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To: iowamark
Several Northern states, exercising their states' rights, decided that they would not return escaped slaves to their self-styled "owners".

The South disagreed, believing that the Federal fugitive slave law should preempt states' rights.

Thereupon the Southern states seceded in order to form a new federal government of their own, under which states were not free to make their own laws regarding slavery.

So yes! the Civil War originated out of a states' rights issue.

6 posted on 08/11/2015 1:19:17 PM PDT by Eric Pode of Croydon (Life's a bitch. Don't elect one.)
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To: Eric Pode of Croydon; rockrr
Eric Pode of Croydon: "So yes! the Civil War originated out of a states' rights issue."

Interesting summary, largely correct, except that we don't really know how actively a few Northern states resisted the Federal government's efforts to enforce the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.

So far as I can tell, the whole issue of "runaway slaves" was hugely exaggerated by Deep South Fire Eaters to encourage secession.
In fact, there cannot have been more than a rare handful of Deep South slaves who escaped via Underground Railroad to freedom in the North.
Distances were too far, and all along the way waited squads of slave-catchers looking for anybody they could grab and sell back into slavery.

Southern Border States (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky & Missouri) were a different story, of course.
There slavery was much weaker to begin with, freedom much closer, and many former slaves had already been freed by their white masters.

Point is: those Deep South Fire Eaters who complained the most about Federal non-enforcement of Fugitive Slave laws were the least likely to be adversely affected by it.

272 posted on 08/15/2015 6:33:03 AM PDT by BroJoeK (a little historical perspective...)
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