Do feel it is legal for a state to leave the union?
2007-05-22 17:35:47 · 7 answers · asked by Southern Gentleman 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
No. there are no provision in U.S. law for a state to opt out of the Union. But legal situationa haven't always been clear cut. Before the Civil War, the legality of secession was an open question, and Southerners would frequently threaten that their states might ditch the fledgling nation. The legal argument, framed eloquently in the 1830 Senate debate between Daniel Webster and Robert Hayne, centered on the Constitution: Was it merely a treaty among the many states? Or was it the founding document of a singular country, a compact of the "people" cited in its opening clause? This legal argument, among other things, eventually begat the Civil War, and since it ended, scholars have agreed that the Constitution grants no right of secession.
Legal experts say that the "treaty" interpretation remains dead today, especially since, in the aftermath of the Civil War, the United States adopted the 14th Amendment, which included a definition of national citizenship, something conspicuously absent from the original. (Previously, citizenship had been defined exclusively by the states.) Today, the Supreme Court frowns on states conducting their own foreign policy and even ardent members of states' rights groups agree that the states have no right to withdraw from the Union.
Conceivably, the United States could amend its Constitution to include a similar process, but constitutional experts have not seriously examined whether it would be legally possible. Alternatively, international law would permit the United States to cede some states to another sovereign nation—say, Canada—through a treaty, but it is unclear if simple ratification by the Senate would pass constitutional muster.
Despite these formidable obstacles, there are nevertheless secessionist movements of various levels of seriousness in the United States: Residents in Alaska, Hawaii, and Texas have tried with some fanfare but little success to make their cases in recent years. Meanwhile, in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, there are groups that seek independence from the United States and Canada and hope to form the Republic of Cascadia
2007-05-22 17:45:28 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Seccession will always be technically illegal (as it would be in any democratic country made up of states or territories with their own parliaments, whose collective income fuels the federal machine). However, ponder for a moment on this: if the majority of citizens in a state or territory decide through march or vote that their state should no longer be a part of a union then the union govt has no alternative but to accept that decision (other than war obviously, and only the most foolish of governments would split a nation in two to satsify a 'union').
The People decide whether it is legal for seccession to take place, not the lawmakers.
2007-05-23 00:46:43 · answer #2 · answered by democracywot? 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No but we should have made an exception for the south.
2007-05-23 00:40:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Last time someone tried, about 650,000 people died.
2007-05-23 00:39:08 · answer #4 · answered by TheOnlyBeldin 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
no it is not, and this was tried before in the civil war.
2007-05-23 00:39:13 · answer #5 · answered by michael p 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
YES and they all should secede, then Kaos will rule! yeah baby!
2007-05-23 00:50:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not when its spelled like that.
2007-05-23 00:46:10 · answer #7 · answered by wedidgetfooledagain 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