“The great final question now is, shall the federal government be arrested in its progress and be brought back to original principles, or shall it be permitted to go on in its present tendencies and rapid strides until it reaches complete Consolidation! There is no difference between consolidation and empire, no difference between centralism and imperialism, the consummation of either must necessarily end in the overthrow of liberty and the establishment of despotism. To speak of any rights as belonging to the states without the innate and unalienated sovereign right to maintain them is to deal in the shadow of language without the substance. The states hold nothing by grant or favor from the federal government -- on the contrary federal government itself possesses no right and is entrusted with no power except by delegation from the sovereignty of the several states. Sovereignty itself as we have seen is from its very nature indivisible! There never was a greater truth more pointedly uttered than that by Mr. Jefferson, ‘that the states of this union are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government [Kentucky Resolution, 1798].’”(Vol. II, p. 668, emphasis added)
Historical note: Before Alexander Stephens became Vice President of the Confederacy, he argued in Georgia’s secession convention in favor of remaining in the Union. In the middle of that war, he abandoned his duties as Vice President in a dispute with Confederate President Jefferson Davis, whom he found to have become too federalist.
3 comments:
I've got a better quote:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/
....We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness....
Declaration of Independence
1776
Carol in dc
http://secession.net
I was saving that for July 4 :)
You mean "Right to Alter or Abolish" Day?? Somebody kick my butt and I'll start organizing it NOW! Common press release and some common slogan/theme would be fun. With maybe 200-300 demos, parties, parade entries. And growing exponentially every year thereafter. Yoo ha!!
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