The Constitution is supreme to anything in any state constitution, as it clearly states.
That would include ordinances or declarations of secession.
The neo-rebs don't give the founders much credit.
What could the founders possibly have been thinking when they placed on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782 the words: "E PLURIBUS UNUM"?
Did they abandon the Articles of Confederation in favor of the Constitution and just forget that they were no longer "one"?
Walt
The Federal Constitution contains a finite list of authority delegated to it by the states.
" That would include ordinances or declarations of secession."
No it does not, as per Dec. of Indep. and articles of various state Bill of Rights. The only mention of a similar matter in the US Constitution regards insurrection which is a case of extralegal action.
Whatever claims are made by various authorities in different levels of govm't regarding the right to secession, or what constitutes, or justifies rebellion, must at the same time consider the fact that they justify their very right to power by claiming the consent of the governed. That is the key point in this disscussion. The sovereignty extends from the people up, it's not delegated from above.
The WI Constitution contains a relevant note: Sec.22 of Art. I. The blessings of a Free govm't can only be maintained by a firm adhearence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to fundamental principles. Also, consider your quotes of GW in 146. They are an appeal in same tone and caution as the above quote. As one who would know best, GW didn't point to some legal clause, or SC decision, he appealed to to the very sovereigns that ultimately give their consent, because they are the foundation and true legal authority that determines the state of the Union.
When GW said, "discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned", he was not refering to secession, but alienation. The same alienation from their natural rights and Freedom that brought them to create this nation in the first place. Notice that phrase, the phrase you highlighted, was followed by the key to understanding what was expressed, "and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts."
E PLURIBUS UNUM-from many, one. It's not rebellion from a condition of Freedom and individual rights that has a possibility of weakening the union. It's always a rebellion against the existence of individual rights, Freedom and the capacity of men to govern themselves that is what GW cautioned against and the reality of this rebellion is what the founders used to justify theirs. Secession from the jaws of tyranny is justified. The same from the gentle embrace from the Union of Freedom is not. What could the founders possibly have been thinking when they placed on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782 the words: "E PLURIBUS UNUM"? Did they abandon the Articles of Confederation in favor of the Constitution and just forget that they were no longer "one"?