It gives the Grays a lot of comfort in pretending that the MAIN reason for those initial states bolting was something nuance and praiseworthy, and not something disgraceful even by 19th century standards.
It was pretty much in black and white that the power elite were terrified that Abe was going to free the people they held in bondage. That’s why they left. The guy wasnt even sworn-in yet!
Now for those other states? Maybe you can make a roundabout case that they left because they didnt wish to see federal force used to compel these states to remain in the union.
But if slavery wasn’t in their top 5 reasons, they make a crappy show of trying to prove it.
You have been deluded by your upbringing which portrays slavery as the worst of all human conditions and uses it then as a justification for the destruction visited upon the southern States.
I reproduce below for you a post of mine from this past April ...
I have an advantage over you that I have a lot of books on my shelf, and I've actually read some of them. William Lloyd Garrison notwithstanding, the abolitionist movement appears to me to have been a sideshow in the years leading up to the War between the States. I suggest you have a look at Perkin's compilation Northern Editorials on Secession. This is a two volume set running to over 1000 pages. The editorials are divided into 27 categories. Altogether 495 editorials are reproduced. 17 of these are categorized as concerning "The Morality of Slavery." In a quick scan I just did, it seems the vast majority defended slavery. Here's an example:
At the risk of being charged with assuming the unthankful character of apologists for slavery, we insist here that the system should be honestly and intelligently judged; that it should be credited with all that belongs to it of humanity, generosity, justice and other noble virtues. He who asserts that none of these belongs to slavery in any degree knows not of what he affirms; or wilfully falsifies the records of daily life. And let us add that ignorance on this point, considering the magnitude of the question involved, is hardly less criminal than deliberate falsehood. [Excerpt from "Justice Applied to Slavery" from the Providence Evening Press, characterized by Perkins as politically "Independent," October 25, 1860]Remember these are NORTHERN editorials. In the sample that Perkins picked as representative, fewer than four percent concerned the morality of slavery and most of those largely editorialized positively about it. Go to a library and check it out, or pick up a copy via bookfinder.com. (These books appear to be out of print.) It is Volume One that includes the Morality of Slavery editorials.
ML/NJ