Andrew Jackson claimed that the inherent error in South Carolina’s reasoning was the mistaken belief that the Constitution was a compact between sovereign states, when it was actually ratified by the American people via their respective state conventions. States thus lost their sovereignty, and the people’s allegiance was transferred to the government of the United States. [Kenneth M. Stampp, “The Concept of a Perpetual Union,” The Journal of American History, Vol.65, No.1 (June, 1978): 31-32.] (President Abraham Lincoln would be profoundly influenced by Jackson’s rationale in the ensuing decades.) However, Jackson’s line of reasoning distorts the philosophical premise of George Mason when he proposed the “state convention ratification” concept during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Three decades later, South Carolina would, of course, refer to the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution as evidence of the right to secede when creating its Declaration for the Causes of Secession in December of 1860.
It was about state rights... The north wanted to end slavery in the U.S. The south felt it was a up to a state and not the national government to decide whether slavery was allowed or not. The issue was slavery. However, the south turned it into a state gov. vs national gov. issue because, at the time, slavery was vital to their economic system.
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Andrew Jackson claimed that the inherent error in South Carolina’s reasoning was the mistaken belief that the Constitution was a compact between sovereign states, when it was actually ratified by the American people via their respective state conventions. States thus lost their sovereignty, and the people’s allegiance was transferred to the government of the United States. [Kenneth M. Stampp, “The Concept of a Perpetual Union,” The Journal of American History, Vol.65, No.1 (June, 1978): 31-32.] (President Abraham Lincoln would be profoundly influenced by Jackson’s rationale in the ensuing decades.) However, Jackson’s line of reasoning distorts the philosophical premise of George Mason when he proposed the “state convention ratification” concept during the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Three decades later, South Carolina would, of course, refer to the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution as evidence of the right to secede when creating its Declaration for the Causes of Secession in December of 1860.
It was about state rights... The north wanted to end slavery in the U.S. The south felt it was a up to a state and not the national government to decide whether slavery was allowed or not. The issue was slavery. However, the south turned it into a state gov. vs national gov. issue because, at the time, slavery was vital to their economic system.