What is secession? The definition is the act of withdrawal. This can mean a country such as Germany withdrawing from the European Union, or a state or states withdrawing from the United States. This can also be broken down into a withdrawal of counties from a state or even a town from a county. This can even be broken down into an individual act of secession, an individual withdrawing from the government. Within this essay I intended to show that not only is secession legal but also that it is a natural law that is imbued to all people. I will also touch on secession within the United States as well as in the rest of the world. I will also show that the Constitution allows for the secession of the states as well.
One of the first
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The Constitution which was set before the people of the States in the year of 1787. This required nine States to ratify it for it to go into effect. With New Hampshire being the ninth state to ratify the constitution on June 21st 1788, the nine States to ratify the Constitution seceded from a perpetual union that they had created more than 10 years before. This left the remaining four States to either join them under the new Constitution, create a new union, or stay under the Articles of Confederation. As we all know the remaining four States ratified the Constitution shortly there after. Virginia, New York, and Rhode Island declared in their ordinances of ratification that, being sovereign states, they individually reserved the right to secede, and they asserted this right for the other states. This did not have to be asserted, since everyone knew that secession was an action available to an American state. The States Seceded from the Articles of Confederation to form a more “perfect union.” This was pure and simply a secession from a perpetual union that came without violence. This secession was done without a legal means from which to withdrawal from the Articles of Confederation. Without a legal means aside from unanimous consent to withdrawal or alter the Articles, the founders showed that secession was a tool to be used to disband the bonds of
Each state had to hold a convention after the delegates wrote the Constitution, so the states could decide if they wanted to approve the Constitution. After nine states ratify the Constitution it would go into effect. Some of the states decided to disagree with the Constitution, and therefore it would not be ratified. There was a group of Federalists, and they were the people who thought the Constitution should be ratified. The Federalists favored the National government or a Strong Federal Government. Also, the Federalists felt that there must be a stronger central government for the Union to last. They wanted the central government to have powers, such as the power to enforce laws, which the articles did not have. Also, there was a group of anti-federalists that had opposite thoughts of what the Federalists wanted. The Anti-Federalists felt that the Constitution made the government too strong. One of the main arguments that the anti-federalists used to argue with was, they felt that the central government would take away state power and individual freedom by weakening the states. Another one of the points they argued with was, there was no Bill of Rights, and many other states had one, and in that case there was no protection of basic freedoms. The Federalists and Antifederalists argued against each other whether
The Articles of Confederation, Adopted by Congress on November 15, 1777, for all practical purposes was the United States’ first Constitution. Created to establish a bond between the newly formed states, “...the Articles purposely established a "constitution" that vested the largest share of power to the individual states” (Early America). This ensured that the government did not have the majority of power. “...the Articles denied Congress the power to collect taxes, regulate interstate commerce and enforce laws...allowing the states retained their "sovereignty, freedom and independence” (Early
In 1787, the Constitution was written and submitted for ratification by the 13 states, but not everyone agreed with it. There were two groups of though. One was the Anti-federalists, who opposed the Constitution and the other group were the Federalists, who supported it. The Anti-federalists were people who supported the Articles of Confederation because they were doing well under them. They were mostly poor people from rural areas and were supported by the big states. They believed that the Constitution did not secure their rights and gave the central government too much power. The Federalists were mostly the wealthy people who lived in or near city areas and were supported by the smaller states. They believed that the separation of
The Articles of Confederation, ratified March 1, 1781, were the first attempt at organized government in America. The individual states were given too much power, while the power of the central government was very minimal, leading to the near demise of the young country. An anonymous writer in the Norwich Packet proclaimed in 1786, “Each State at present possesses powers so totally independent of the others, that no
Created on November 15, 1777 and ratified by the first 13 colonies on March 1, 1781, the articles of confederation is known for being the first constitution of the united states. “The constitution provides a division of powers, meaning it assigns certain powers to the national government and reserves others for the states.” (crouse, slide 4) The constitution is needed because if we didn't have it the government would be weak and would most likely have no power. Framers of the constitution chose a system of government on a territorial basis, between a central government and several states. “ the framers were worried about the government being too powerful because; government power inevitably poses a threat to individual liberty. Therefore the
After the Founding Fathers of America wrote our Constitution there was one more step they had to each achieve in order for it to go into effect: ratifying it. In order to ratify the Constitution nine out of the thirteen states had to agree to adopt it. The process of ratifying the Constitution turned into a debate between two groups: the Federalists and the Anti Federalist.
