Is secession legal?

Texas and California have been powerful member states of the Secession Movement, more so since the election of President Trump. The power of Secession is minuscule and carries very little intimidation factor, why is that?

Is secession legal?

The answer is “NO.” Before the American Civil War (1861-1865) the idea of secession in a time when the governed deemed it necessary to abolish the government for any number of reasons was morally and legally correct. However, there was never much attempt to delve deep into the subject. If one were to look at the Preamble to the US Constitution it states,

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

Look closely at this wording “… whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…” This is the introduction to the Law of the Land. It is our natural introductory right to change something we view as destructive. If this is our “introductory right to change something destructive,” a right to revolution, why is it difficult to change? Thomas Paine, an English writer, explains why in a paragraph from “Common Sense,”

“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; … mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing … a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

In addition to that John Adams stated, “Only repeated, multiplied oppressions placing it beyond all doubt that their rulers had formed settled plans to deprive them of their liberties, could warrant the concerted resistance of the people against their government.” In simple terms, only in the event when oppression is repeated and expanded to completely reduce the liberties of the people will the people act towards the actions of revolution.

Furthermore, the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution dictates, “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.” After examining the constitution there is no federal law that explains the explicit right of the States to secede from the Union, and under the Tenth Amendment, should mean the States themselves hold that right. That is not the case.

After the Confederate States of America were defeated and disbanded after the American Civil War the Supreme Court case of Texas v. White of 1869 answered the question “Is secession legal?” The Supreme Court ruled under Article IV Section 3 Clause 1 of the US Constitution (even though it is not explicitly stated),

“When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.”

Secession will be met with laughter by those that govern, Revolution will cause fear in those that govern. It is our moral, constitutional, and natural right to secede when a government becomes tyrannical and oppressive. We must remain vigilant of government action and retain our rights doing so. Arm yourselves with caliber that can match that of the Government, train yourself to be self-sufficient, learn of the laws that govern you. Once you have these things then revolution will be one step closer and ideas of secession, gone.