Tiny slice of the devastation in Greene County, TN

I don't know if you can make it out, but all of the little white things through those broken trees in the distance are people's clothes and debris from houses.  

This is the metal roof of a house or out-building:

Houses are gone, or mostly gone.

I understand 8 people were killed, including some kids.

The bottom line will create the tipping point

Taken verbatim from Economicpolicyjournal.com:

 ------------------------------

The 9 Places Where Inflation is Crushing Us

Jeff Reeves writes:

The Federal Reserve would have you believe that everything is fine, focusing on core inflation rates and ignoring broader measures of inflation as they affect food and energy. These commodity-driven prices, as our central banking overlords would have you believe, are naturally more volatile and shouldn’t be overstated.

You would think after Fed bureaucrat William Dudley was castigated for talking up the affordability of iPads while ignoring real family expenses, our Federal Reserve officials would have woken up to reality...

Here are nine crushing costs of inflation that are breaking many American households:

1. Beef
In a revised forecast Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said consumers will see higher price tags on ground beef and steak, projecting 6% to 7% increases year over year. That’s up from a previous forecast of just 4.5% to 5.5% inflation for beef prices. Beef prices have surged in the last several months as supplies shrink, exports boom and grain costs soar.

2. Pork
Don’t think you can just switch from cow to pig to avoid this trend — pork could see retail price increases of as much as 7.5% over 2010 levels according to the USDA.

3. Grains
Even going vegetarian is more expensive than it was a year ago. Corn prices have doubled, from $3.49 a bushel in July to well over $7.70 currently. Wheat prices have rolled back a bit in recent weeks, but topped 2008 highs in February to set a new record and remain very high currently.

4. Gasoline
The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped about 12 cents over the last two weeks to $3.88, with the highest average price for gas tallying $4.27 in Tucson, Ariz. This is with oil at $112 a barrel — if crude prices reach 2008 peak levels of $145, four bucks for gas may seem cheap.

5. Copper
The price of copper at the end of 2008 was just $1.30 per pound. Currently, copper is trading around $4.30 after setting a record of $4.60 in February. Unlike gold and silver, which are largely used in luxury goods or as investments, copper is used in a wide range of household items — from electrical wiring to air conditioners to water pipes. Read about how gold could hit $5,000 soon on InvestorPlace.com.

6. Diapers
Consumer-products company Procter & Gamble /quotes/comstock/13*!pg/quotes/nls/pg PG -1.60% said this week that list prices for Pampers are up 7% on average over last year, with even Pampers wipes up 3%. To be clear, that’s not a retail price hike, just a cost increase to stores. Retailers will decide how much of those price increases to pass along to shoppers. Kimberly-Clark /quotes/comstock/13*!kmb/quotes/nls/kmb KMB -0.31% , maker of Huggies, said Monday it plans to raise prices for similar reasons — rising costs for the petroleum products and paper pulp that go into the diapers. It will be the third such announcement for Kimberly-Clark since the middle of March.

7. Paper towels and toilet paper
If you don’t have infants, you’re not off the hook. P&G also said that Charmin toilet paper and Bounty paper towels are both listing for 5% more now with retailers and distributors than they were a year ago. KMB’s diaper price update will also be accompanied by a boost for its flagship Kleenex tissues.

8. Shipping surcharges
Freight shipper United Parcel Service /quotes/comstock/13*!ups/quotes/nls/ups UPS +0.15% will be hiking its fuel surcharges from 7.5% to 8.5% as of May 2 for ground freight and from 13% to 15% for air freight. That really hurts small businesses. If you are a storekeeper simply trying to keep your shelves stocked, you have no choice but to pay more and endure smaller margins — or hike prices yourself and add to this inflationary mess.

