James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow

Biographical details

James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow Has the General Government the Right to Coerce a State… (1860)

Whether the States will resort to the harsh means of war, and rush into the discords of social evils sure to follow in the footsteps of such a war, or whether recognizing some justice in their grievances, peaceful means to mitigate by treaties the evils of disunion, or else by timely additional guarantees in the Constitution, to give full assurance of the equality and protection demanded in the Union, are questions of future policy for discussion in each State.
Source: Wikisource

James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow Has the General Government the Right to Coerce a State… (1860)

To consider this question, a distinction must first be drawn between the right of war and the exercise of a constitutional function of the government on itself, in a constitutional way. The right of war exists only against other governments — and by the law of nations, it is immaterial whether these are usurping or legitimate governments. It suffices that each party has an actual possession or government, a control de facto over some territory or people which it enjoys, disconnected with, or by dispossessing the other's government.
Source: Wikisource

James Dunwoody Brownson De Bow Has the General Government the Right to Coerce a State… (1860)

It is not from the length of time that the government de facto has existed, but from the fact that the opposing government claiming to be legitimate, cannot control the other by civil means, and has not an actual military possession and control over it — that other nations are justified in treating it as a government and entering into alliances with it. Thus, in our own War of Independence, after the declaration, Spain, Holland, and France, acknowledged the independence of the Colonies, and formed treaties, without those acts violating their existing treaties with England.
Source: Wikisource

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