“Graham provides critical insights into a truly controversial issue.”
––Civil War Courier
“This is a book every American who cares a wit about historical truth should read.”
––Forum News
This comprehensive history traces the quest for a peaceable and lawful revolution, from Britain’s Glorious Revolution to Canada’s current situation, with a special emphasis on the constitutional questions raised by the American Civil War.
As the British constitution evolved, British leaders recognized the need for a civilized method of transferring power without bloody and destructive revolutions. Impressed by the smooth transition of the Glorious Revolution, America’s founders incorporated similar ideas into the United States constitution, establishing a republican confederacy of free, sovereign, and independent states. Yet when the Southern states exercised their legal right to peacefully secede, America erupted into a civil war.
Graham devotes several chapters to the Confederate secession, addressing the issues of Southern abolitionists, South Carolina’s nullification crisis, the Missouri Compromise, the Southern confederacy, the Civil War, and the Reconstruction Acts.
About the Author
John Remington Graham is a son of Minnesota and received degrees in philosophy and law from the University of Minnesota. A former law professor and experienced trial lawyer, he has continued to study British, American, and Canadian constitutional law and history. Currently residing in the province of Quebec in Canada, Mr. Graham served as an advisor on British constitutional law and history to the amicus curiae for Quebec in the Quebec secession case decided in 1998.
A CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF SECESSION
By John Remington Graham
Foreword by Donald Livingston
464 pp. 6 x 9
10 illus. Notes Index
ISBN: 1-58980-066-4
EAN: 978-1-58980-066-3