TERRE HAUTE — This week in 1861, the first seven states to secede from the Union and create a new confederacy adopted their own constitution. As it happened, four of the states that ratified this Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States of America — South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina — had previously ratified the Constitution of the United States of America in 1788.
The Confederate Constitution was both similar to, and different from, the U.S. Constitution. Chief among their differences was the balance of power between the national government and the states. As was true of America’s first national government, the Articles of Confederation, the new confederate constitution gave most power to the states, including the power to provide, or not provide, money and resources to the national government. The Founders had considered this among the Articles’ chief defects — financially it beggared the national government — and it was quickly corrected at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Unsurprisingly, it would come back to haunt the Confederacy in the later years of the Civil War.
Another difference was a single six-year term for the Confederacy’s president and vice president, and — of course — a third difference was that the Confederate Constitution explicitly “recognized and protected” the institution of slavery.
But the similarities between the two constitutions are the most striking.
In language that was almost duplicative, the Confederate Constitution, just like the U.S. Constitution, provided that the federal government is “the Supreme Law of the Land,” and therefore binding on the states. Further, the Confederate Constitution, like the U.S. Constitution before it, denied states the right to enter into separate alliances, or make separate treaties, or generally act independently.
In other words, the seven states that had seceded from the country created by the U.S. Constitution approved a Confederate Constitution with the power to deny its member states the right to secede.
This, President Lincoln came to believe, was more than just hypocritical, it undermined their main rationale for leaving the Union. To Lincoln, the states that seceded did so because they believed the U.S. Constitution allowed them to secede. It was therefore incumbent upon them to decide whether or not to include that right in their own constitution. If they had included the right to secede, then they were admitting that each Confederate state had a right to secede again. But since they did not include that right, they were admitting in principle that the right to secede was not, nor should it have been, in the U.S. Constitution.
To Lincoln that reaffirmed his conviction that the Confederate states had not legally left the Union but instead were in a state of rebellion. Guided by that conviction, he fought, and won, the Civil War.
Bruce G. Kauffmann’s e-mail address is bruce@historylessons.net.
Schools
BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: States secede, adopt Confederate Constitution
- Schools
-
-
Board OKs $5.4M in work at schools
The Vigo County School Board has approved borrowing $5.4 million for an expansion of DeVaney Elementary School and energy-related projects at 15 other schools.
-
Shift to online raises school cost concerns
Legislation that would require high school students in Indiana to take at least one online course is meeting resistance from some school administrators who say they can’t afford any more mandates from the state.
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Official: Indiana among first 10 states to get ed waiver
President Barack Obama today will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.
-
Letters from Debs
Cinda May sat with the phone to her ear listening as the auctioneer in New York City said “Holding, holding.”
-
ISU presents Sycamore Hoopla; activities kick off Friday
Indiana State University’s Hulman Center will host its sixth annual Sycamore Hoopla Friday and Saturday.
-
BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
-
College plans Prom Expo on Feb. 19
Get the scoop on the latest in prom fashions and services during Lincoln Trail College’s Prom Expo Feb. 19.
-
ISU offering tech ed scholarships to VU grads
Indiana State University is offering $1,000 scholarships for graduates of Vincennes University’s technology programs to pursue their bachelor’s degree.
-
Fort Harrison State Park to host winter wildlife workshop
Our culture’s most celebrated survivalists are often men with an accent, a trusty knife, and a tagalong camera crew filming their every move.
-
Riverton Parke's winter king and queen
Seniors Gary Secuskie and Taylor Mansinne were named King and Queen of the Riverton Parke Winter 2012 Homecoming.
-
Four alumni receive GOLD awards from Indiana State University
A former collegiate football standout and a trio known for selling humorous holiday apparel received the Indiana State University Alumni Association’s Graduate of the Last Decade Award this year.
-
Indiana State students hear view from Cuba
Carlos Alzugaray, who spent 40 years representing the Cuban government around the world, wishes NBC newsman Brian Williams had asked a different question during a recent Republican presidential debate in Jacksonville, Fla.
-
College to celebrate homecoming
Lincoln Trail College will celebrate homecoming on Feb. 18.
- Goals, Pride & Achievements: Feb. 9, 2012
-
Valley middle schoolers ready for MATHCOUNTS
Weeks of early-morning and after-school problem-solving sessions for about 100 Wabash Valley middle school students will culminate on Saturday in the regional MATHCOUNTS competition at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
-
Indiana State education major takes teaching to Siberia
Christin Keirn wanted a challenge and she does enjoy winter. So for her, it seemed an obvious choice.
