I'm a little late to this secession issue; however, I am of the opinion that for the times (1861), secession was out of the question: whether it was being advanced by peaceful means or not. As I understand Virginia's actions, her Assembly voted and put the issue to the general public, which, in turn, affirmed the course of secession. Which on its own with no other actions in play would have or should have compelled civil action only (in a more perfect Union). However; whatever one believes of Lincoln's response, the several illegal actions (seizing Federal arms, threatening Federal movements, and impeding Federal movements) by Virginia's militias and other Commonwealth authorities certainly gave him title to take police actions to protect Federal rights and property and certainly enhanced "his" argument that the secession was "illegal". Today, at least one state is proceeding on that "secessionist road". While it is unlikely that the process will reach the point of being presented to the electorate for affirmation and even more unlikely that should it, that it would be approved, it is intriguing to speculate how our "nation" would respond to a peaceful "petition" by a duly constituted government entity to break from our Union; and, how the currently constituted U. S. Supreme Court would rule. Its even more "fun" to speculate on how a more "liberal" Court would rule based on the projected 2008 Presidential outcome. In all, I maintain that "secession" was decided "de facto" but has never be defined "de jure" as "hinted" by the initial Constitutional Amendments. The unknown for me is the power of the Ninth and Tenth as I am ignorant of case law being decided or cited particularly on those particular Amendments. ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html