In the 1861 Virginia secession debate, former governor Henry Wise put his pistol on the podium informing the conference that Virginian militias had taken up arms against the federal government. The Western Virginians demanded to know by what democratic authority did he bypass the legislature and even the governor of the state. Wise and his allies explained that this was war and democracy was too slow for the needs of the state.
The governor (Wise's allies had plans to kidnap him if he did not go along) ultimately retroactively sanctioned the attacks, but this breach of trust ultimately caused West Virginia to secede from Virginia.[1] Likewise, in Nevada and now Utah, Bundy and his allies have taken up arms against the federal government without any democratic authority from Nevadans or Utahns.
[1] Freehling, William W. and Craig M. Simpson, ed. Showdown in Virginia The 1861 Convention and the Fate of the Union (Charlottesville; University of Virginia Press, 2010) 193-195
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