So, I found the section below in a news article today. I think it very appropriately states the problem. I wish everyone had such a good understanding of historic events surrounding the civil war. Unfortunately, the article also goes on to lump everyone in “the South” into one big group that borders on racist, backwards supremacists. So, it’s not perfect, but these points (buried in the middle, mind you), were excellent.
It’s enough to make me acknowledge that maybe there are some rare exceptions to the fact that people are stupid.
“Why did 2% of our population suffer death or maiming? Over the issue of state sovereignty and the interpretation of the Tenth Amendment (ratified in 1791). The text is simple enough: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” But we also have the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the Constitution, which say, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
Simply put, 11 southern states seceded from the Union in protest against federal legislation that limited the expansion of slavery claiming that such legislation violated the tenth amendment, which they argued trumped the Supremacy Clause. The war was indeed about protecting the institution of slavery, but only as a specific case of a state’s right to declare a federal law null and void.”