All political legitimacy and independence is derived from the ability to enforce it, or other words
>Are you hinting, Mr. Butler, that the Yankees can lick us?
>Butler: No, I'm not hinting. I'm saying very plainly that the Yankees are better equipped than we are. They've got cannon factories, shipyards, coal mines, and a fleet to bottle up our harbors and starve us to death. All we've got is cotton and slaves and... arrogance.
Don't start a war you can't win, buttboy.
>B-but mah constitushon
Wars can't be fought in a courtroom.