The legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passes the Nullification Act of 1809, denouncing the Embargo Act as “unjust, oppressive, unconstitutional.  While this State maintains its sovereignty and independence, all the citizens can find protection against outrage and injustice in the strong arm of State government [and] not legally binding on the Citizens of this State.”  Because Massachusetts’ economy depends on foreign trade, its businesses are not willing to adhere to the EA, as it is injurious to their pursuit of prosperity.

       NOTE: This is an application of the principal of State sovereignty as advocated by then Republican (constitutionalist) Vice President Thomas Jefferson, in the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798  Yet as President Jefferson had lobbied Congress for the Embargo Act—a contrary, Hamiltonian position, which he had formally despised—as a means of avoiding war against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

       [restored 11/20/2021]

       Lawful, peaceful secession must be reconsidered as Lincoln’s war was not a proper Article V amendment, public opinion notwithstanding; however we should work to inform the public that a return to the Law is within its power; To wit: The collapse of the Soviet empire, et seq. –– JL