OF T UNIVE RECONSTRUCTION CHAPTER I THE THEORY OF RECONSTRUCTION The Conception of a "State" in a System of Federal Government -The Different Kinds of Local Government Provided for in the Constitution of the United States-Local Government Under the Constitution of the United States-"State" Destructibility in the Federal System of Government-The Effect on "State" Existence of the Renunciation of Allegiance to the Union-The Idea of "State" Perdurance-The Constitutional Results of Attempted Secession. The conception of a State" in a system of fedment. eral govern THE key to the solution of the question of Reconstruction is the proper conception of what a "State" is in a system of federal government. This is a conception which is not easy to acquire, and which, when acquired, is not easy to hold. The difficulty lies, chiefly, in the tendency to confound the idea of a "State" in such a system with a state pure and simple. Until the distinction between the two is clearly seen and firmly applied, no real progress can be made in the theory and practice of the federal system of government. Now the fundamental principle of a state pure and simple is Sovereignty, the original, innate, and legally unlimited power to command and enforce obedience by the inflicion of penalties for disobedience. On the other hand, he nature of a "State" in a system of federal gov 1 |