Posted on 12/16/2003 1:15:09 PM PST by PeaRidge
Lincoln had extended his blockade to Virginia over a month earlier and well before Virginia had voted to secede. Virtually every precedent in the history of warfare considers a blockade to be an overtly hostile act of war. You are also incorrect about the date of the army's arrival in Virginia. The yankee army of 10,000 men marched into Alexandria on May 24th.
The Supreme Court did not rule that powers granted under the Militia Act were unconstitutional. Section 1 of the Militia Act pertains to insurrection and repeats the application requirement of the Constitution, lifting the phrasing directly from the Constitution. Contrary to your misbegotten assertion to the contrary, when speaking to insurrection, the requirement is there in the most explicit language possible.
If your cockamamie assertion were true, Congress would have been amending the Constitution by legislation.
Read it again, the Militia Act of 1795 states "in case of an insurrection in any state, against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such state, or of the Executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) to call forth such number of the militia of any other state or states, as may be applied for, as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection."
[Nonseq 223] There was insurrection in 7 southern states, soon to be 11 states. And the section 2 of the Militia Acts provided that the President could call out the militia to supress insurrection and that he didn't need for the state to call for assistance first.
[Nonseq 240] Nowhere does it say that the presidence can act only with the approval of the legislature of the state in question.
Now, you retreat from saying it provides something to saying it does not say he can't. You now claim that, in case of insurrection, the Militia Act is silent on whether the President can act only upon state application. This absurdity, despite that I just quoted the specific requirement from the Act. I will quote it again.
In language too clear for all but Non-Seq and his brother RJ, the Militia Act of 1795 states "in case of an insurrection in any state, against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such state, or of the Executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) to call forth such number of the militia of any other state or states, as may be applied for, as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection."
Section 1 of the Militia Act of 1795 pertaining to insurrection says:
And in case of an insurrection in any state, against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such state, or of the Executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) to call forth such number of the militia of any other state or states, as may be applied for, as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection.
Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution says,
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence."
on application of the legislature of such state, or of the Executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened) [MILITIA ACT OF 1795]
on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) [U.S. CONST Art 4, Sec 4]
If you try real, real hard, you will see the similarity of phrasing. Section 1, repeat Section 1, as in "one" or the first section of the Militia Act of 1795 explicitly deals with insurrection, explicitly using the word "insurrection."
In dealing with insurrection the Militia Act of 1795 copies the phrasing of the Constitution, Art 4, Sect 4 which also deals with insurrection and which would take precedence over the Militia Act of 1795 in case of any conflict between the two. There is no such conflict because Congress was careful to adopt the same requirement in the Militia Act of 1795 as existed and continues to exist in the Constitution. In dealing with insurrection, the President on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) may call forth the militia. That is what the Constitution says. That is what the Militia Act of 1795 said.
Once again, for possible penetration, Section 1 of the Militia Act deals with insurrection and does so explicitly, using the specific word "insurrection."
Again, Section 1 deals with insurrection.
Section 2 of the Militia Act does NOT apply to insurrection. Nothing in Section 2 applies to insurrection. The word "insurrection" does NOT appear in Section 2. No description of an insurrection appears in Section 2.
An insurrection is "a violent uprising of part or all of the people against the government or other authority." Law Dictionary, 2 Ed, Steven H. Gifis, 1984.
Section 2 of the Militia Act deals with Obstruction of Justice. "SEC. 2. That whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed, in any state, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by this act...."
Section 2 of the Militia Act deals with "judicial proceedings" and "the marshals."
Section 2 of the Militia Act has nothing to do with an insurrection.
Section 2 of the Militia Act provides assistance to the courts and the marshals of the courts. For this purpose, "it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia of such state, or of any other state or states, as may be necessary...."
Note: The President may call forth the militia of the involved state itself. This assumes no insurrection and that the militia of the state itself may be available but not yet called forth.
CONSTITUTION
Art 1, Sec 8, Cl 15 states that Congress shall have the power:
To provide for calling forth the Militia
[1] To execute the laws of the union
[2] To suppress insurrections
[3] To repel invasions
There was no insurrection. In any case, in language too clear for all but Non-Seq and his brother RJ, the Militia Act of 1795 states "in case of an insurrection in any state, against the government thereof, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, on application of the legislature of such state, or of the Executive, (when the legislature cannot be convened,) to call forth such number of the militia of any other state or states, as may be applied for, as he may judge sufficient to suppress such insurrection."
