https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Fbyk5ofjz/THE ORIGINAL EXIT CLAUSE:
Why America’s Founding Did Not Rule Out Secession—It Baked It In
In the summer of 1788 and the years that followed, four proud American States did something that every modern textbook, every civics class, and nearly every Supreme Court opinion since 1869 has quietly agreed to forget:
They Ratified the United States Constitution with an unmistakable, unambiguous escape clause, legally binding, written into the very act of ratification itself.
Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island did not simply “join” the new Union. They signed on with a loaded proviso: the moment the federal government perverted the powers delegated to it—turned tyrant, overreached, or trampled their liberties—they explicitly reserved the right to take those powers back. Not through “elections,” not through “amendments,” not through polite petitions, but by resumption: the Sovereign Act of Reclaiming what had only been loaned to their Deputized Agent called the United States, but never surrendered.
These were not vague rhetorical flourishes. They were formal, solemn declarations adopted by duly elected conventions speaking in the name of “We the People” of each State. They were printed, published, and sent to Congress alongside the instruments of ratification. And they used language so blunt that any honest reader in 1788 understood exactly what it meant: the Constitution was a Revocable Compact, a Treaty, not an unbreakable merger. Breach its terms, oppress the States or the People, and the grantors retained the legal and moral right to walk away with everything they had delegated—and more.
For seventy years those clauses sat in plain sight, quoted by Jefferson and Madison in 1798, brandished by New England during the War of 1812, invoked by South Carolina in 1832, and finally acted upon in 1860–61. Then, after Appomattox, they were buried—first by force of arms, then by force of narrative. The Union became oddly “indissoluble,” the Constitution “perpetual,” and the idea that four of the most influential ratifying conventions had insisted on an exit ramp was quietly memory-holed.
This is the story of the four escape hatches built into the foundation of the American Republic—the Clauses that prove the Constitution was born not as a suicide pact, but as a conditional trust, revocable the moment that trust was betrayed.
Ignore them at your peril. They have never been repealed.
Virginia Ratifying Convention (June 2–27, 1788, Richmond)
The Virginia Ratifying Convention was one of the most contentious and thoroughly documented of the state conventions, featuring prominent figures such as James Madison and Edmund Pendleton (Federalists) versus Patrick Henry, George Mason, and William Grayson (Anti-Federalists). The convention ultimately ratified the Constitution on June 26, 1788, by a vote of 89–79, but only after incorporating a declaration asserting the people’s right to resume delegated powers if abused. This “resumption clause” was a compromise to appease Anti-Federalists who feared consolidation and loss of state sovereignty. It appeared in the formal instrument of ratification as a declarative statement, not a condition making ratification contingent (Virginia rejected conditional ratification proposals).
Specific Resumption Clause in Virginia’s Ratification (June 26, 1788):
"We the Delegates of the People of Virginia… Do in the name and in behalf of the People of Virginia declare and make known that the powers granted under the Constitution being derived from the People of the United States may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression and that every power not granted thereby remains with them and at their will…"
This language emphasizes that powers are derived from “the People of the United States” (collectively), but resumption is framed as a remedy if the federal government perverts those powers “to their injury or oppression.” It reflects compact theory: the Constitution as a delegating instrument revocable upon breach.
Key Quotes from the Convention Debates on Resumption of Sovereignty:
Patrick Henry, the leading Anti-Federalist, repeatedly invoked the idea of resuming sovereignty or resisting federal overreach, viewing the Constitution as a potential threat to state and individual liberty. He was deeply skeptical of peaceful resumption mechanisms.
On June 5, 1788, responding to Edmund Pendleton’s suggestion that abuses could be checked by convening to recall powers:
"The honorable gentleman who presides told us that, to prevent abuses in our government, we will assemble in Convention, recall our delegated powers, and punish our servants for abusing the trust reposed in them. Oh, Sir, we should have fine times indeed, if to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms wherewith you could defend yourselves are gone… Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation, brought about by the punishment of those in power, inflicted by those who had no power at all?"
Henry argued that once military power was centralized, peaceful resumption would be impossible, implying a right (or necessity) of forceful reclamation of Sovereignty.
Henry further tied this to absolute Sovereignty on multiple occasions, warning that ratification without prior amendments would surrender Virginia’s ability to resume powers effectively: “If your American chief be a man of ambition and abilities, how easy is it for him to render himself absolute!"
George Mason echoed this, arguing the union was a compact among sovereign states and that violation would justify resumption. The clause was partly his influence, as he insisted on explicit reservations of sovereignty.
