The sophism itself is that any State of the Union may consistently with the national Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peacefully, withdraw from the Union without the consent of the Union or of any other State.
In his address to Congress, Lincoln precisely articulates the secessionist argument that states can unilaterally and legally leave the Union.
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Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them?
Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no organized organ for us to treat with,--no one man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man.
I am considering, and shall not fail to act when satisfied that action will be proper.
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