Ah, but it did.
The federal government sent in federal marshals to Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts to enforce the fugitive slave acts.
The SC Secession Ordinance and Declaration is propaganda, not fact.
This proves my point that the Southern States really used a strong federal government via Dred Scott and the Kansas Nebraska act to constitutionalize slavery and make it the law of the land.
Correct. The slave states had no problem with sending armies of federal marshals into free states to recover fugitive slaves using a process that was directly violative of both the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
"States' rights" was an empty rhetorical slogan, not a serious program. The Confederacy proved this by not adding any significant new powers for the states in its constitution, by instituting a national draft, by instituting a national income tax, and by instituting a national welfare program.
When they saw a rising anti-salvery party gained power, they pulled out of the Union and proclaimed state rights.
Indeed.
And the fact is that Lincoln, who had not even taken office, had pledged that he would enforce the fugitive slave acts once in office.
Here was the real issue: given the election results in the Congress, the Democrats would have retained a majority in both houses - but if they had proposed the extension of slavery into the federal territories, Lincoln would have vetoed it and their majority would have been too small to override the veto.
No longer could 20% of the white population dictate terms to the other 80%. A Lincoln administration would admit one more free state, and the ability of the slave states to exercise a de facto veto on every aspect of national life would be gone.
The deck had so long been unfairly stacked in their favor, they could not handle a level playing field.
Nice reply- but I think you help support our point...