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Garfield’s Twisted Idea Of State Sovereignty

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JCBBy Jerry C. Brewer: Through the last decades of the 19th century, federal propaganda continued to chant the mantra of consolidated government. In his Inaugural Address on March 4, 1881—20 years to the day from Lincoln’s first Inaugural—James A. Garfield echoed Lincoln’s notion that the union was “perpetual,” asserting its “supremacy” over the States.

“The supremacy of the nation and its laws should be no longer a subject of debate. That discussion, which for half a century threatened the existence of the Union, was closed at last in the high court of war by a decree from which there is no appeal—that the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof are and shall continue to be the supreme law of the land, binding alike upon the States and the people. This decree does not disturb the autonomy of the States nor interfere with their necessary rights of local self-government, but it does fix and establish the permanent supremacy of the Union.”

His boast that, “the supremacy of the nation” was beyond debate was the Republicans’ way of telling Southern States their sovereignty was gone. Perhaps he did not intend to do so, but Garfield admitted the North waged a war of conquest when he said the Constitution was binding upon the States by force of arms, “from which there is no appeal.” He ignored the fact that the Constitution bound the federal government and limited its powers. The Constitution was designed to protect the sovereignty of the States from federal tyranny—not the other way around. In an exercise of semantic gymnastics, Garfield said, “this decree (the war) does not disturb the autonomy of the States . . . but it does fix and establish the permanent supremacy of the Union.” There is a difference between “autonomy” and “sovereignty.” A State’s “autonomy” means it is self-governing, but a State may be self-governing without sovereignty. “Autonomy” and “sovereignty” are not synonymous. The Britannica World Language Edition of Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary defines “autonomy” as, “The condition or quality of being autonomous; especially the power or right of self-government.” Of the word “sovereign,” it says, “Free, independent and in no way limited by external authority or influence: a sovereign state” An autonomous State may govern itself but be limited by a higher authority. A sovereign State’s power is limited by no authority higher than the will of its sovereign people. Modern States are autonomous, but they are not sovereign. Lincoln could not have said it better. The Union is permanently supreme as a result of his war and absolute power over the States finally rests in the hands of the federal government. Ironically, Garfield, who parroted the Lincoln/Webster creed of “perpetual union,” met the same fate as Lincoln at the hands of an assassin.

Editor’s Note: Read more about Mr. Brewer’s state sovereignty book, “Dismantling the Republic”, at our recent post: Author sends State Sovereignty Book to 640 State Legislators



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