9. Wages
Perhaps the most insidious factor of our current inflationary spiral is the fact that while all these other items are costing more, household purchasing power is shrinking because wages and salaries aren’t keeping up. While the consumer price index rose 2.7% in March to clock the fastest 12-month pace since December 2009, a staggering 18.3% of personal income is now made up of food stamps while wages account for just 50.5%. That’s the lowest since the government started keeping records in 1929

----------------------------

"I do not think it is an exaggeration to say history is largely a history of inflation, usually inflations engineered by governments for the gain of governments."

-- Friederich August von Hayek

"Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom."

-- Friederich August von Hayek

 

 
To statist Democrats or statist Republicans and all the rest of us mundanes who still vote for statist Democrats and statist Republicans out there:

How's that central economic planning thing workin' out for ya? 

Operation Gunwalker finally hits Judge Napolitano

I sent him all I had on the story a couple of months ago, around the time that CBS was breaking it's first story.  I told him in the email about Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea, and suggest that he interview the bloggers that broke the story.  I also sent the story to Lew Rockwell, and encouraged him to contact the Judge.

Instead Judge Napolitano has Sheriff Mack on to discuss the story, too little, too late, wrong source to interview.  

I love ya, Judge Nap, but give credit where it is due:  CleanupATF.org, the ATF agents who became whistleblowers, and Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars and David Codrea of the National Gun Rights Examiner!!  Disappointed, Judge!!  Ya had your chance!

Even the lairds of Fairfax at the NRA had a big print story in the American Rifleman magazine before you put it on the show...

Depressed. Tornados suck.

So I get back from a great Easter break with the kids, and starting to get back into some normal routine since my March 10th accident, and guess what happens?

My dad is all excited about our new house in Greene County TN.  He's renovating, getting the yard in order, and making progress.  Yesterday afternoon he texted me about the first day using a new ride on mower, and how the property now looks like a park.  "You're gonna love it!" he tells me.

Then I get a call at midnight last night, and right away I knew something was wrong.  He was really stressed and tells me about the tornado.

A big tree fell across the truck, onto the house and garage, and a branch came through the ceiling into the living room, as he was backed up against the wall.  The noise was awful, and he felt the pressure suck the air right out of the house.  There was no power, of course.

With difficulty, our relatives from Telford made their way south to pick up my dad in the middle of the night.

Today we found out 7 people were killed just up the road.  Lots of injured and damage.  

Lots of trees that made our property so beautiful to us were knocked down by the tornado.  Several trusses of the roof are broken by the fall of the big tree.

As some of you may know, my father's family is North Carolinian since the 1730's.  I was raised in western New York.  When he put my name next to his on the deed to that little house on the creek just a couple of weeks ago, it was the first time that I ever owned a piece of land in the South.  And where my heart is is no mystery to anyone who reads my blog.

Really sad, but what happened to us is really nothing compared to some folks just up the road.

The insurance should pay for the repairs, eventually.  The trees will grow back in time.  I thank G-d he wasn't hurt physically. 

I hope my dad will try to see the glass half full:  the trees were beautiful and enhanced the privacy of the place, but at least we have a clear view of the Smokies, for a while.

Another example of Yankee insanity

How are the mighty fallen,

and the weapons of war perished!--2 Samuel 1:27

How very very far have the residents of Concord fallen in intelligence since April of 1775!


Get a load of this:


CONCORD, Mass. -- The town of Concord has banned the sale of bottled drinking water in town beginning in 2011.

"We only have one planet and I just don't want to see it spoiled," said Jean Hill, who introduced the measure at Concord's Town Meeting.


Supporters say the production of plastic water bottles uses 17 million barrels of oil each year. The beverage industry opposes the measure.


Via Sipsey Street Irregulars.  Read the rest here.

The South has become a "red-hot brand"

I found this article in Businessweek to be otherwise condescending toward Southerners, but I share it with you as an "FYI".  

Several phrases belie the author's underlying loathing of the Southern.

To me, these are the latest schemes to exploit the South.  Southern culture is put on a pedestal but Southerners are mocked as stupid and backward. 

