Secession, State, and Liberty

The political impulse to secede - to attempt to separate from central government control - is a conspicuous feature of the post-cold war world. It is alive and growing in Canada, Russia, China, Italy, Belgium, Britain, and even the United States Yet secession remains one of the least studied and least understood of all historical and political phenomena. The contributors to this volume have filled this gap with wide-ranging investigations - rooted in history, political philosophy, ethics, and economic theory - of secessionist movements in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

1. The Secession Tradition in America 2. When is Political Divorce Justified? 3. The Ethics of Secession 4. Nations By Consent: Decomposing the Nation-State 5. Secession: The Last, Best Bulwark of Our Liberties 6. Republicanism, Federalism, and Secession in the South, 1790 to 1865 7. Yankee Confederates: New England Secession Movements Prior to the War Between the States 8. Was The Union Army's Invasion of the Confederate States a Lawful Act? An Analysis of President Lincoln's Legal Arguments Against Secession 9. The Economic and Political Rationale for European Secessionism 10. A Secessionist View of Quebec's Options 11. How to Secede in Business Without Really Leaving: Evidence of the Substitution of Arbitration for Litigation

David Gordon