About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

2 S. C. L. Q. 245 (1949)
The Doctrines of Nullification and Secession--A Historical Study

handle is hein.journals/sclr2 and id is 257 raw text is: THE DOCTRINES OF NULIFICATION AND SECESSION- A HISTORICAL STUDY HowAR NxWCOmB MosE.* Interposition or nullification is the non-recognition of the validity of federal law by the people, the Governor, the legislature, or the judiciary of a State, the recognition of the consequent non-amenda- bility of the people of the State to such federal law, and the render- ing inoperative of such federal law within the State by non-compliance with such federal law on the part of the people, the Governor, the legislature, or the judiciary of the State. President John Quincy Adams was of the opinion that, '... the people of a state . .. have delegated no such power (the power to nullify federal law) to their legislatures or their judges.' He was silent as regards whether the people of a State have delegated such power to their Governor. He thought that the people of a State alone might legitimately exer- cise such power as they possessed it as one of their residual powers (unless they had delegated it to their Governor). However, he con- sidered that whenever such power is exercised, ... . they (the people of a State) do thereby declare themselves and their State quoad hoc out of the pale of the Union. Therefore, to him the immediate and inevitable corollary to interposition was secession. Secession is the re-assumption by the people of a State of the powers they had delegated to the United States. Nullification is a re-assumption of one or several of such powers, but secession is a complete re-assumption of all such powers. By virtue of interposi- tion a State is an equal partner in the Union in all respects except those touching upon the federal law which the people, the Governor, the legislature, or the judiciary of the State have nullified. By vir- tue of secession a State is without the Union and a complete, inde- pendent, and sovereign nation. Secession can be effectuated, not by the Governor, the legislature, or the judiciary of a State, but only by the people of the State since the powers to be re-assumed had 0Member of Georgia Bar. Member of law firm of Heineke & Conklin, Chicago, Ill. Author of many articles in other legal periodicals. 1. Piresident John Quincy Adams' Letter of December 30, 1828 in Correspon- dence Between John Quincy Adams, Esquire, President of the United States, and Several Citizens of Massachusetts Concerning the Charge of a Design to Dissolve the Union Alleged to Have Existed in That State, Press of the Boston Daily Advertiser, Boston 1829, pp. 32, 33.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most