I know this is a stretch, but the author's condescending tone vaguely reminded of the planned Nazi museum of "exotic extinct races" they intended to build in the Josefov section of Prague (after they won the war and succeeded in the Holocaust) -- i.e. something akin to: "We can now celebrate and view with curious interest the culture we have finally wiped out."

"While Brooklyn hipsters have long dressed like sharecroppers, lower- and middle-brow Southern culture is now rising across the globe. Music duo the Bellamy Brothers, marginally famous for their country hit Let Your Love Flow, are currently playing to sold-out crowds in South Africa and Sri Lanka, where, according to their booking agent Judy Seale, they're "treated like Elvis." In the U.K., sales of Kentucky bourbon have risen by 25 percent since 2005, according to London-based market research firm International Wine and Spirits Research. (IWSR also predicts sales will increase an additional 22 percent by 2014.) The independent movie Winter's Bone, which chronicles a teenage girl's travails chopping wood and killing squirrels, is on pace to eclipse its U.S. domestic gross with overseas revenue. Chris Benz isn't the only fashion guru going full Southern. According to agrarian-chic designer Billy Reid, the global customer is now attracted to products that have "Southern roots."

The rise of the Southern brand, though, seems linked to the fall of many other things. "Consumers have been increasingly interested in the South as a result of several trends," explains Savannah Haspel of market research firm IBIS World. (Yes, that's her real name.) Among them, she says, is that "post-Katrina funding and aid turned consumers' attention toward the region." 

Harvey Jackson, a professor of history at Alabama's Jacksonville State University and an editor of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, believes that in uncertain times, "the South is a calmer, quieter place, and a lot of folks are craving that right now." 

Kim Holloway, creator of the popular blog Stuff Southern People Like, agrees. "If you're out of work, depressed, and stressed out, caviar and sushi aren't exactly going to stanch the flow of tears," she says. "But fried chicken might!" The export of Southern culture, Holloway emphasizes, is directly linked to its affordability and accessibility. Whether a region is grappling with austerity measures or decreased disposable income, less-pricey Southern diversions redevelop the sheen they've had, says Holloway, "since the Civil War ended and Confederate money was suddenly as useless as tits on a bull."

"...Throughout Lebanon, the Roadster chain of diners has introduced cheese fries and burgers doused in barbecue sauce to people bored by a healthier Mediterranean diet. By the end of last year, 3,200 KFC restaurants were operating across China. Says Yum! Brands public-relations manager Virginia Ferguson: "We expect the Yum! China Division to become our first $1 billion profit business in the near future." According to Deen's son, Bobby, himself the star of numerous Deen spin-offs, "You realize [now] how pervasive the South has become."

Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy inside now that these Yankees can feel good again about the South after 150 years of ethnic cleansing?


If you can stomach it, read the rest of the article.

The evil of the Federal Reserve: currency debasement

From Mises.org -- The Moral Issues of Money:

The author recounts a sermon by his pastor:

His sermon came from the book of James, chapter 5, verses 1 to 6:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you.

Now, if you're a "rich person," this passage seems quite grim. But it's not that simple of a read. With a little analysis and clear thinking, it is evident — and my pastor pointed this out — that James isn't speaking to "the rich" per se, but to the capitalists — that is, to business owners, wealthy industrialists, and those who employ the masses. James says to them, Do not exploit.

James warns against four types of exploitation: (1) money debasement, (2) defrauding employees, (3) gluttony, and (4) legal/civil aggression.

In regard to this verse, three things must explained: (1) Gold and silver were the money of that age. (2) Gold and silver have a variety of unique attributes which make them ideal for being money, and one of those attributes is that, so long as they are 99.9 percent pure, they never truly corrode. Last, (3) Gold and silver must be forged by fire; and when they melt, all impurities are exposed and divorced from the pure gold and silver.

