4 ms·
There is a method for states to nullify federal laws they disagree with; the last time we tried it, though, the side effects were a bit undesirable.
by owenmarshall 9y ago
There is a method for states to nullify federal laws they disagree with; the last time we tried it, though, the side effects were a bit undesirable.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoSlavery was not against federal law when that happened. It only happened much later toward the end of the war with the 13th amendement.
- Clubber 9y agoAs an aside, if you believe the Emancipation Proclamation to be legally binding, slavery was legal in the North longer than it was in the South.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoThat would be equivalent to an executive order, I’m not sure if you could call it a law, more like a regulation. But maybe things were a bit different back then.
- Clubber 9y agoIt was, but the South had seceded, so they considered themselves a separate country with a separate (albeit hastily constructed) government, so executive orders don't apply to other countries. The legality of secession wasn't even decided until after the war, so it was a bunch of murky legal territory.
- seanmcdirmid 9y agoExecutive orders as military directives definitely applied to the south specifically because it was a different country. The president is command and chief after all. If we considered the south a part of the USA, it would have been much murkier.
- brightball 9y agoWas it ever decided?
- Clubber 9y agoYes, sort of. After the end of the war, it was ruled unconstitutional (by SCOTUS), but only applied to 1869 onward. (perhaps meaning it was legal in 1861). The actual ruling is still being debated. https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/2056/was-the-secession-of-the-confederate-states-illegal https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/2056/was-the-sec...
- brightball 9y agoThat is a very interesting read