Secession, Properly Understood
“In taking a long view, we can see that secession is part of our political vocabulary that is here to stay.”
“In taking a long view, we can see that secession is part of our political vocabulary that is here to stay.”
(Reckonin’) – In the upcoming commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of American Independence, and in current politics and international relations, secession is an idea that never goes away, but is often misunderstood. The verb “secede” is derived from the Latin “secessio,” meaning any act of withdrawal. Originally introduced in the seventeenth century as a concept of ecclesiastical discourse and political theory, secession assumes the existence of the modern state, as well as the possibility of dismemberment of the state. In our rather limited and unrefined context, it has been understood simply as the withdrawal by the Southern states from the Federal Union following the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency in November of 1860. A fuller understanding of the vitality of the term requires more exploration.
For example, the structure of the political system, the original intentions of some framers of the constitution, and the citizenry’s prevailing understanding of the political order during the Early Republic may have encouraged a diversity of opinions regarding the fundamental nature of the union. Concerns arose in many quarters during the Constitutional Convention and ratification process, especially among the Antifederalists who feared that an overbearing national government would assume the authority of the states. Article Two of the Articles of Confederation had contained explicit provisions for protecting states, initiating a system whereby “each state retains its sovereignty.” Various early state constitutions included provisions outlining the primacy of states in the confederal arrangement, often at the expense of a unified political order. The most popular form of amendment requested during the state ratification conventions and proposed to the First Congress concerned a reserved powers clause. The defenders of the Constitution argued such a provision was unnecessary. James Madison suggested in…
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