2. States' Rights in Theory and Practice

The compact theory holds that self-governing sovereign states have rights to protect themselves, whereas the nationalist theory holds that nullification or secession would be insubordination. Nationalists view states as a single whole with no boundaries and a single aggregated people. The First Continental Congress was an advisory body only creating resolutions, not laws. In 1775 they met again and continued to do so until 1781. They had no powers of coercion. A multiplicity of colonies sent delegates occasionally. Nothing done by this Congress is inconsistent with the idea of separate and sovereign states. “We the people” was originally “We the states”. Lecture 2 of 10 from Thomas Woods' The Truth About American History: An Austro-Jeffersonian Perspective.