...since the Civil War. In his First Inaugural Address, Lincoln argued that "[p]erpetuity is implied ... in the fundamental law of all national governments....ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination."10 The political context in which Lincoln voiced this claim is central to its meaning:...

...Jefferson Davis's decision to take it. Document A Source: Lincoln's first inaugural address (March 4, 1861) It is safe to assert that no government proper ever...provision in its organic law for its own termination.... No state upon its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union. I shall take care, as the Constitution...

...concede that the language of the Constitution was not conclusive. Taking another tack, he argued that perpetuity "is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental...ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination."6 Neither the debates in the Philadelphia convention nor those in the various state ratifying...

...years, under great and peculiar difficulty. A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I hold, that in contemplation...execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever — it being impossible to destroy it, except by some...

...top-heavy administrative costs and a selfserving and self-perpetuating bureaucracy. Lincoln noted that "it is safe to assert that no government proper ever...provision in its organic law for its own termination." Perhaps that is why programs tend to grow. But Lincoln was only half right. Within the drive to make...

...top-heavy administrative costs and a selfserving and self-perpetuating bureaucracy. Lincoln noted that "it is safe to assert that no government proper ever...provision in its organic law for its own termination." Perhaps that is why programs tend to grow. But Lincoln was only half right. Within the drive to make...

...constitutional norms. Abraham Lincoln posed the issue in stark form in his First Inaugural Address: "Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental...ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination."85 One might also question whether it would be coherent for a constitution to contemplate...

...Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, v. 1, p. 465. Rutgers University Press (1953, 1990). SECESSION It is safe to assert that no government proper ever...execute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever — it being impossible to destroy it, except by some...

...the ties of the Union with them. Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States of America (1 861} I hold that, in contemplation of universal law and...in the fundamental law of all national governments. Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but an association of states in the nature...

...address the following reason for making war on the seceding states: "I hold that, in consideration of universal law and of the Constitution, the Union...provision in its organic law for its own termination." 7 Lincoln's argument assumes that the American federation of states is a unitary state grounded in...