James Madison and Federalists opposed framing ratification conditionally but accepted the declarative Clause, viewing it as restating the right of revolution (from the Declaration of Independence) a State right of Secession.
In the Virginia Ratifying Convention, none other than James Madison conceded the Right of Secession:
“If we be dissatisfied with the national government, if we choose to renounce it, this is an additional safeguard to our defense.... A Rightful Secession, requires the consent of others, or an Abuse of the Compact, absolving the Seceding Party from all obligations imposed by it.”
—James Madison
The clause later influenced the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 (authored by Madison), which asserted states’ rights to interpose against unconstitutional acts, and precursors to nullification/secession ideas.
New York Ratifying Convention (June 17–July 26, 1788, Poughkeepsie)
New York’s convention was dominated initially by Anti-Federalists under Governor George Clinton, with Federalists (led by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Robert Livingston) in the minority. News of Virginia’s ratification helped sway votes, leading to a narrow 30–27 ratification on July 26, 1788. Ratification was “in full confidence” that amendments would be adopted (not strictly conditional), accompanied by a lengthy declaration of rights and principles, including a clear resumption clause. Anti-Federalists like Melancton Smith pushed for strong assertions of State Sovereignty, fearing the Constitution would absorb State powers.
Specific Resumption Clause in New York’s Ratification (July 26, 1788):
"That all Power is originally vested in and consequently derived from the People, and that Government is instituted by them for their common Interest Protection and Security… That the Powers of Government may be reassumed by the People, whensoever it shall become necessary to their Happiness; that every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States, or the departments of the Government thereof, remains to the People of the several States, or to their respective State Governments to whom they may have granted the same…"
This clause explicitly ties resumption to “the People” (therefore the States directly) when “necessary to their Happiness,” blending the right of revolution with reserved state powers. It also reserves undelegated powers to “the People of the several States.”
Key Quotes from Convention Debates on Resumption of Sovereignty:
Debates focused on whether states could secede or resume powers if the federal government usurped authority.
Melancton Smith (Anti-Federalist) argued for explicit reservations, warning that without them, States would lose Sovereignty: the clause was a direct response to such concerns.
Alexander Hamilton countered that true Sovereignty lay with the People nationally, but accepted the clause: “The States can never lose their powers, till the whole people of America are robbed of their liberties.” He viewed resumption as theoretical (right of revolution), not practical Secession.
The New York clause became a model for Rhode Island’s and influenced the circular letter calling for a second convention (amendments, leading to the Bill of Rights).
Rhode Island Ratifying Convention (May 1790, Newport)
Rhode Island was the last State to ratify, doing so on May 29, 1790, by a razor-thin 34–32 vote after repeated delays, town meetings, and federal pressure (including threats of trade sanctions).
The State had boycotted the Philadelphia Convention and initially rejected the Constitution in a popular referendum. The 1790 convention was brief and tense, with Federalists narrowly prevailing. Ratification included a declaration of 18 rights (mirroring New York’s closely) and proposed amendments, explicitly asserting Resumption as a check on federal overreach.
Specific Resumption Clause in Rhode Island’s Ratification (May 29, 1790):
In the Declaration of Rights:
3d That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people, whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness:- That the rights of the States respectively, to nominate and appoint all State Officers, and every other power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by the said Constitution clearly delegated to the Congress of the United States or to the departments of government thereof, remain to the people of the several states, or their respective State Governments to whom they may have granted the same…"
This nearly verbatim copies New York’s clause, framing Resumption as a popular right when “necessary to their happiness,” while reserving undelegated powers to States.
Key Quotes and Context from the Convention:
Recorded debates are sparse compared to Virginia’s or New York’s, but the convention echoed Anti-Federalist themes of state sovereignty. Supporters of the clause viewed it as preserving absolute State Independence in a Compact.
One delegate reportedly argued during deliberations that without such protections, Rhode Island would be “swallowed up” in consolidation. The narrow vote reflected deep divisions, with towns like Providence favoring ratification only after economic coercion.
These Resumption Clauses in New York, Virginia, and Rhode Island represented Anti-Federalist victories in asserting Compact Theory: the Constitution as a revocable delegation from Sovereign States/People. They implied that violation of terms justified reclaiming “absolute Sovereignty,” laying intellectual groundwork for later doctrines like nullification (Kentucky/Virginia Resolutions) and Secession (1860–61).
Federalists like Madison later downplayed them as mere restatements of revolutionary rights, not implying unilateral State action, but Madison found it difficult to escape his earlier words on Secession.
