Any question in regard to property has always been admitted to be matter
for fair and equitable settlement, in case of the withdrawal of a State.
The treaty by which the Louisiana territory was ceded to the United
States expressly provided that the inhabitants thereof should be
"admitted, as soon as possible, according to the principles of the
Federal Constitution, to the enjoyment of all the rights, advantages,
and immunities of citizens of the United States."[104] In all other
acquisitions of territory the same stipulation is either expressed or
implied. Indeed, the denial of the right would be inconsistent with the
character of American political institutions.
Another objection made to the right of secession is based upon obscure,
indefinite, and inconsistent ideas with regard to _allegiance_. It
assumes various shapes, and is therefore somewhat difficult to meet,
but, as most frequently presented, may be stated thus: that the citizen
owes a double allegiance, or a divided allegiance--partly to his State,
partly to the United States: that it is not possible for either of these
powers to release him from the allegiance due to the other: that the
State can no more release him from his obligations to the Union than the
United States can absolve him from his duties to his State. This is the
most moderate way in which the objection is put. The extreme
centralizers go further, and claim that allegiance to the Union, or, as
they generally express it, to _the Government_--meaning thereby the
Federal Government--is paramount, and the obligation to the State only
subsidiary--if, indeed, it exists at all.
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