Does a State have the right to secede?

[Liz Rosenthal]

Rob quoted some choice, wise words from the man who is supposed to be the subject of this board, Abraham Lincoln.

So it is strange that we are having a discussion on a Lincoln board about the validity of secession. I would direct people who believe in the "right of secession," or at least view it as an open question, to read Lincoln's writings/speeches on the subject. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln are available on the internet (as well as in hard copy form). Another excellent source for an understanding of the subject is Harry Jaffa's A New Birth of Freedom, which contains a very intense but ultimately rewarding analysis of the issue from the perspective of a political philosopher.

As an aside, it's inspiring to see how two great historian-philosophers, one still with us (Jaffa) and one recently departed (William Lee Miller) could love and admire Lincoln as much as they did, given their differing political pedigrees: Jaffa being a conservative Republican who wrote speeches for Barry Goldwater, and Miller a progressive Democrat who wrote speeches for Adlai Stevenson!