No other States included such explicit language in their ratifications, though North Carolina’s (1789) was similar.
North Carolina Ratifying Convention and Its Resumption Clause
North Carolina held two ratifying conventions:
First Convention: Hillsborough, July 21 – August 4, 1788
This convention refused to ratify the Constitution outright. Instead, it adopted a Declaration of Rights (26 articles) and a long list of proposed amendments, and adjourned without ratification. The key Sovereignty/Resumption language was contained in that Declaration of Rights.
Second Convention: Fayetteville, November 16 – 23, 1789
After the new federal government was already operating and the Bill of Rights had been sent to the states, North Carolina finally ratified the Constitution by a vote of 194–77. The instrument of ratification was simple and contained no separate Resumption Clauses, but the State explicitly reaffirmed and incorporated the 1788 Hillsborough Declaration of Rights as part of its understanding of the Constitution.
Thus, the famous North Carolina “Resumption Clauses” comes from the Hillsborough Convention of 1788, not the 1789 ratification itself.
Exact Text of the North Carolina Resumption Clause
(Hillsborough Convention, August 1, 1788 – adopted as the 1st and 20th articles of the Declaration of Rights)
1st. "That there are certain natural rights, of which men when they form a social compact, cannot deprive or divest their posterity; among which are the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."
20th. That the People have a Right to assemble together, to consult for their common good, to instruct their representatives, and to apply to the Legislature for redress of grievances. That the Sovereignty of the several States respectively is not surrendered or given up by the Constitution, but that all powers not expressly delegated by the said Constitution to the United States, or expressly prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People thereof; and that whenever the powers so delegated shall be perverted to their injury or oppression, the people have a right to resume the same."
(The last clause in the 20th article – beginning “and that whenever the powers so delegated shall be perverted…” – is the explicit Resumption Clauses.)
Sometimes it is quoted in slightly varying forms in 19th-century sources, but the official journal of the Hillsborough Convention prints it exactly as above.
Key Quotes from the Hillsborough Convention Debates on Resumption of Sovereignty
Samuel Spencer (moderate Anti-Federalist, later a judge):
“The Sovereignty of the States is not given away; it is only delegated… If Congress should make laws inconsistent with the Constitution, or oppressive to the people, the States have a Right to Resume the powers delegated.”
James Iredell (leading Federalist, future U.S. Supreme Court justice) tried to downplay the clause:
“The idea of resumption of delegated powers is nothing more than the right of revolution which every People must possess… It is not a right peculiar to States as States, but belongs to the People.”
William R. Davie (Federalist delegate who had been at Philadelphia):
“The gentleman talks of resuming powers. What powers? Those only which are delegated. The States retain all others… But to talk of resuming them by a single State is absurd; it must be the People of the United States collectively.”
David Caldwell (Anti-Federalist Presbyterian minister):
“If this government becomes oppressive, the People of North Carolina will not sit still and be slaves… The Clause declaring that we may Resume the Powers delegated when perverted to our injury is essential, for without it we would have no security.”
The Hillsborough Declaration (including the resumption clause) was printed and widely circulated in 1788–1789. When North Carolina finally ratified in November 1789, the Fayetteville Convention did not repeal or retract the 1788
Declaration; it simply declared that “having maturely considered the amendments proposed by Congress [the Bill of Rights], we do ratify the said Constitution.” This silence was interpreted by many North Carolinians (especially Jeffersonian Republicans) as leaving the 1788 reservations, including the Resumption Clause, fully in force.
Summary Comparison of the Four Strongest Resumption Clauses
State
Exact Resumption Language (key phrase)
Ratification Vote & Date
Virginia
“…may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression…”
89–79 (Jun 26, 1788)
New York
“That the Powers of Government may be reassumed by the People, whensoever it shall become necessary to their Happiness”
30–27 (Jul 26, 1788)
Rhode Island
“That the powers of government may be reassumed by the people, whensoever it shall become necessary to their happiness”
34–32 (May 29, 1790)
North Carolina (1788)
“…whenever the powers so delegated shall be perverted to their injury or oppression, the people have a right to resume the same”
Refused 1788; ratified 194–77 (Nov 21, 1789)
These four States – Virginia, New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina (in its 1788 declaration) – are the only ones that explicitly asserted a Right of Resumption of delegated powers in their formal ratification instruments or accompanying declarations. They became central citations in the Nullification and Secession debates of the 19th century.
In Liberty and Eternal Vigilance,
C.M.McAteer
April 10, 2002