Comparing James's statement to these facts, it is clear what James is addressing in verse 3: He is talking about money, and he is speaking out against the debasement of it.

The quote from James struck home;  it can just as easily be applied to today's ruling oligarchy of politicians, banks, and assorted connected Statists.

Read the rest here. You know where it goes from here:  The Federal Reserve prints money from thin air and debases the dollar.  This, of course, is legal plunder, and is immoral and evil. 

Here is a companion quote from the NY Sun, a (usually neocon) conservative newspaper in the NY socialist peoples republic:

Mr. Obama has never given us a major speech in which he talks about how he views money or what he thinks of what has become of the dollar during his presidency. The value of the greenback has, for the record, fallen more than 43% from the 853^rd of an ounce of gold that it was worth at the end of the day on which Mr. Obama acceded to the presidency. That is less of a decline than the 68% slide in the value of the dollar under President George W. Bush. But Mr. Bush was in office eight years. The steepness of the plunge under Mr. Obama is breathtaking.(emphasis added)

Rand Paul paints the Senate Democrats into a corner

From The Humble Libertarian blog:

So far I've been extremely impressed with Senator Rand Paul, not only for his stalwart commitment to liberty and sanity in public policy, but for his hilarious trolling of Senate legislators in order to advance these principles and demonstrate that most legislators only pay lip service to them, like when Rand attached an amendment to a bill calling on Senators to adopt Barack Obama's own words as a presidential candidate to describe the "sense of the Senate" on his recent intervention into Libya:

"The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

Paul's office said:

"...the measure aims to put the Senate on record affirming Congress as the body with constitutional authority on matters of war."

This left Senate Democrats with the impolitic choice of opposing the President's illegal war in Libya, or standing with the President while angering antiwar Democrats and essentially implying that the President does have the power to unilaterally authorize military action-- something that sounds more like a Bush-era neocon doctrine than something honest "liberals" (in the modern sense of that word) would support.


Read the rest of the article, which recounts a similar episode from 1971 Texas, when a legislator got the whole legislature to unanimously pass a bill lauding the Boston Strangler...

More tyrannical use of Executive Order

Every circumvention of checks and balances is another example of the wielding of tyrannical power, even if it seems like a good idea at the time.  A power assumed by the Executive that is not enumerated in the constitution is a power lost by the people, and by the States. It is a precedent set, and not the last time such power will be used.  

The Executive Order:  Precedents set, traditions and liberties destroyed at the stroke of a pen.

Pres. Obama wanted a campaign finance bill that would take the teeth out of the Citizens United ruling before the 2010 election. Congressional Democrats wrote such a bill, and then watched it slip into a coma. But that wasn’t the end of it. According to a leaked White House memo, Obama plans to create new campaign finance rules via fiat by signing an executive order.

As the Washington Examiner reported yesterday, the EO “would require all companies that sign contracts with the federal government to report on the personal political activities of their officers and directors.”

And by “political activities,” Obama means: “all contributions or expenditures to or on behalf of federal candidates, parties or party committees made by the bidding entity, its directors or officers, or any affiliates within its control; and any contributions made to third party entities with the intention or reasonable expectation that parties would use those contributions to make independent expenditures or electioneering communications.”

All of that information must be disclosed, according to the leaked executive order, so that the government can “ensure that its contracting decisions are merit-based in order to deliver the best value for the taxpayer.” While that may sound like the order is intended to expose sweetheart deals, it’ll also make it that much easier for federal agencies to deny contracts to firms that donated big bucks to Republican candidates.

The pro-DISCLOSE Act Sunlight Foundation, which posted a leaked copy of the order, suggests that “if the White House is going to pursue remedies through an Executive Order, though, the public should be included…[and] some public scrutiny and discussion of any CU EO should precede its issuance.”

Article printed in full from The Daily Caller

Lincolns war against the South has led to the enslavement of every American

"...To bind future generations to a contract to which they themselves did not agree or sign is itself a form of enslavement, just as the politicians in Washington currently continue to enslave future generations with debt.

