One of the most influential commanders of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, General John B. Gordon's writings during the Civil War gave an impression of his perspective on the rights of the States and the Union. In his memoirs, he views that States were active participants in the creation of the Union. He goes on to state that States had acquired their independence and sovereignty from the mother country and had not lost them upon admission into the Union. And thus questioned the North to find in that Constitution one sign of legitimacy for invasion and coercion of a sovereign state.
