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To: libertarianben
"Any people any where, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right... "

Lincoln's talking about the Right of Rebellion, a natural right, not a Constitutional right. The idea goes back at least to Locke, if not further. And when Lincoln says "Any people any where" he could just as easily be talking about slaves in the south. Would you argue that they had a Constitutional right to revolt? Did the Whiskey Rebels? Note that the Constitution talks about suppressing insurrections. How could the government do that if, constitutionally, everyone has a right to "rise up and shake off the existing government"?

Note also the phrase "having the power." The south didn't. Bad luck, that.

272 posted on 02/07/2006 9:51:36 AM PST by Heyworth ("More weight!"--Giles Corey)
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To: Heyworth

How the hell did you come up with that? Did you not read the quote?


281 posted on 02/07/2006 1:56:07 PM PST by libertarianben (Looking for sanity and his hard to find cousin common sense)
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