." Act accordingly.)
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To: rfreedom4u

Follow the “sanctuary” model and decide on a county or state level to reject whatever federal laws you don’t like. Democrats established the precedence with wholesale disobedience to both drug laws and immigration laws.


155 posted on 01/19/2021 7:15:27 PM PST by tbw2
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To: moehoward

Lincoln WAS BORN IN 1809 - 26 years AFTER THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ENDED! You should NOT be teaching history to ANYONE!!


156 posted on 01/19/2021 7:17:26 PM PST by dsm69 (Boycott News Media/Hollywood Advertisers )
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To: rfreedom4u

Legal? You just watched an election get stolen, no one is in jail and you are worried about legal?


157 posted on 01/19/2021 7:19:32 PM PST by krizzy (Lets Dance.....Yippi Kyi Ayee.)
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To: Alberta's Child
Looking back on it now, or even just two years later, one would have a hard time believing he said this with a straight face.

Nonsense. He meant exactly what he said. The people could change the Constitution or overturn the government. Congress could consent to a state's departure. But no state or group could all on their own decide that they weren't part of the country.

158 posted on 01/19/2021 7:22:41 PM PST by x
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To: Kevmo

I have read a lot of his papers. After his most difficult winter at Valley Forge, he began to talk about the Union synonymously with freedom. To Washington it was one and the same.


159 posted on 01/19/2021 7:26:09 PM PST by Slyfox (Not my circus, not my monkeys )
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To: Kevmo

I’m good thanks


160 posted on 01/19/2021 7:27:16 PM PST by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; Not Averse to Going Bronson.)
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