A Word on Secession From One That Should Know!

[Shooterman]

But the indissoluble link of union between the people of the several States of this confederated nation is, after all, not in the RIGHT, but in the HEART. If the day should ever come (may Heaven avert it!) when the affections of the people of these States shall be alienated from each other, when the fraternal spirit shall give way to cold indifference, or collision of interests shall fester into hatred, the bonds of political association -will not long hold together parties no longer attracted by the magnetism of conciliated interests and kindly sympathies; and far better will it be for the people of the disunited States to part in friendship with each other than to be held together by constraint. Then will be the time for reverting to the precedents which occurred at the formation and adoption of the Constitution, to form again a more perfect Union, by dissolving that which could no longer bind, and to leave the separated parts to be reunited by the law of political gravitation to the center.

by:John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) 6th US President

Source: in his discourse before the New York Historical Society, in 1839

(It seems Mr Abe thought he knew more than Old John Quincy Adams, or possibly thought he was God )

[leobold1]

Most people mis-cite that quote to his father, as it sounds like him. Just FYI.

Abe saw that 80 years later, the nation had changed. He felt the reasons for secession were wrong, and that it conflicted with the "All Men are created equal" part of the Declaration of Independence. He also fought for the voting rights of the Free Blacks in the North. The fact that, originally, only white, male, land-owners were allowed to vote was, to him, abhorrent, and against the Declaration of Independence.

In some ways, he had more in common with Jefferson Davis than he did with John Adams.

His refusal to free the slaves in the north was more of a political ploy than the Emancipation Proclamation was. The Proclamation was meant to shape the foreign arguements against them supporting the South. But, to keep more states from going to the Confederacy, he had to keep his own states happy.

Whether or not he was right is now a moot point. Congress ruled in White v. Texas that Texas never seceeded, which has now been said to mean that, while this country was founded by revolution, it can't be split by the same.

The problem is that (I believe) there is a Revolution coming. But, it won't be North vs South, East vs West, or anything along geographic lines.

Its going to be citizens of Lubbock vs the Government of Texas, and the citizens of Portland vs the Government of Maine, and the citizens of the US against the Federal Government.

People are getting fed up with politicians in general (one of the reasons why I think Obama has such a following, because he makes people hope for a better Washington, D.C. that hasn't been felt since JFK). It doesn't matter if its the US Congress, a State Congress, a City Legislature, County Board, or even Neighborhood Committees. Its also a President, Governor, Mayor.

Secession is not the right way to go about it. If a true change is to come about, it will have to be a full Revolution. Secession means that just that area is (supposedly) against the government. Revolution is from the people, and not just people from one area, but all of them.

[Shooterman]

Abe did his thing only 22 years after John Quincy made this statement. Altruism had little to nothing to do with his actions, either.