For be it borne in mind, the Constitution is an agreement made among the people that the Government formed by it is to be just such a Government as it prescribes; that when it recognizes a right to exist, it must protect the person in the enjoyment of that right, and when it imposes a reciprocal duty upon a portion of the people, the performance of that duty it will have enforced.
When a government fails in any of these essential respects, it is not the Government the people intended it to be, and it is their right to modify or abolish it. So, if the rights of the people of the United States as recognized by the Constitution, are not secured to them by the Government, and the people of any State have no other means to redress their grievances except by separating themselves from their oppressors, it is their undoubted natural right to do so. Now it is unquestionable that one of the rights recognized to belong to the Southern people by the Constitution, and pledged to be respected by the other States, and secured to them by the Government, has nevertheless been violated, wilfully and intentionally by twelve Northern States; and this course towards the South has been virtually approved of by a large majority of the Northern people at the recent election.
What then is the South to do[? The South will not do it. The South ought not to do it. Let the Northern States repeal their Personal Liberty Bills, and pass laws recognizing the rights of the Southern people to their property. Let Southern people be permitted to enjoy their rights unmolested and undisturbed. Let them, if they desire it, carry with them in their tours of business or pleasure their domestic servants. Let the Southern people be treated as friends and neighbors, not as aliens and enemies.
If this be done, no Southern man will think of secession, much less desire it. If this be not done, there is but one course left for the South by which its people can enjoy the rights which they believe to be theirs by nature and by the Constitution of the United States. If the idea of the U. The South tried it, they lost, and ever since disunion has seemed a practical impossibility. To build a truly equal and lasting multiracial democracy, he argues, we must stop papering over the constant threat of disunion that haunts our past.
From the first colonial settlement in Plymouth , separatism has been a feature of our political life. The Puritans, Kreitner reminds us, called themselves Separatists, and founded their colony to escape Anglican control. The 13 colonies that eventually formed the United States shared no common identity or purpose before the revolution. The most earnest attempts to unify have come only amid external threats, real or perceived. Fear, not patriotism, has historically bound the nation together.
When Franklin convened delegates to form a colonial congress—the failed Albany Plan of —its main purpose was to better negotiate with the Iroquois. There were fractures within each region, too. In , colonists on the eastern border of upstate New York created an independent state—the Republic of Vermont—and flirted with joining the British province of Quebec. The key episodes Kreitner retells from through the Civil War will be familiar to many readers.
Few will be surprised to learn that the U. Constitution was a deeply divisive document that left unresolved the core issue —slavery—that led to the Civil War. Break It Up is at its best when it highlights the vocal threats of disunion that emanated not from the proslavery South—a well-known story—but from the anti-slavery North. Calexit: Is it possible for California to secede from U. Show Caption. Hide Caption. California wants a Calexit. Donald Trump has been elected the next President of the United States and it is safe to say the nation feels very much divided right now.
So divided that one state wants to become its own Republic. Share your feedback to help improve our site!
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