December 18, 2020
A brief history of secession in America
By Troy Smith
The call and clamor for secession has steadily increased within the United States over perhaps the last decade and a half. Prior, for the most part, it was more of an intellectual exercise than anything else. Despite its troubles, America remained the most free, prosperous nation on the planet as we rolled into the 20th century.
Then things began to change. Perpetual war, out-of-control spending, and a lack of governmental transparency and accountability, along with cultural corrosion, began to weaken and divide the nation. The 2020 election with its specter of fraud and corruption has perhaps ignited the conversation, particularly after comments made by former congressman Allen West, with regard to succession to a level it hasn’t been at in over a century (Mastrangelo, 2020). Given this, perhaps it would be wise to study our tense history with secession, whether the concept is valid, and whether it would be wise.
Post-Constitution, the first major threat of full state secession came during the Jefferson administration, when the New England states, led by Thomas Pickering, threatened to dissolve their participation in the Union. Their concerns over the Louisiana Purchase, the economic damage of the Jefferson embargo of 1807, and their personal dislike of Jefferson himself gave them the desire to maintain economic relations with the Union while severing the political. Jefferson, for his part, declared in his Inaugural Address of 1801 (among other places) it folly but viable in that if the federal government exceeded its constitutional powers, he would defend their right to secede (DiLorenzo, pp. 86–87). Jefferson’s management of the tense political disputes proved savvy, as no secession was actually implemented, and by the Monroe administration, relations between New England and the rest of the country had significantly improved.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/12/a_brief_history_of_secession_in_america.html
