Existing comment:
The Unresolved Question of Slavery:
The Founding Fathers were vague on the question of sovereignty -- where the ultimate power of the government resided. The preamble of the Constitution began with: "We the People of the United States..." But, what exactly did this phrase mean? Did sovereignty lie with the people or with the states? Could the government be dissolved?
These questions were debated without resolution before the Civil War. South Carolina, and the other Southern states that followed, answered these questions by withdrawing from the Union in 1860-61. When Abraham Lincoln took office as President in March 1861, he declared that secession was illegal.
In April 1861, the fledgling Confederate army launched an attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Then on July 21, 1861, the first major land battle took place at Manassas, Virginia.
Nearly four years later, these questions were finally answered, but at a great price. Sovereignty resided in the "People of the United States," not in the individual states. And, the Union could not be dissolved. |