The states created the Union, not vice versa. They joined it by their consent (along with the Federal government's but only if they applied.) There is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits secession. Thus, any state can legally secede any time. All of them could if they chose to.
Then given the conditions in much of Africa today, would Dr. Williams or you advocate reintroducing slavery as a way of saving all those poor wretches in Darfur or the Congo or Rwanda from their miseries?
Of course not, and don't be silly. But let's stop dwelling on slavery. And if we can find a way to help the oppressed of Congo or Rwanda to escape their misery, that is a good thing. We don't want to simply change their slave masters, but lift them out of the slavery they're in.
Do you dispute Dr. Williams's observation? Would he be better off if he were in Congo or Rwanda or Kenya or whichever tyrannical African satrapy than he is in America?
The were admitted, they didn't join.
There is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits secession. Thus, any state can legally secede any time.
So is that a round-about way of saying Madison is correct and that if one state is free to leave then 49 states are also free to expel?
Of course not, and don't be silly.
Why not? If it was such a great idea in 1809 and such a tremendous benefit to the people in Africa then why not 2009? Or don't they need our help anymore?
Do you dispute Dr. Williams's observation? Would he be better off if he were in Congo or Rwanda or Kenya or whichever tyrannical African satrapy than he is in America?
I don't know. Would Dr. Williams have wanted to be plucked from his home, crammed into a ship, sent thousands of miles away, and spend the rest of his life in slave labor? Would he have seen that as an improvement over what he had? How about you? Would you view chattel slavery in the U.S. for you and your decendants preferable to life as a free person, even in Africa?