Was Secession A Constitutional Right? 1868 Book Concluded It Was. "In order to show that the Constitution is not a compact between the States, the position is assumed, that it is not a compact at all. If it be a compact, say they, then the States had a right to secede. But it is not a compact; and hence secession is treason and rebellion. The great fundamental questions, then, on which the whole controversy hinges are, first, Is the Constitution a compact? and, secondly, Is it a compact between the States?"

Albert Bledsoe, Was Secession A Constitutional Right Previous to the War of 1861 (1868) Get the Book Here