Some weeks ago I argued fairly vigorously that Lincoln's view
of the Constitution was the correct one, and that the
Confederate constitutional argument was wrong.  

I am less persuaded of that position now, as a consequence of
reading a very fine essay by historian Kenneth Stamp.  I'd be
intrigued to know what others on this list make of Stamp's
nuanced and, to my eye anyway, powerful discussion.

The essay is "The Concept of a Perpetual Union," by Kenneth M.
Stampp, published in The Journal of American History, Vol. 65,
No. 1. (Jun., 1978), pp. 5-33.   It is available readily via
JSTOR, or in any good academic library.

What do the learned experts here make of this essay?

All best,
Kevin
Kevin R. Hardwick, Ph.D.
Department of History
James Madison University

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