[Brion McClanahan]

Good question. There were those who assumed the judicial branch would have some type of role in this process, Marshall among them, and others who did not think the SCOTUS should have this power, John Dickinson being the most prominent. The founding generation were in agreement that the SCOTUS did not have the power to invalidate State law, as John Rutledge of SC said that alone would damn the Constitution. Marshall swore in the VA Ratifying Convention that the SCOTUS would never do that. He lied.

[Brion McClanahan]

Chris,

Jefferson Davis said that the South would fight to the “last ditch,” and it was openly discussed after the administration fled Richmond in 1865. The War Department considered the move, and various Confederate detachments surrendered long after Lee at Appomattox, the most famous being the Cherokee General Stand Waite in June 1865. I am not sure if a prolonged guerrilla campaign would have achieved victory. The U.S. Government considered anti-Republican efforts during Reconstruction to be a bushwhacking effort. I don’t think Southern morale was high enough in 1865 to support a longer open struggle.

[Brion McClanahan]

You’re welcome.

[Brion McClanahan]

John,

Good to hear from you. The States have never “ceded” control over immigration to the central government. It was long considered the purview of the States to handle State citizenship (and strictly so) and the general government had control over “uniform rules of naturalization” but naturalization is not immigration. The general government has just assumed this power, but all of the States, in my opinion, are in their right to restrict who can live and work there.

[Brion McClanahan]

Jack,

Good question. Here it is. “No state shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or the freedom of the press, or the trial by jury in criminal cases.”

It was rejected outright by the first congress, many of whom were members of the Philadelphia Convention and the various State ratifying conventions.

[Brion McClanahan]

DOMA had two parts. Only the first was declared unconstitutional (definition of marriage); the second was upheld (States behind allowed to reject marriages from other States). The second provision of the law was simply a restatement of federalism and important. I would assume that a person could claim married on a federal tax return but if their State does not recognize gay marriage then they could not claim that on a State return.

[Brion McClanahan]

This point was made during the ratifying debates, but I would suggest that once the States through convention began ratifying the document, it was legal, even before all 13 had agreed.

[Brion McClanahan]

There is a difference between a moral abolitionist and a political abolitionist. Vallandingham was a moral abolitionist (he was a devout Methodist) but did not favor federal interference in regard to slavery. He was very critical of political abolitionists and believed they were to blame for the destruction of the Union. He made a speech in 1855 where he stated he was “pro-slavery,” but as a slap at those promoting the “slave power” attacks against northerners who did not favor political abolition, such as James Buchanan, Stephen Douglas, et. al, This same line of thinking has filtered into our own political discourse. See “Neo-Confederate.”

[Brion McClanahan]

Marvel’s page turners are excellent and close to Shelby Foote’s for good reading.

[Brion McClanahan]

There were men in the Republican party labeled “Red Republicans,” and most of these men were disenchanted German revolutionaries who arrived in the U.S. following the failed Revolutions of 1848 (Hecker, Villard, Nast, etc). The Radical Republicans were typically those who favored abolition and reform (temperance, women’s suffrage, etc) though not always.

[Brion McClanahan]

Wayne didn’t deal with the organization of the frontier army much differently from St. Clair, but he was a better Indian fighter and was able to defeat the tribes at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. I would say the War of 1812 had much more to do with the creation of a standing army than anything else, though it must be noted that the United States still essentially used a militia system until WWII.

[Brion McClanahan]

Yes, that books is quite good, and so is his “Founders and the Classics.”

[Brion McClanahan]

I’m sorry but I don’t know much about the conflict between Texians and Texicanos.

As to your other questions, yes, there was a push immediately after Texas gained its independence to be admitted to the Union, but there was substantial resistance in the United States to it, mostly from the North, so Texas was in limbo for 9 years. Once Polk was elected and partly on a plank to annex Texas, the issue became settled and Congress annexed it through a joint resolution. Tyler gets the credit, but Polk’s election sealed the deal.

I am not sure about the statistics behind your last point, but several years ago a friend of mine wrote a great article, not available online, about what an independent South would look like and Texas certainly has a large and vibrant enough economy to be independent, as do most States in the Union today.

[Brion McClanahan]

Black Confederate soldiers existed but has been exaggerated. There were never any “official” black Confederate soldiers until the very end of the War (a black “regiment” was raised in Richmond), but blacks did “serve” as teamsters, cooks, etc. There were black pilots for the Confederate navy with at least one being killed in action (attack on the U.S.S. Waterwitch).

[Brion McClanahan]

The current government in DC and in your State have legitimacy because they both have the general consent of the governed. The only way to change that is to get enough people to stop giving their consent, and that is going to take time and education.

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