Fremont journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County [Ohio]) 1853-1866, 1864-12-02
AbIERIt,AN CIrIzEs,s ALLErsfAN6B.

1 AMERICAN CITIZENS ALLEfslANeEi
Certain I Deu,oers6cl' 9eaders IN tAe byal
States are mahifestIy disposed to Uphold -lkel
doctrine of State rights maintained by the
Southern rebels. But hold moment. If that
doctrine is true the South are not 'rebels," and
should not be 30 called. The whole question
in dispute between the North aud South is this:
| To what is the citizen first allegiance due TO
the Federal Government, or to the Government
4 Of his State?
| Now that the elsss;ssus q are @ over; and have re-
suited in the triumph of the Union cause, no
partisan motives can be attributed TO the dis
cussion of this question. We can look at it
calmly and dispassionstelg. At tEleesame time
il will constanfly =. need zastention hereafter
Many sitizeEs base never particularly exanin-
| ed it. Yet All need to u6tierstandit Coming
generations need TO be educated in the right di-
rection respecting it. Every family should
| have the true doctrine.
|. The basis of our Union is the Constitution of
| the United States. If that makes us a mere
| confederacy, we are such, and nothing more
| If that makes our Datio6a, we Saise
nation. Undoubtedly tho people Of the Uni
ted States have the right to change the form of
lsgoyernrnent ST they choose But no man, OF
state has the right to- declare the laws of the
United States Of no effect. Parties, cliGaes, or
| individual states may not oyerturn it at their
will.
| In order Ito, discover what the Constitution
has to say on the subject Of the citizen allegi-
lance will cite the Preamble and the sixth Ar
ticIe. fhepoiuss and capitals are thoss of stlis
original document Tho preamble as iollgws:
"we'the People Of the United States'in otEef.
to form more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility; provide, for the
common defence, promote the general Welfare,
| and secure the Blessings ofLiberty to ourselves
and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
OoNsrIrUTIoN for the United States Of Aps RIGA.
Now, in regard TO this it is 70 be noticed that
the document reads 1--WE the People" not We
the States. The Constitution was proposed to
the people for their adoption, and as their own
instrument. There can be but one legitimate
Ineaninggar al this 3 It e that the cosstitltide
| is Che basis of government created by The peO-
| pie, not by the states. Hence every man owes
his first allegiance to the general goverhnient,
not to that of his state ~ 8Fb4s 10
| But the sixth Article is even more explicit
1t says, "This Constitution, and the Laws Of the
United States which shall be made in Pursuance
thereof; and all Treaties made, which shall
be made under the authority of the United
States shall be the supreme Law Of the Land;
and the Judges in every State shall be bound
thereby, auy Thing in the Constitution ar Laws
ofany State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
Nothing could be more directly to the point
| than this. These two portions of the Constitu-
tion ought to be printed in every paper in the
country, and brought to the notice ofevery child,
that all may know that the supreme law is not
the law of their State but the law of the United
States. Ifthere should be any conflict between
Estate law and United States law the former
must yield. In 1850, when the Fugitive Slave.
| Law was passed our Democratic neighborswere
| forward TO inform us that it was the supreme
law of the land and must be Obeyed, whether we
were willing or not. 1t is with bad grace
that they now claim that State law may annul
| the laws of the United States. Thus the Con-
stitution itself destroys at one blow the doctrine
Of State rights. After the Constitution was
formed by theSGonvention at Philadelphia, it
was sent to the several States for ratification
A Convention was assembled in Virginia to
consider it. In that Convention was powerful
party opposed to ii, led by Mason and Patrick
Henry The advocates of States rights ought
to read their objections to the new Constitution.
Twill quote the principle one. 1t was as fol-
lows-"That it was consolidated, instead of a
confederated government; that, in making it so,
the delegates at Philadelphia had transcribed
the limits of their commission changed funda-
mentally The. relations which the States had
chosen to bear 70 each other; annihilatsds their
respective sovereignties; destroyed the barriers
which divided them; and converted the whole
| into one solid empire" What does this mean?
1t means that the Constitution was supposed by
Mason and Henry and others to erect national
government and was opposed for that reason
But the opposition was of no avail. The Con-
stitution was ratified in Vfginia because twas
the basis of a consolidated government. Well
who are the upstarts that now undertake to say
| that Mason and Henry were mistaken? Did
not those men understand the document The
Constitution was most thoroughly discussed in
every State, before it was ratified. 1t was rat
flied for the reason that the people wanted a
government stronger thapstheold confederation:
1t isswell for usthat The government they feund-y
! ed was no weaker, for then we should have
| been mass of fragments at this time. ItshOuld
| be borne in mind, too, that there were two par
ties in constitutional Convention at Philadel-
phia, one in favor Of a strong national govern
nients and the other in favor Of mere eohfedef-
acy To the former belonged the delegates of
every State South of the Potomac. North
I Carolina included what is now Tennessee, and
Georgia the present States of Alabama and Miss
issippi. They expected soon to have more peO-
pie than all the rest of the States together
They wanted strong government for they ex-
pected to have preponderating influence
But when they found their peculiar institution
dragging them into the background they orig
mated the notion that the Ce1stitution does
not form the States into q nation. Originally,
however, there seems to have been no difference
| of opinion on this point. There is no other
reasonable conclusion, therefore, than this, that
| the Constitution of the United fStateswas de-
signed to be the instrument of the people, and
| to form strong government. 1t made itself
the supreme law of the land, and was understood
| by all the Fathers to be such. There can be no
doubt, then, that the American citizen owes his
first allegiance to the national government, not
that of his State. And, if this be So secession
is an offence against the duty Of allegiance, and
| if secession be entered into with warlike acts
and preparations, it is treason.
There is no doubt of the prOpriety of calling
the Southern insurgents "Rebels," and "TTait-
ors." They have levied war against the gov
eminent to which they owed, and now owe al