What Lincoln’s war to compel people into association involuntarily did was literally to reverse the American Revolution. In the Revolution, people fought to free themselves from the tyranny and enslavements of King George III and his British dictatorial regime. The Revolutionaries fought for their independence.

In contrast, Lincoln’s war effected in compelling the people of the Southern States back into centralized control over them by federal bureaucrats, and further empowered the centralized authority in Washington. Lincoln’s war had nothing to do with "freeing slaves."

The flag of the last free Americans

Read the rest of the article from LewRockwell.com

Fewer posts this week

I am away with the wife and kids for Easter week.  I will try to post here and there, but not as regularly as usual.


Here is a Smokey Mountain cottontail for Easter:

Have a blessed week, y'all. :-)

Austrian economic principles lauded in Canada's Financial Post

The Financial Post is Canada's equivalent to the Wall Street Journal, so this editorial has weight in the non-Wingnut community (emphasis added):

"...Free markets are based on risk and will always be prone to particular failure. Only government attempts to prevent or compensate for particular failure can threaten the systemic variety.

Post-crisis stimulus stimulated little but insupportable government debt — and now inflation. It was joined by a downward manipulation of interest rates that has promoted what Austrian economists called “mal-investment,” plus asset inflation.

The astonishing aspect of all this — as pointed out numerous times in this space — is that spend-yourself-rich Keynesianism had already been comprehensively refuted in theory and had spectacularly failed in practice by the late 1970s.

The good news is that fettered capitalism has made the world a good deal richer since then, and thus arguably more able to withstand policy incompetence. The bad news that the tax-and-spend interventionist state has grown in parasitical lockstep, if not even faster, thus both hobbling progress and mortgaging people’s future via increasingly unsustainable health and welfare commitments. Few would dare to question the validity of a welfare state; but few could deny that it consistently threatens to grow out of control.

The Obama administration’s solution is more of the same..."

Please read the whole article here.

Via LewRockwell.com

University of Texas buys nearly $1 billion in gold, takes delivery for storage

In other words, not just a paper contract or ETF.  They want to posess the physical metal to prevent loss based on failure to deliver on a paper contract.  Apparently they fear a looming shortage of the physical metal when more investors try to convert from devaluing US paper dollars.

UofT is second to Harvard in endowment;  they are converting 5% of their net assets to gold.

Their money advisor sounds like he follows Austrian school principles:

Printing Money

“If you own a paper contract where they can only deliver you 10 cents on the dollar or less, you should probably convert it to physical,” said Bass, who isn’t related to Fort Worth’s billionaire Bass family. He said holding cash wasn’t a better choice because the rate of inflation exceeds money-market rates by 2.5 percent to 3 percent, eroding the value of cash.

“Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what’s the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services,” Bass said April 15 in a telephone interview. “I look at gold as just another currency that they can’t print any more of.”

(Emphasis added)

Bloomberg article here, via Drudge

Stewart Rhodes, Oathkeepers founder, joins Nullify Now! tour

Addressing the Tenth Amendment Center:

OPERATION SLEEPING GIANT
by Stewart Rhodes, Oath Keepers
Tenthers, it is an honor to be part of the Tenth Amendment Center’s Nullify Now! Tour. The mission of Oath Keepers (www.oathkeepers.org) fits hand in glove with your mission. We urge active duty military and police to remember that their oath is to the Constitution, not to whoever happens to be “the decider” in the White House (of whatever party). And that oath to defend the Constitution requires that they defend the separation of powers between the federal government and the states, and defend the powers reserved to the states and to the people, as the Tenth Amendment makes clear. It is no accident that within our Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey (http://oathkeepers.org/oath/2009/03/03/declaration-of-orders-we-will-not-obey/) we vow to refuse orders to enter into a state with force, for any reason, unless, and until, invited in by that state’s legislature, or by the governor if the legislature cannot be convened, as required by Article IV, Section IV of the Constitution (known as the “Republican Government” clause). Nor will we obey orders to subjugate a state that asserts its sovereignty and nullifies unconstitutional federal laws, or orders to impose “martial law” on the American people (a power nowhere granted, or even mentioned, in our Constitution). We are proud to call ourselves Jeffersonians, and we have pledged our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor in defense of the timeless principles of liberty enshrined in our Unanimous Declaration of Independence. We are honored to work with all of you in any way we can in the fight for liberty.

