There can be made a reasonable argument along these lines, but after it was over, how can you argue that they didn't have to comply with article IV, section 2?
Slaves were used to support the Confederate War effort.
As a matter of fact, without slaves to aid them, the Confederacy’s demise would have been a whole lot faster than it was. How many masters of runaway or missing slaves presented themselves to Union Army headquarters to claim their property as required by Art IV, section 2.
DiogenesLamp: "There can be made a reasonable argument along these lines, but after it was over, how can you argue that they didn't have to comply with article IV, section 2? " -- [Fugitive Slave Returns]
So, like all Democrats our DiogenesLamp wishes to have his cake and eat it too -- he wants a "natural right of secession", he wants to be in rebellion against the United States, he wants to wage bitter war for years and years against the United States, refusing any offer of peace short of Unconditional Surrender, and then he still wants full protection of all provisions of the constitution, including the slavery he fought & lost defending!
Of course with Union slave-states it was no big problem, since by early 1865 nearly 90% of those slaves had been granted freedom, one way or another.
But in Confederate states DiogenesLamp wants us to legally restore slavery during the eight months between Appomattox and ratification of the 13th amendment!!
Really?? Are you that insane?
Do you believe your own lies about "money, money, money" so much you'd expect Northerners, having fought for years and died by the hundreds of thousands to preserve the Union and abolish slavery, were suddenly going to say, in effect, "oh, never mind, we didn't really mean it, you can have your slaves, just keep the cotton money, money, money moving through New York"?!
Come on sir, you're not that stupid, why pretend to be?