[r9etb]

Your questioning of Dr. William's assertion is off-base. He is correct. It was losing the Civil War, not any legal argument, that established that the position of the Confederacy was wrong.

I'm just reading the Constitution. Please explain to us how the act of secession -- and the actions of the seceeding states -- do not qualify as insurrection?

[joebuck]

"I'm just reading the Constitution. Please explain to us how the act of secession -- and the actions of the seceeding states -- do not qualify as insurrection?"

Why does secession if done peacefully, consitute insurrection? The Constitution does not prohibit the states from withdrawing and thus that power is specifically left to the states. If the States peacefully decide to succeed, then the US Govt had no right to use force to prevent it in the first place.