Final answer:
Lee would suggest that states can't secede from the United States at will because the Constitution establishes a union with a strong central government to maintain internal peace and manage interstate relations, preventing states from acting like independent nations.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the writings and debates that helped shape the Constitution, Lee would likely point out that states can't just leave the country at will because the Constitution establishes that the states are part of a single, unified nation. The Articles of Confederation, which preceded the Constitution, showed weaknesses such as the inability to manage uprisings or to represent the states as a single entity in external affairs. In reaction to these issues, the Constitution was designed to create a stronger central government that could maintain internal peace, and manage relations between states, as well as between the individual states and the federal government.
Specific clauses in the Constitution reinforce the concept of union. For instance, Section 10 Clause 2 prohibits states from acting like independent countries by charging taxes or tariffs on imports from other states, thus recognizing the power of the federal government to regulate interstate trade. Additionally, in Section 10 Clause 3, states are restricted from running their own armies or starting wars, and they can only manage militias with federal oversight, further reflecting the intent for states to not operate as sovereign entities but as members of a larger nation. Together, these clauses and the general framework of the Constitution suggest that if states could secede at will, it would contradict the fundamentals of the union, leading to practical challenges in maintaining economic stability, public safety, and national defense.