jeffersondem:
"You keep reading the term “at pleasure” into the Declaration of Independence.
Can you identify exactly where in the DOI it is found? " Now you misrepresent my views too.
"At pleasure" is the term used by James Madison and other Founders to distinguish valid and legitimate reasons for disunion from other reasons not constitutionally approved.
Indeed, the Declaration of Independence itself makes 100% clear that their disunion is not "at pleasure" but rather was necessary due to the unlawful actions of the British government.
Once again: the two constitutionally valid reasons for secession are:
- Mutual consent, exemplified by replacing the old Articles of Confederation with the new Constitution in 1788.
- Necessity caused by "oppression" or "usurpations" such as experienced by Founders in 1776.
Neither valid condition existed in November 1860 when Deep South Fire Eaters began organizing to declare secession.
That made their disunion "at pleasure".
The reason I asked about the term “at pleasure” was because I could not find it in the DOI and it sounded like something that had been scabbed-on. Let me look again in the U.S. Constitution and see if I can find it there. Perhaps it is somewhere in the 9th or 10th amendments.