BJK:
"...after rejecting constitutional methods for seceding." central_va: "No such thing."
- Neither the Constitution nor any Federal law describes methods for lawful secession.
- No Founder expressly approved unilateral secession "at pleasure", meaning without some "oppression" or "injury" making secession "necessary".
- Neither outgoing Democrat President Buchanan nor incoming Republican President Lincoln agreed that states' unilateral secession "at pleasure" was lawful.
- No act of Congress in 1861 approved secession.
- No court ruled that any state had a material legal beef against the Federal government.
- Therefore, no law told either President Buchanan or Lincoln they were relieved from enforcing Federal laws in seceding states.
In short, neither our Founders nor the two presidents of that time would agree that 1860-61 secessionists unilateral actions were constitutional or lawful.