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AMERICAN DIS-UNION.

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"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made
in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under
the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land;
and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the con-
stitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding."-CONSTITUTION
OF THE UNITED STATES, Art. 6, Sec. 2.

LONDON:

ROBERT HARDWICKE, 192, PICCADILLY.

U.S.5458.22

1866, April 27.

Gifs of

Hm. Chr. Francis Adams,
of London.
14. 3. 1825.)

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PREFACE.

A

“Is

SHORT correspondence with Mr. Spence on the question discussed in the sixth chapter of his work, "The American Union," Secession a Constitutional Right?" led me into a closer inquiry than I had originally intended. The result is seen in the following pages. If they have any merit, it is that I have studiously avoided originality of opinion. The question is essentially one for appeal to authority. What did the framers of the Constitution themselves mean, and how was that document understood by their contemporaries? Hence the profuseness of quotation from the letters, speeches, and works of the leading men of the Revolution.

I have referred to the Essays in the

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