CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF SECESSION

A CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF SECESSION
Author: John Remington Graham

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 Untied 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. Mr. Graham has spoken at meetings of such organizations as the League of the South, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Southern Party. 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.

Graham received degrees in philosophy and law from the University of Minnesota. He is an experienced trial lawyer and a former professor of law who has continued to study American, British, and Canadian constitutional law and history. 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. He has also spoken at meetings of such organizations as the League of the South, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and the Southern Party.

In his book, A Constitutional History of Secession, Graham looks at the legal practice of secession and how a legal and bloodless transfer of power is supported by natural law and is, in fact, a building block of both the British and American constitutions. This comprehensive history traces the continued quest for a "peaceable and lawful transformation of government into a new legal order without ignominy or rebellion," from Britain's Glorious Revolution to Canada's current situation, and with a special emphasis on the constitutional questions raised by the American Civil War.