“Such a doctrine would not, till of late, have been palatable anywhere, on nowhere less so than where it is not most contended for.”
I can’t understand this sentence. Can someone translate?
Translation: The idea that a state could secede of its own will - equivalent to all other states voting to expel another state from the Union - is inconceivable, in particular in America, where the issue isn’t as contentious as it is elsewhere.
I would, if I cared, but I don't, so I won't.
The quote is from an 1833 letter to Alexander Rives. At the time the Nullification Crisis with South Carolina was going on, with talk in the state that they may leave the Union altogether.