As for General Lee, I think he ought to be honored because the South and North were fighting for truth and justice, but disagreeing about how that would be applied at that time. . The South had a right to leave the union since nothing in the Constitution says that once signed no state could leave. There could have been a clause like that but there was not.
[If it had gone to the Supreme Court, there would have been no war. And in fact the president of the Confederacy asked to be tried as a traitor. He knew that the courts could decide one way, or the other; and then everyone would simply have to abide by their ruling.
Dr. Kelley Ross also wrote that clearly the South had a right to leave the Union, but that they choose the worst possible issue to do it over.
[And I even wonder if the Union had a right to outlaw slavery. That is, even if it had been legitimate as a constitutional amendment approved with the willing vote of the states. The reason is that the federal government had enumerated powers. Taxes, yes. But not simply to declare law and certainly not to declare war without Congress. [To preserve the Union might be a worthy ideal, but where in the Constitution is that given to the Federal government in any sense? The idea itself is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. Can a husband murder his wife if she demands to leave their union?
[If it had gone to the Supreme Court, there would have been no war. And in fact the president of the Confederacy asked to be tried as a traitor. He knew that the courts could decide one way, or the other; and then everyone would simply have to abide by their ruling.
Dr. Kelley Ross also wrote that clearly the South had a right to leave the Union, but that they choose the worst possible issue to do it over.
[And I even wonder if the Union had a right to outlaw slavery. That is, even if it had been legitimate as a constitutional amendment approved with the willing vote of the states. The reason is that the federal government had enumerated powers. Taxes, yes. But not simply to declare law and certainly not to declare war without Congress. [To preserve the Union might be a worthy ideal, but where in the Constitution is that given to the Federal government in any sense? The idea itself is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. Can a husband murder his wife if she demands to leave their union?