Following the United States’ independence from Great Britain, delegates from each collective state set out to establish a body to govern the newly formed nation. From this came the Articles of Confederation, which was officially ratified in 1781. The Articles of Confederation proved to be a landmark in government for those days because it was a model of what a loose confederation could be. However, this soon failed because the official
In 1782 Americans won their independence from Britain in the American Revolution. After the colonies won their independence, Americans created the Constitution. Its purpose was to replace the Articles of Confederation and solve its problems and more importantly to bring the states together under a single document creating a stronger union of all the states. There was one problem though: there were a few fundamental issues that the framers could not agree on. In the early nineteenth century the United States began to split, but as the mid-century came around, people became more polarized in their views and the union started to separate drastically. During the period of 1850, until 1861 when the Confederate States of America was formed, the
When the United States declared itself a sovereign nation, the Articles of Confederation were drafted to serve as the nations first Constitution.Under these Articles, the states held most of the power; but due to an almost absent centralized government, colonists were ill-equipped to deal with such practices as regulating trade both between states and internationally, levying taxes, solving inter-state disputes, negotiating with foreign nations, and most importantly enforcing laws under the current notion of "Congress". Realizing that there were several deficiencies in the current system of self-government, the states appointed delegates to ratify the situation and come up with a way to attain the aforementioned practices they needed to
In the year 1787, early America, officials and delegates came together to form a constitution that would restore the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was the attempt at creating a government for the newly independent America. But, it soon became clear that the document was not strong enough to govern America. Therefore, delegates who came to be known as Federalists and Anti-Federalists issued major arguments on the ratification of the U.S Constitution. Federalists were individuals who wished to unify the 13 states in negotiation, and
Several states did not accept the Constitution, but in July 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth, and last necessary, vote to ratify the document. Other states followed, but the die had been cast. The U.S. framework of government had been born, with its famous preamble; the Constitution established a new form of government, one that became the greatest nation in the world.
For the Constitution to become the nationally followed series of rule, nine of thirteen states would have had to approve it. To gain this approval, the people of America had to be convinced that a stronger government was needed to create a successful country; while being assured that this government would not take away their liberties and would not give power to only those who were more privileged than others. Small states, who approved the unity, were the first to ratify the Constitution unlike large states who found the individual governments adequate.
The Articles of Confederation was the United State’s first constitution, it was written in an effort to unite the states after the American Revolution and served as a blueprint for the modern constitution. In order for the Articles to become official, they had to be approved by all thirteen colonies. Although Congress sent the Articles of Confederation to the states around the end of 1777 to become ratified, they were not officially adopted until March 1, 1781. Under these Articles, the states remained sovereign and independent, with Congress serving as the last resort on appeal of disputes. The American people feared a strong national government and as a result of this, the Articles of Confederation were specifically designed to be weak in the sense that each state maintains its own sovereignty and all rights to govern themselves, with the except of the rights exclusively granted to Congress. Since the Articles lacked many necessary components to keep a nation properly structured, they were eventually revised into the constitution we recognize today. Although, the Articles of Confederation seemed as though it only contained weaknesses, within the document, many strengths and accomplishments were made. Overall, the Articles of Confederation were proven to be both efficient and non-efficient during the time period they were in effect.
After the Revolution, the States adopted their own constitutions, many of which contained a Bill of Rights. The Americans still faced the challenge of creating a central government for their new nation. In 1777 the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781. Under the Articles, the states retained their “sovereignty, freedom and independence,” while the national government was kept weak and inferior. Over the next few years it became evident that the system of government that had been chosen was not strong enough to completely settle and defend the frontier, regulating trade, currency and commerce, and organizing thirteen states into one union.
After the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, it was voted that Constitution would become the new foundation of the national government, not the Articles of Confederation. At the time, there were thirteen individual states that had to vote to ratify or reject the Constitution. Within these thirteens states, there were two groups that consisted of the Federalists and the Antifederalists. The Federalists supported the Constitution; however, the Antifederalists opposed the Constitution.