[Who is John Galt?]

3. That in case of any attempted or actual infraction or violation of those rights, the protection and remedy are to be sought through the means provided by the Constitution, and not by secession or nullification.

The Constitution no where prohibited State secession - and apparently Mr. John William Noell was unaware of the Tenth Amendment.

Thanks for the reference - it's the first I've heard of the gentleman. He reminds me of any number of RINOs...

[x]

The Constitution no where prohibited State secession - and apparently Mr. John William Noell was unaware of the Tenth Amendment.

I'm pretty sure Congressman Noell had heard of it. He had been a member of the bar before entering politics.

But I doubt he thought of that amendment as a "Get Out of the Union Free Card" or a secret ace up the sleeve of secessionist movements or an Easter egg or Christmas present hidden by the First Congress for lucky rebel children to find.

If somebody has time and patience, maybe they could check and see whether secession came up as a topic when the 10th Amendment was proposed, debated, voted on, and ratified.