Continue with the article.

I teach 7th graders in Connecticut the Confederate perspective: Planting seeds before they're brainwashed!

I spoke today for an hour to a 7th grade history class in Connecticut.  

Its not often that Yankee kids get to hear things from a Southern perspective.  Brought in Confederate paper money, talked about my three and four great grandfathers who fought in North Carolina Regiments, the causes of the war, generally as outlined (didn't get through everything, but I did cover a fair amount).

Great reaction from the kids, cool teacher to invite me...The teacher kept the notes and several of my relevant blogposts that I had printed out.

Remember, these are notes, not an essay, but has some nice stuff to help anyone prepare a similar talk.

I didn't shy away from slavery, and discussed it as a proximate cause, but the essentials I covered are the same as President Davis describes in his opus "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government".

For the first time, the kids learned there were really good reasons that the Southern people fought so hard and for so long...for their freedom to determine their own fate, not be ruled from afar -- just like their grandfathers and great grandfathers during the Revolutionary War.
  

Freedom to choose how their state might grow, develop and prosper.

Freedom to rule themselves locally, not from Washington, DC. 

Freedom

------------- 

Introduction to the Civil War—a polemic

6 great great great grandfathers that fought for Confederacy in North Carolina infantry units

Civil war definition:  A war between political factions or regions within the same country.

Names for the Civil War:

The War for Constitutional Liberty

The War for Southern Independence

The Second American Revolution

The War for States' Rights

Mr. Lincoln's War

The Southern Rebellion

The War for Southern Rights

The War of the Southern Planters

The War of the Rebellion

The Second War for Independence

The War to Suppress Yankee Arrogance

The Brothers' War

The War of Secession

The Great Rebellion

The War for Nationality

The War for Southern Nationality

The War Against Slavery

The Civil War Between the States

The War of the Sixties

The War Against Northern Aggression

The Yankee Invasion

The War for Separation

The War for Abolition

The War for the Union

The Confederate War

The War of the Southrons

The War for Southern Freedom

The War of the North and South

The Lost Cause

Founding:  breaking bonds with government of England (secession)

Secession:  1530s, from L. secessionem (nom. secessio), from pp. stem of secedere "secede," from se- "apart" (see secret) + cedere "to go" (see cede). Originally in a Roman historical context, "temporary migration of plebeians from the city to compel patricians to address their grievances;" modern use in reference to religious or political unions dates from 1650s.

Declaration of Independence1776: 

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

Treaty of Paris ends Revolution (1783) King names all colonies as independent states.  Preferred language of the Americans: all states named individually in treaty.

Not referred to as a nation of “the United States” until after the Civil War.  Was called “these United States”

-North vs. South

-“Nation” vs. “Confederation”

-Hamilton vs. Jefferson

-1830’s founders were all dead: National theory (Storey) vs. Compact theory (Upshur), became two competing ideas of how United States was created

-Central government vs. decentralized government:

Sovereignty of the political elite and monied interests in a remote location (Washington) vs sovereign people (local)

-voluntary union vs. involuntary (forced) union

Constitutional Convention 1787 – 1788  discussed nature of the new government,

Madison “author” of Constitution: his explanations of understood language carry the most weight on Original Intent of the Constitution

“federalists” vs. antifederalists

“Confederation” is a union of independent sovereign states

State = Nation (state of Israel, Norway, etc)

Ratification of the Constitution: popular (the sovereign people) election of State representatives to special state convention just for voting on ratification, join or not join new confederation of states

VOLUNTARY Union of independent states

Article VII of the Constitution

“The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.”

