Is Secession Legal? The term Secession has been thrown around casually during the past few years by a lot of people. When people hear the term in regards to history, they think of the American Civil War. Some revisionists think that the CSA was barely beaten, and is just waiting to Rise Again....The truth of the matter is, that the Confederacy was reduced to rubble, and placed under martial law, being divided into five military districts. After the end of the American Civil War, as part of the on-going process of Reconstruction, the United States Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts. (March 2, 1867, 14 Stat. 428-430, c.153; March 23, 1867, 15 Stat. 2-5, c.6; July 19, 1867, 15 Stat. 14-16, c.30; and March 11, 1868, 15 Stat. 41, c.25) The actual title of the initial legislation was An act to provide for the more efficient government of the Rebel States and it was passed on March 2, 1867. Fulfillment of the requirements of the Acts was necessary for the former Confederate States to be re-admitted to the Union. The Acts excluded Tennessee, which had already ratified the 14th Amendment and had been readmitted to the Union. Make no mistake. These States had to swear fealty and loyalty to the United States in order to regain admittance to the Union. teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/first-reconstruction-act/ In the context of today, many people have started petitions calling for secession, meanwhile, no individual state legislature has done so. The states that had to at least regain admittance have absolutely no case. They have sworn loyalty to the Union BECAUSE of their previous secession. As for the other states, it is my belief that the secession question was answered on Palm Sunday (April 9), 1865, when Lees surrender at Appomattox Court House, Virginia signaled the end of the Southern States attempt to create a separate nation.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:03:36 +0000