Excerpt from Confederate States Vs: John H. Gilmer, Substance of the Opening Argument of John H. Gilmer, With Authorities; And Opinion of Judge Halyburton Construing the Sequestration Act, &C May it please the court. Early in September last, I informed the Receiver of this court, in writing, of all the property or interest, of every kind, which I held in any hands, or was under my control, belonging to alien enemies, as designated in the Sequestration Bill. I, at the same time, informed the Receiver that I should deny and contest his light to take possession of the property so in my hands. To test the questions arising under my objections, the writ of garnishment, with the accompanying interrogatories, has been regularly served on me; and in answer to that process, I now appear before this honorable court. I shall endeavor to sustain the three following propositions: I. The Provisional Congress had no constitutional power to pass the Sequestration Bill. II. The bill itself is in violation of the Provisional and Confederate Constitutions, in derogation of the common law, and utterly subversive of international polity. III. The instructions and interrogatories prepared and propounded by the Attorney General, are in violation of the spirit of constitutional freedom; subversive of individual vested rights; regardless of professional integrity, and against the positive and well established rules of civilization, sound morality and wholesome governmental action. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Americans take for granted that government does not have the right to permanently seize private property without just compensation. Yet for much of American history, such a view constituted the weaker side of an ongoing argument about government sovereignty and individual rights. What brought about this drastic shift in legal and political thoug...