The  single,  naked  proposition  upon  which
rests  the  whole  claim  of  the  right  of  secession
is  distinctly  stated  in  the  second  of  the  "  Arti
cles  of  Confederation  "  adopted  by  the  original
Thirteen  States  during  the  War  of  the  Revolu
tion,  as  framed  by  the  Delegates  of  the  United
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  on
the  9th  of  July,  1778. This  article  is  in  these
words :

u  Each  State  retains  its  sovereignty,  freedom,
and  independence,  and  every  power,  jurisdic
tion,  and  right  which  is  not  by  this  Confedera
tion  expressly  delegated  to  the  United  States
in  Congress  assembled."


This  was  the  vital  defect  in  the  articles  of
Confederation,  and  on  the  21st  of  February,
1787,  the  Congress,  after  declaring  the  ineffi
ciency  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  the  necessity
of  devising  such  further  provisions  as  should
render  the  same  adequate  to  the  exigencies  of
the  Union,  and  being  satisfied  that  a  Conven
tion  was —

"  The  most  probable  means  of  establishing  in
these  States  a  firm  National  Government,  re
solved  that  it  was  expedient  that  a  Convention
of  Delegates  appointed  by  the  several  States
should  be  held  on  the  second  Monday  in  May
then  next,  at  Philadelphia,  for  the  sole  and  ex
press  purpose  of  revising  the  Articles  of  Con
federation,  and  reporting  to  Congress  and  the
several  Legislatures  such  alterations  and  pro
visions  therein  as  shall,  when  agreed  to  in  Con
gress  and  confirmed  by  the  States,  render  the
Federal  Constitution  adequate  to  the  exigencies
of  Government  and  the  preservation  of  the
Union."

The  Congress  and  the  patriotic  men  of  that
day  had  become  satisfied,  from  the  experience
and  trials  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  the
few  years  which  had  elapsed  subsequent  to  its
close,  that  the  so-called  '•  sovereignty  and  in
dependence,"  reserved  to  the  States  under  the
Articles  of  Confederation,  were  the  fruitful
source  of  all  the  manifold  troubles  and  difficul
ties  they  encountered. 