Their cause was wrong, but it’s also wrong to call them traitors. At the time, it wasn’t established that succession was not allowed. There was no precedent to draw upon. Suppose, when the Constitution was being formed, the southern states had been told that, once in/always in, no matter what. They most likely never would have joined the union, there would have been no civil war, and slavery could have lasted another 40 years.
Uh, you mean other than the separation from the United Kingdom which was a Union? We formed a Confederacy? We were a bunch of slave owning states? Had our armies led by a slave owning general from Virginia? Union forces (the British) offered freedom to the slaves if they would serve in the Union Army?
Any of that ringing a bell? Seems like a pretty good precedent for the idea that states can leave a Union, form a confederacy, and govern their own affairs.
The Declaration of Independence (our founding document) says that it is the right of all people to "dissolve the political bonds". It says this right is given by God.
So I disagree that there wasn't Precedent, and I disagree that the answer as to whether or not states had the right to do this hadn't yet been established. Yes, it was established in 1776.
The US Constitution, Section III, Article 3: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
Are you suggesting that these individuals (all general officers in the Confederate Army) didn’t levy war against the United States?
Damn Good Point !
It was/is Nowhere established !