Its annexation was the
prologue, as the Mexican war was the first act in the secession
drama, and as the epilogue is the suppression of the rebellion on
Texan soil. Texas is an exceptional case, and forms no
precedent, and cannot be adduced as invalidating the general
rule. Omitting Texas, the simple fact is, the States acquire all
their sovereign powers by being States in the Union, instead of
losing or surrendering them.
Our American statesmen have overlooked or not duly weighed the
facts in the case, because, holding the origin of government in
compact, they felt no need of looking back of the constitution to
find the basis of that unity of the American people which they
assert. Neither Mr. Madison nor Mr. Webster felt any difficulty
in asserting it as created by the convention of 1787, or in
conceding the sovereignty of the States prior to the Union, and
denying its existence after the ratification of the constitution.
If it were not that they held that the State originates in
convention or the social compact, there would be unpardonable
presumption on the part of the present writer in venturing to
hazard an assertion contrary to theirs. But, if their theory was
unsound, their practical doctrine was not; for they maintained
that the American people are one sovereign people, and Mr. Quincy
Adams, an authority inferior to neither, maintained that they
were always one people, and that the States hold from the Union,
not the Union from the States.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271