If the oath they took was to uphold the Constitution, and if they read and  
were taught from A View of the Constitution by William Rawle (which they were  
required to read as part of their course of study at West Point in Lee's 
time),  then in supporting secession they were upholding the Constitution as Mr. 
Rawle  instructed since he found secession implicit in the Constitution.
 
JDS



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