A Case for Small Republics and the Right to Secede

A new collection of essays argues that the United States was founded as a compact of sovereign states, each retaining the right to leave the union. The book, edited by Donald Livingston, makes two main arguments. First, a republic must be small to function properly. Second, the American founding was a federation, not a centralized nation, and the Southern secession of 1861 was legal.

Livingston draws on Aristotle to argue that everything in nature has a proper size. A republic needs a representative assembly. If the population per representative is too large, representation becomes meaningless. If the assembly itself is too large, it cannot function. In a large republic, these two requirements conflict. Livingston notes that for over two thousand years, republics seldom exceeded 200,000 people. The republican tradition taught that a large territory would end in a centralized monarchy.

Kirkpatrick Sale echoes this, arguing that political units must be limited by human nature and experience. The case for small size is largely persuasive. Tyranny often comes with great size, though Cambodia is a striking exception. A small state can be monstrously evil.

An objector might argue that the scope of government matters more than its size. A strictly limited government over a large territory might be better than an intrusive small state. The authors could reply that limiting size is often the only way to keep scope small.

Livingston addresses the practical problem of survival. In a world of colossal states, how can a small republic survive? He notes that small states do not always lose conflicts. He points to federation as a solution, citing David Hume. Hume proposed a large republic composed of 100 small republics. Laws passed by the national senate required ratification by a majority of the constituent republics. This would join the advantages of small size with the fighting power of a large state.

This brings the book to its second contention. America was founded as a federation of republics, each retaining sovereign power except on delegated matters. Each state retains the right to leave the federation if its rights are violated. The 11 Southern states that seceded in 1861 acted legally.

Kent Masterton Brown defends this position forcefully. The Constitution is an agreement between the states. Each party surrendered some powers in exchange for common defense and commerce regulation. Each party retains the right to rescind ratification if there is a material breach. The framers understood the Constitution as a compact.

Federal aggrandizement prevailed over time. Thomas DiLorenzo explores how the old order was upset. Alexander Hamilton and his followers wanted centralized power. Chief Justice John Marshall helped with nationalist opinions. Marshall argued that the federal government was created by the whole people and could control all individuals within American territory.

DiLorenzo assigns Lincoln a large role in national consolidation. Marshall DeRosa agrees. Lincoln launched a war of aggression to re-found America without the Southern defilement. The physical evidence at Gettysburg showed that Southerners were not to have a government of their own.

For the contributors, secession is not a past issue. It is an essential remedy for today's overly large America. George Kennan called for America to be broken into a dozen constituent republics.

The book repays careful study by anyone interested in political philosophy or American history. The contributors deserve praise for their bold defiance of contemporary orthodoxy.