Secession Is Unlawful
I hold that, in contemplation of
universal law, and of the Constitution, the union of these States is perpetual....It follows....that no
State, upon its own mere motion, can lawfully get out of the Union; that resolves and ordinances
to that effect are legally void; and that acts of violence, within any State or States, against the
authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances.
I, therefore, consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is
unbroken.
First Inaugural Address
March 4, 1861
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