Texas v. White

Texas v. White, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 700 (1869), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court.

After the Civil War, the Reconstruction government of Texas sued to recover bonds that the Confederate state government had sold. The defendants argued that Texas had ceased to be a state when it seceded and therefore could not sue. The case required the Court to determine the constitutional status of secession.

Significance

Chief Justice Chase held that the Constitution, in Article IV, Section 3, ’looks to an indestructible Union composed of indestructible States.’ Secession was constitutionally impossible — the Union was perpetual. While state governments could be overthrown by rebellion, the states themselves continued to exist. This established the constitutional principle that states cannot unilaterally secede from the United States, a question that had been unresolved since the Founding.

Category

US Federal Case Law