Now, here's a question for you: The constitution mentions rebellion several times, allowing for suspension of habeas corpus, abridging the right of participants in rebellion from office, and authorizing payment of "pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion." Now, what is the difference between what the southern states did and what the framers imagined as rebellion or insurrection when those clauses were written? My understanding of what they mean by a Rebellion is something short of a collection of states. We already know that they regarded a confederation of states as an entity of sufficient legitimacy as to assert a right of separation.
Recall also, the Original governing document was the Articles of Confederation.
My understanding of what they mean by a Rebellion is something short of a collection of states. So again, you claim there's a magic number below which it's not okay to declare that you're another country now, and above which it is okay to do that. What is that number and where is it defined?