“Constitutionally, there can be no such thing as secession of a State from the Union.”
Oddly, the link you provided makes that very same claim, but then abandons it in the next sentence:
“The Constitution of the United States provides that it may be amended, and prescribes how this may be done, but it does not, as it exists now, contemplate its own destruction, nor a dissolution of the Government of which it is the living evidence. Constitutionally, there can be no such thing as secession of a State from the Union.”
The author’s argument fails on its face. He leaps from discussing how the Constitution can be amended to the non-sequitur of a state seceding. A state can secede without amending the Constitution one bit, and without destroying it, and without dissolving the government. If Texas were to secede, the United States as a constitutional republic would still exist, but just with one less state. So, the argument can be made that LEGALLY there is no prohibition to a state seceding.
Now, I would not want to see Texas secede, because I like Texas and because the US needs it; and more than Texas needs the US. Anyway, I like having 50 states.
The Republic of Fatmot.
So, the argument can be made that LEGALLY there is no prohibition to a state seceding.
First off I was responding to someone else who made a post where he said: Legally, constitutionally, there is no procedure for states to leave the union. Legally, there is a process to admit new states, but not a process for states to secede.
When I responded to his statement(s) with:
Constitutionally, there can be no such thing as secession of a State from the Union. But it does not follow that because a State cannot secede constitutionally, it is obliged under all circumstances to remain in the Union.
To do it constitutionally, you would need to amend the constitution as it exists right now, otherwise, you do it and the U.S. will determine if it allows Texas to secede peacefully or not. After all, the southern states did secede, but it came at a price, did it not?
No one stated that Texas could not secede, just that they could not do so constitutionally, as the constitution currently stands..