Article IV, Section 5. Secession from the Union by a State Shall be Prohibited and Met by Force

Mad Mac

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Joined
May 2, 2017
Of course, there was no Section 5 in Article IV, and for good reason.
No State would have ratified the Constitution
if the Constitution had prohibited the possibility of secession
and stated that secession would be stopped by military force.

Section 3 is clear about the conditions and method for a State to be admitted.
The founding fathers could have just as easily addressed secession.
However, they had just fought a war of independence against tyranny.
To deny the possibility of independence to the new States in the future would have been absurd.
The right to secede was a given, ranking with life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
 
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