General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Is it possible to destroy everything of Confederate origin? [View all]Yupster
(14,308 posts)If it was legal, then Davis and Lee resigned their offices in the US, became citizens of a foreign country and therefore could hardly be traitors to the US.
That was up to the Supreme Court to decide.
The Constitution was silent on secession. The Tenth Amendment says any powers not granted to the federal government belongs to the states. His argument was that the states had the right to secede, they had exercised that right and therefore he was an imprisoned head of a foreign state which had been conquered and was being occupied illegally by the US Army.
Yes, I do protest at calling anyone guilty who claims his innocence and demands a trial where he can make his argument.
Or you can just shoot defendants that you are sure are guilty anyway. That would typically be an argument heard more on other sites than ours though.