Lincoln’s view of the matter summarized the sentiment of the abolitionist states of the Union and the federal government that secession was illegal and nothing more or less than a rebellion and treason. I agree with their interpretation of the founding documents as vehicles of declaration of nationhood for all practical purposes for perpetuity and without any intent of ever dissolving this new union (nation) of states or providing a legal process for such action in the future. By Lincoln’s words from his Inaugural Address: “Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed in the fundamental law of all national governments” (7). He further did not believe the United States could be “peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it.” The Articles
