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Sir Harold Nicolson’s writings on federalism, peace, and war are among his most important—and underrated—contributions to international theory. From the mid-1930s, with the European security situation deteriorating rapidly, Nicolson became increasingly interested in how war could be banished from international affairs and enduring global peace attained. In particular, he explored (or was influenced by) the approaches to a united Europe and world government of the advocates of Federal Union and Pan-Europa, and the exponents of functionalism. His philosophy of federalism has many parallels with the ideas of Immanuel Kant. Yet, Nicolson’s fusion of idealism and realism (to form liberal realism) constituted a new approach to resolving these seemingly intractable problems.

This chapter explores the notion of “democratic federalism” by drawing on the story of the British organization known as Federal Union. In particular, it considers how the political legacy of empire slowly lost its centrality in the federal debate and gave way to a new federalist approach based on social and economic justice. After providing a historical background on Federal Union and its attempts to elucidate its goals and, especially, the meaning of democracy in a federal context, the chapter examines the visions of democratic federalism promoted by Lionel Curtis and Clarence Streit. It then looks at the growing resistance to the imperial model of organizing the global political space and concludes by highlighting the limits of Federal Union’s approach to the European colonies and their future within the new federal system.

This chapter examines how democratic federalism evolved as an idea aimed at global socioeconomic transformation by focusing on the debate at Federal Union, which sought to overcome the legacy of empire by emphasizing the economic and social emancipatory function of the democratic federation. It discusses the rise of a new idea of democratic federalism that shifted from a constitutional structure to safeguard the declining British Empire to a regional scheme for socioeconomic change. This transition was shaped in debates among its members, notably Lionel Robbins, Barbara Wootton, and Friedrich A. Hayek. The chapter first considers Robbins’ economic federal thought in the late 1930s before exploring the rise of “welfare” as a key feature in the economic federalism of Wootton. It also analyzes Hayek’s argument that federalism was the best guarantee of democracy, along with his debate with Wootton.

This chapter describes the presentation of the ordinance of secession in front of the Mississippi Secession Convention by Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II on January 9th. The sections of the ordinance stated the repeal of all the laws and ordinances established by the Federal Union in the state of Mississippi, and that the said state “shall be a free, sovereign, independent state.” It also allowed Mississippi to form another “Federal Union” with other southern slave states that had likewise seceded, eventually becoming the Confederate States of America. The chapter then describes the opposition of the cooperationists, a group who were against the idea of secession as it would lead to war. However, the majority of the delegates supported secession from the Union, and eventually, most of cooperationists voted for the ordinance as well. In the end, the final vote was eighty-four to fifteen, ultimately withdrawing the state from the Union.

This chapter looks into the first two days of the Mississippi Secession Convention in Jackson, when the delegates formed the Convention's organizational structure and began formal talks on the secession from the Federal Union. The delegates met at the capitol building on January 7th at 10 o'clock. The opening prayer was led by Charles Marshall, which was then followed by elections. After three ballots, William S. Barry from Lowndes County was elected as president. Barry then led the Convention through its further organization as the delegates made other appointments. Later, at the behest of Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II, Barry appointed a committee of fifteen people with the instructions to prepare a secession ordinance for the withdrawal of the state from the Federal Union, with a view to the establishment of a new Confederacy. Discourse continued on the next day but was adjourned by noon in order to prepare the ordinance.

This chapter describes the final ordinances passed by the delegates of the Mississippi Secession Convention before adjourning. By this time, the delegates realized that the last major item remaining before the Convention was economic in nature. They knew that the state needed additional funds in the event of war against the Federal Union. The first important ordinance that they tackled was the Ways and Means Committee's bill that would raise revenue to support the military. Debates focused on amendments that would tax slaves separately from other property and the taxation of money loaned out of state as a possible source of funds for the war effort.

This chapter examines the roles of the delegates of the Mississippi Secession Convention during the American Civil War. Even before seceding, the state's inhabitants were ready for the upcoming war against the Union, as the majority of their economy relied on slavery. The same sentiment ran through the Convention delegates. In all, sixty-nine of the one-hundred delegates served in some capacity, with the majority in the Confederate Army. A few held less militaristic positions, serving in the state troops, in the state legislature, in the Confederate Congress, and as Confederate judges. Unfortunately, victory was not meant for them as the Union prevailed in the end. The delegates watched their state crumble around them and certainly felt a major responsibility for what was happening, looking back at their past actions in shock. They quickly argued such lines of thought, those ideas collectively becoming known as the “Lost Cause” myth after the war.

