This subject often gets heated. I know I’m at least as guilty as anyone else for that. The subject raises passions because it touches a lot of buttons: race, injustice, freedom, the Constitution, history, tradition—I get that. Moreover, I also once believed that secession was legally justified. I thought slavery was evil, of course; that much is obvious. But I had read the Kentucky Resolutions, and that persuaded me that the Constitution is basically a treaty among sovereign states, who retain the right to leave the union if they want. It’s like a club, right? If you’re in a club, and you decide to leave the club, you should be free to go—even if you choose to do that for an immoral reason, right? That, at least, was how that Ted Turner movie put it....
Then I started delving into these issues. I read The Federalist Papers, particularly number 15. I read Lincoln’s July 4, 1861, address to Congress. I read the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. I read Calhoun’s speeches and Douglass’ speeches and the Webster-Hayne debate. I read John Marshall’s decisions. I read Madison, and especially the debate between Madison and Henry at Richmond. And I read the arguments of other scholars—Jaffa, McCoy, Banning, Amar, Farber. These things changed my mind. Turns out it's not a club. And it turns out slavery can't be considered a separate question.
I know first-hand how plausible the secession argument appears to be. I understand where you’re coming from. I know how non-libertarians typically don’t really see the issues you’re talking about, and aren’t really interested in the values you’re concerned with, and often just throw around accusations of racism and so forth. But I for one am convinced that libertarians must think about these issues with greater depth. And I am confident that if you will study them, and question what you’ve been told by some loud, but not particularly scholarly, writers, you’ll come to agree with me. Please at least read what our side has to say. If the secession argument is that strong, then it should be able to withstand that kind of scrutiny, right? I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken.
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