(Secession from Articles of Confederation government)

Dates of Ratification

(sovereign Rhode Island and North Carolina)

letter to President George Washington from Governor of Rhode Island 1790, language of independent and sovereign country/nation/state)

Compromise on slavery to get Constitution ratified 3/5 clause (South more sparsely populated, to get more representatives in House of Representatives to balance power between Northern and Southern, “free” and “slave” states.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions: if Federal government, supposed to be limited to specific limited powers under Article I Section 8 exceeds authority, States are duty bound to interpose their law, with force if necessary, to protect its citizens from Unconstitutional laws from Washington.

1812 New England has Hartford Convention to discuss secession because of President Jefferson and Pres. Madison embargo, damaging economy of NE States

Extension of lands to West, new States admitted to Union, free or slave?

Tariff crisis in 1830’s:  South threatens to Nullify federal laws as unfair taxation on South, Pres. Jackson considers military action as the situation reaches high point before compromise solution.

Fugitive Slave law, federal law, 1850, supported by Dred Scott supreme court case to return escaped slave (property of slave owner) was officially nullified by Wisconsin, debated and not enforcing law as unconstitutional

Nullification of Fugitive Slave law by north one of the grievances cited by southern states in explanation of reasons for secession

“Slavery” was a proximate cause.  War not caused by fight over the morality of slavery (background issue). 

Lincoln election leads to secession of Southern States in 1860-1861.

Electoral map shows fractured country

Lincoln had only 39.6 % of the popular vote of the entire country.  Electoral college:

Lincoln carries 0 southern states

Just as constitution made, with people electing representatives to State convention to discuss breaking compact with the Union, all agreements with Federal government become null and void, including ceding of land to Federal government

(text of secession documents)

dates of secession—not all at once, strong Union sentiment in all States, especially in border states (secession map)

Fort Sumter:  April 12, 1861

Federal fort, US Army, in middle of Charleston SC harbor.  Bulk of trade and income of SC goes right past fort.  Land SC ceded to federal government in 1812 for defense in war.  No one killed in bombardment.

The war was fought over the right to secede

April 15, 1861 Lincoln issues proclamation asking for 75000 men to put down "rebellion"

Border states of Virginia, NC, Tennesee secede, later large portions of Kentucky and Missouri

Rebellion: making war against lawful government

(Confederate States no longer in United States, US no longer the lawful government

Treason: individual working to undermine or bring down lawful government

(Article 3, Section 3, US Constitution:  “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.”)

Constitutional withdrawl of Southern States, no call for end to US government or war, wishes for peaceful coexistence trade for mutual benefit, inaugural address of President Jefferson Davis

“All we wish is to be left alone”—Jefferson Davis

Civil war definition:   A war between political factions or regions within the same country.

(Constitutional Union voluntary, voluntary disunion, no longer same country)

Result: Southern states brought back into the United States against their will, at the point of a gun:

“The principle, on which the war was waged by the North, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals.  No principle, that is possible to be named, can be more self-evidently false than this; or more self-evidently fatal to all political freedom. Yet it triumphed in the field, and is now assumed to be established. If it really be established, the number of slaves, instead of having been diminished by the war, has been greatly increased; for a man, thus subjected to a government that he does not want, is a slave. And there is no difference, in principle --- but only in degree --- between political and chattel slavery. The former, no less than the latter, denies a man's ownership of himself and the products of his labor; and asserts that other men may own him, and dispose of him and his property, for their uses, and at their pleasure.”

–     Lysander Spooner (Nineteenth-Century lawyer, abolitionist, entrepreneur)

1788: These United States (plural)

1865: Birth of a new Nation (not federation): THE United States of America