Coercion

Joshism

Captain
Joined
Apr 30, 2012
Location
Jupiter, FL
Mentioned in the Arkansas secession thread and others is Southern loathing of "coercion" by the Federal government.

Coercion: the practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats.

Governments practice coercion all the time. Every law is a form of coercion: obey or be punished. At the time it was quite legal for parents to coerce child, husbands to coerce wives, masters to coerce slaves. The US coerced Mexico to give up territory. The native tribes were coerced as a standard practice.

Didn't Jackson coerce South Carolina in the Nullification Crisis?

Didn't the Confederacy practice coercion against Unionists, guerillas, draft dodgers, and others who resisted Confederate authority?

How could the Federal government be expected to put down a rebellion of citizens, like John Brown, but not a rebellion of state(s)? If a city or county declared itself seceded should the State or Federal government not coerce it?
 
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