-
Lincoln Trail College honors
Lincoln Trail College has released its academic honor lists for the Fall 2011 semester.
- ACROSS THE WABASH VALLEY: Feb. 9, 2012
-
Vigo schools see grad rate rise
The Vigo County School Corp. 2011 graduation rate improved nearly 4 percentage points and surpassed the state graduation rate, according to information from the state Department of Education.
-
Rose-Hulman to help address need for advancing railroad technologies
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is stepping back into its past and addressing a need to advance the nation’s transportation system by educating the next generation of railroad engineers.
Chauncey Rose, an entrepreneur and builder of railroads, came to western Indiana in 1817. -
Take the Plunge for Special Olympics on Feb. 11 at ISU
Join Mayor Duke Bennett, Indiana State University Police Chief Bill Mercier, Terre Haute and ISU Police departments, GFS Marketplace, Mix-FM, the men of Pi Kappa Alpha and the ladies of Alpha Sigma Alpha at the Fourth Annual Terre Haute Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Indiana on Feb. 11.
-
Valley woman’s recipe featured by Taste of Home
Taste of Home magazine has honored a Riverton Parke Jr.-Sr. High School Foods Services employee for her recipe.
-
College Goal Sunday set for Feb. 12 at Ivy Tech
Financial aid professionals will be volunteering at Ivy Tech Community College in Terre Haute and 39 other Indiana sites to help college-bound students and their families open the door to financial aid during College Goal Sunday, set for 2 p.m. Feb. 12.
-
College to offer aeronautics classes at Robinson airport
Lincoln Trail College is flying high this spring with two aeronautics classes taught at the Robinson (Ill.) Community Airport.
-
Agreement to further college’s international initiatives
Harrison College, a private sector college serving 6,000 students at 12 campuses in Indiana and Ohio as well as online, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Siva Sivani Institute of Management in Hyderabad, India.
-
Otter Creek Middle School to celebrate 50 years
Otter Creek Middle School turns 50 years old this year. In 1962, the newly formed Vigo County School Corp. opened the current Otter Creek Middle School as Otter Creek Junior High School.
-
College savings campaign kicks off statewide
Students in Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties are joining students across Indiana to launch Learn More Indiana’s 2012 Cash for College campaign this week.
Eighty percent of students who attend college receive financial aid.
- Goals, Pride & Achievements: Feb. 2, 2012
- More Schools Headlines
-
Board OKs $5.4M in work at schools
Raw Video: Biden Greets Chinese VP for Visit
Authorities: Houston Found Underwater in Tub
Whitney Houston Funeral to Be Invitation Only
Raw Video: Heavy Shelling in Homs, Syria
New Details in Search for Missing Utah Mom
Bacteria Keep Swimmers Off Some Fla. Beaches
Raw Video: 5 People Injured in Bangkok Blasts
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Raw Video: Kim Jong Il Statue Unveiled
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
Raw Video: Hearse Arrives at N.J. Funeral Home
Raw Video: Houston Body Flown From L.A. to N.J.
Arm Wrestler Not Guilty Plea in Wife's Death
Raw Video: Protesters, Security Clash in Bahrain
Obama: Good US-China Ties Help the Whole World
First Person: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
School Pays Students to Attend Class
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Obama's New Budget: The Winners and Losers
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
Kim K. Wet, Wild and Natural
Ultimate Tazer Ball is a Shocking New Sport
Shakira Attacked By Sea Lion
Modern day treasure hunter searching for $3 billion prize
What Happened Inside Whitney's Hotel Room?
Saying 'I Love You' With a Sewage Plant Tour
VS Models Wow for V-Day
Olympic Swimmer Proposes on Podium After Big Win
Kate Upton MLB 2K12 Commercial
Watch: Whitney Houston's Golden Hearse
Scarlett Johansson's Bikini P-D-A
Man Allegedly Drowns Wife While Scuba Diving
Glee Pays Tribute to Whitney
Wash. becomes 7th state to okay same-sex marriage
Romijn's 60 Pound Weight Loss
The 'Celebrity Apprentice' Cast Meets Donald Trump
Kissing contest heats up
Hugh Hefner's Son Arrested
Jacqueline Kennedy's personal papers released
Did Tyler Perry Have a Secret Wedding?
