This was far from an impossible outcome. In any event, had secession been permitted to stand, the breakup of the Union would have continued. There was no such thing as a constitutional right to secede and for whatever reason, the South never invoked the right of revolution. Even if it had, it would be hard to justify such a claim today. When the Americans invoked their right of revolution in 1776, they sought to establish a form of government that would protect their equal natural rights.
Libertarians are correct in condemning the growing power of the federal government.
Given the affinity of libertarians for Lockean liberalism, their favorable disposition towards Southern secession, an act based on Calhoun's rejection of the principles of the American Founding, is hard to fathom. Mackubin Thomas Owens, an adjunct fellow of the Claremont Institute, is professor of strategy and force planning at the Naval War College in Newport, RI and a Marine infantry veteran of Vietnam. Subscribe to the Claremont Institute's Precepts to receive the latest news and information about national politics and other topics via e-mail.