Section 2 of the Militia Act does not apply to insurrection. It applies to executing the laws of the union via judicial process. For example, when the opinion of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in the Merryman case was obstructed, it was beyond the capability of the marshals to enforce. The President would have been within his legal rights to bring forth the militia of the several states to assist the marshals to enforce compliance by the despot who was obstructing justice. It was only despotic obstruction of justice, not insurrection.
[Nonseq 240] Does the mugger call the police to come and apprehend him?
Not if he is a despot.
Of course not. Those goods are shipped to a distribution center closest to where they will be ultimately sold. But for your analogy to be true then that would mean that the majority of goods destined for sale in, say, South Carolina would first be sent to a warehouse in New York and then sent to Charleston. Now how much sense does that make? Either now or in 1860?
I would love to know what evidence you have that supports this ridiculous statement. Then we'll go over the other nonsense you posted.
"That whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed or the execution thereof obstructed, in any state, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by this act, the same being notified to the President of the United States, by an associate justice or the district judge, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia of such state to suppress such combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. And if the militia of a state, where such combinations may happen, shall refuse, or be insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President, if the legislature of the United States be not in session, to call forth and employ such numbers of the militia of any other state or states most convenient thereto, as may be necessary, and the use of militia, so to be called forth, may be continued, if necessary, until the expiration of thirty days after the commencement of the ensuing session."
Further more, the Constitution states,
"The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
Finally never forget what Thomas Jefferson once said,
"It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war; but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it."
What about armed invasion and takeover of miltary posts and other government installations? Which started clear back in 1860, all over the South. Were those also acts of war? The Union chose not to consider them such, but maybe they just weren't as "sensitive" as southerners.
I'd like a reference on the Union blockade of VA before secession. It's contrary to some things I've read elsewhere.
Thanks for your correction of the date on "invasion" of VA.
If they had been in Charleston harbor on April 11 then they would have been peacefully landing food and supplies. But on April 11 they were still a number of miles off shore and on April 12 they were watching the Davis regime bombarding Sumter.
Well what.
...importers were taking advantage of the 1846 Warehousing Act.
Leaving out some of the statement, Non, tends to re-frame the debate. Here is what was said: " There are many factors that contributed to it but the main reason is simple: importers were taking advantage of the 1846 Warehousing Act."
And those factors were influencing northern shipping from almost the beginning. 1600s square riggers left Liverpool, having to have the wind at the stern or quarter. So they sailed the circular trades in a roundabout direction to the Indies and southern north America.
Inventions in boat riggings, navigation, and seaworthiness eventually made the shorter route directly to the north more efficient.
1700s shipping successes and the profits from the slave trade boosted business. Coastal traders began picking up southern goods for transshipment on bigger, deeper draft ships from NYC to Europe.
Federal laws also were set up to favor northern shipping by making it illegal for foreign ships to engage in coastal trade, and required penalties if southern shippers used foreign ships for international trade.
So, technology, slave profits, and federal laws boosted the success of northern shipping.
"Ah yes, the ever popular Warehousing Act of 1846. For those unitiated in the sothron interpretation why not outline for us why one simple piece of legislation would trump common economic logic: ie, ship the goods directly to those consuming them?"
Yes, Non, your idea of direct shipment is good. Maybe you can get a top job at FED-EX by convincing them that landing your package plane in your front yard is a better 'common economic' idea than landing at an airport first.
I could give you a full and accurate description of the effect of the Act on trade, except it would bore you since you have been given the same thing several times on this and other threads by knowledgable historians and economists who you don't listen to. Ignoring the impact of federal legislation on coastal trade is not an interpretation, but fact.
There was an active packet or coastal trade that began in the 1700s.
Northern trader-packets carrying cargo were in the harbor at the time of Ft. Sumter.
Pick up the book you use to falsly describe the coastal trade, Wise's Lifeline of the Confederacy, and it lists the packet service ships that were in service before the war. Page after page.
But you know this, and like Walt, would rather argue for days than acknowledge the truth.
If you disagree, why don't you tell us what the business of the Star of the West was before Buchanan hired it to carry troops to Charleston.
But don't take my word. Here: http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/StarOfTheWest.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.