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How did the Civil War settle the constitutional dispute over a state’s right to secede?

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Jackson's “Proclamation to the People of South Carolina” — Nullification Crisis U.S. Pres. Andrew Jackson issued his “Proclamation to the People of South Carolina” on December 10, 1832, in response to South Carolina's refusal to be bound by federal tariffs. In it Jackson asserted the supremacy of the federal government and rejected South Carolina's argument that it, as a state, had the right to reject laws made by the federal government that it deemed unconstitutional. Jackson's proclamation was an escalation of the Nullification Crisis, and some argue that it helped lay the foundation for the American Civil War.

The American Civil War resolved the constitutional dispute over a state’s right to secede by establishing, through military victory, that the United States is an "indestructible union".12

While Southern states had argued that their sovereignty granted them the right to leave the Union, the federal government maintained that such actions were treasonous. Following the war, the U.S. Supreme Court solidified this principle in the 1869 case Texas v. White. In its ruling, the Court held that the Constitution envisions an "indestructible Union, composed of indestructible States," meaning that no state possesses the legal authority to unilaterally withdraw from the nation.21

The Court further clarified that while states involved in the rebellion had temporarily lost the privileges of membership, they had not lost their status as members of the Union itself. This judicial decision effectively codified the outcome of the American Civil War, confirming that the federal government’s authority is supreme and that the Union is permanent.12