[PhilipFreneau]

None of the framers suggested the states were sovereign.

I forgot to mention that, on March 2, 1861, a constitutional amendment was proposed that would have outlawed secession. Would Congress have proposed an amendment outlawing secession if they believed it to already be unlawful?

Also, after the war the majority Republican Party instructed the southern states, as a condition of being readmitted to the union, to rewrite their constitutions outlawing secession. It appears the Republican Party did not believe secession to be unconstitutional.

[WhiskeyPapa]

I forgot to mention that, on March 2, 1861, a constitutional amendment was proposed that would have outlawed secession.

You need to mention that you made that up.

Walt

[WhiskeyPapa]

Also, after the war the majority Republican Party instructed the southern states, as a condition of being readmitted to the union, to rewrite their constitutions outlawing secession.

There has never been any legal question that no state can get out of the Union on its own resolve. The acts of the so-called seceded states were acts of revolution, and you cannot legislate revolution.

There is no need for additional statutes or documents to outlaw secession; the wording of the Constitution is adequate to do that.

Walt