This chapter describes how we can apply service and selflessness to our secular organizations and even our personal lives with equally explosive results by making sure we have a high, overarching mission worthy of being served. It begins by focusing on the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based Truliant Federal Credit Union and how its mission has dramatically enhanced the company's bottom line. The chapter shows that service and selflessness works not only for the Trappist monks of Mepkin Abbey but also for secular organizations like Truliant. It explains why so many corporate mission statements seem vague and irrelevant and fail to inspire, and how a radical reorientation of priorities contributes to monastic business success. The chapter also looks at the Trappist monastery of Gethsemani in Kentucky and examines Mepkin Abbey's overall mission through the concept of a membrane. Finally, the chapter considers entrepreneurship as a way to create goat-rodeo opportunities for personal growth in real time under the pressure of real-life challenges.

This chapter describes the “formal withdrawal” of the state of Mississippi from the Federal Union, as the delegates of the Mississippi Secession Convention started to work on the various committees' draft ordinances. It also discusses the recognition of the other southern slave states that seceded, a huge step into the formation the Confederacy. Alongside these developments however was the growing divide between delegates as major leaders of groups within the Convention began to line up differing ideologies. Almost every ordinance that was presented faced opposition. One notable example of this was Warren P. Anderson's call for postponement on the military ordinance offered by the Committee on Military and Naval Affairs under James Chalmers. Anderson believed that war would not happen immediately and that there were many deficiencies in the bill. This continued until Tuesday on January 15th when the delegates of each county finally signed the ordinance of secession.

This chapter describes the ratification of the newly made Confederate constitution by the Second Mississippi Secession Convention. Ratification would make the state a part of the Confederate States of America, under the helm of President Jefferson Davis. Each of the notables of the Convention such as Jacob Yerger, Wiley Harris, and Samuel Gholson made numerous arguments such as the need for haste, the power of the Convention to take such action, and the fact that delay and submission to another convention or the people were simply a guise for “reconstruction,” or an attempt to return to the Union. Others such as Harris made arguments about economics and foreign recognition. After four days of constant debate and discourse, the Convention met on Friday, March 30, to vote for the ordinance of ratification. In the end, the ordinance passed by a wide margin, seventy-eight to seven, making Mississippi part of the Confederacy.

As the 1930s began and the Great Depression took hold, the Irish had committed to running for election to the League Council. Success in the elections meant they took their seat as the relative calm of the 1920s was replaced by turbulence. The Irish were faced with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and failure to achieve progress on disarmament. At home, further progress in hollowing out Commonwealth status though an imperial conference in 1930 and the Statute of Westminster in 1931 were not enough to stem the political fortunes of Fianna Fáil. The government was further preoccupied with a ‘Red Scare’ linking communism and the IRA, prompting renewed efforts to cultivate the Vatican. A greater focus on economic diplomacy was prompted by growing protectionism in Europe but a decade after independence the Irish were understandably cool about Aristide Briand’s plans for European Federal Union.

This chapter examines the passing of important ordinances of the committees by the delegates of the Mississippi Secession Convention that were vital to the upcoming Confederate convention in Montgomery, Alabama. The delegates saw the need to hurry and get a military ordinance passed and a military board established so they could organize and defend the state in the upcoming war against the Federal Union. An even more important issue was the Southern Confederacy Committee's ordinance in which the delegates would spell out their participation in the Confederacy. In addition, they also needed to select the state's delegation to the convention of the Confederacy. The chapter describes the presentation of five ordinances, one of which was the Military Board, which would have entire control over all the arms and military property of the State. The Convention elected Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederate States of America, as major general.

This chapter describes the consequences of the actions of the Mississippi Secession Convention's delegates, which led to Mississippi's secession from the Union. The immediate effect of secession was a horrible war that left Mississippi a torn and wasted land in 1865. Yet Mississippians quickly began to rebuild, partly due to the efforts of the very men who had led the state into secession. Aided by a very lenient initial policy during the Reconstruction period, the delegates quickly accepted pardons from the Lincoln government and began rebuilding the state along the same racially slanted societal construct in effect before the war. Over the following decades, most of these secession leaders grew to love the United States again, taking their part in its government and society. Even Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who grew up in Mississippi, changed his stance and supported the Union.