Lincoln's illegal use of federal power erased the compact or union of states. At the moment he ordered one set of states to invade another, the U.S. Constitution was null and void. Lincoln's government had dissolved the old Union, and by conquering the Confederate States, created a new nation, whose now powerless states, are inferior to an ever growing and powerful centralized government in Washington. Lincoln rightfully deserves the title "The Father of Our Country"; since George Washington was the father of a confederation of sovereign states which ceased to exist on April 15th, 1861.

P.S. Shay's Rebellion was not a legal precedent for Lincoln to follow. The Constitution only gives the federal govenment power to "aid" a state in putting down a rebellion, not to force a state to obey U.S. federal laws.

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David Upton