[Snuffington]

The only dubious part in all this is your claim that secession is or was legal.

The Southern States insisted they could secede legally. The Northern States said they could not. They fought a war about it, if I recall.

It's a little silly for someone to reason from a premise that is not agreed upon by the opposing side. That's called "begging the question." It's a common logical fallacy.

[Non-Sequitur]

I agree that both sides were acting in the belief that their side was correct. And I don't say that the issue was settled by the war. The question was settled in 1869 when the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Texas v. White which said that unilateral secession as praciced by the southern states was illegal. And until the Constitution is amended or the decision is overturned it will remain illegal. And people like TexConfederate1861 who claim otherwise are simply wrong.

[WhiskeyPapa]

The Southern States insisted they could secede legally.

There is nothing in the founding of the country or the writing of the Constitution that supports an interpretation of legal unilateral state secession.

The secesionists knew that, and largely based their arguments on natural law such as sprang from the Declaration of Independence. Since the conditions of the D of I didn't apply either, one argument is as bankrupt as the other.

Walt