legal arguments IN FAVOR of states seceding from the union in 1860.
Attached please find some questions for you to consider as you prepare for your
debate re: the legality of secession. You dont have to use or answer all of these
questions during your debate, but they may give you some ideas re: what you choose to
argue. But remember you have the freedom to make any argument you wish.
Questions Debate re: Secession
1. Did the agreement(s) to form the U.S. constitute an agreement or contract of
some kind that signifies or guarantees a pledge from all of the individual States
that they will stay together in the Union forever?
2. Alternatively, do the agreement(s) made to form the U.S. indicate either
directly or by inference that individual States retained the right to rescind their
membership in the Union?
3. Lincoln said Secession was illegal and used as part of his legal argument the
Supremacy Clause, Article VI, Clause 2: This Constitution, and the laws of
the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be
the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every state shall be bound
thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.
Do you agree or disagree with Lincolns argument? How does the Supremacy
Clause make secession illegal if Secession is not discussed in the Constitution?
4. Can you point to any other clauses in the Constitution that support the view
that secession is illegal?
5. Can you point to any agreement between the States, court decision or law
prior to 1860 that indicated or directly stated that secession was not legal?
6. Alternatively, did any agreement between the States, court decision or law
prior to 1860 indicate or directly state that secession was legally permissible?
7. Does the language of the 9th Amendment support the legality of Secession?
Consider this language: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
8. Also consider the language of the 10th Amendment: The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
9. What evidence can you point to that either bolsters or weakens the argument
as to whether the U.S. was founded by the agreement of the individual States or
alternatively by the collective people of the U.S.?
10. lincoln argued that once the Nation was formed it automatically became
indivisible. Does that argument make sense to you? If so, what argument(s)
persuasively supports his view? If that view is persuasive, what did the
Southern States and before the Civil War several Northern States think and act
otherwise?
11. Did any post-Civil War court decision or laws make secession in the U.S.
illegal? If so, does this bear on the question of the illegality of secession prior
to 1860?
12. Is it reasonable or morally or legally justifiable to permit States to secede
from their Mother Country if they find their continuing membership to be
discriminatory, threatening to their economic welfare and intolerable to their
very existence?
13. Since the citizens of 11 States voted overwhelmingly to secede from the
Union; did the Federal Govt have legal obligation to use force to compel these
States to come back into the Union against their will?
14. Was the decision to use force to compel the South to rejoin the Union more
likely motivated by lofty philosophical thoughts about the protection of
Democracy or was it more likely motivated by the loss to the U.S. of a very
significant economic engine (COTTON, etc.?) or was there some other
reason(s).
15. If secession is now considered to be illegal, why do you think
approximately one quarter of the U.S. population (according to a Reuters poll)
continue to think secession should be permitted in our own time
