No State Wars

                    The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I, Section 10, Clause 3:  "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, … engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay."  This Constitutional provision guarantees to the people that no state will unilaterally start a war and thus draw the entire nation into a war that was never declared by Congress.

                    "The history of the nation illustrates the heated disputes which may develop between states or with neighboring countries.  Several border states have carried on perpetual feuds with Mexico over disputed land or law-enforcement policies.  Many states have also approached open warfare in their earlier history because of disputes concerning water, boundaries, extraditions, and cattle drives" (W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 504).