“But in one of those Constitutions it was legal for a state to end slavery.”
In the United States Constitution it was legal for not just a state to abolish slavery, it was legal for the entire United States to abolish slavery peacefully through the amendment process which was thoughtfully included and agreed to by everyone.
But you and I have no entirely satisfactory explanation why no federal legislator - south or north - ever introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to peacefully abolish slavery in the United States prior to Lincoln’s invasion of the South.
A nation that has the constitutional ability to peacefully abolish slavery - and refuses to use it - is no better off than a nation that doesn’t have the constitutional ability.
Because ratifying such an amendment would require 46 states, assuming all 15 slave states voted against it. Please do the math and then let me know if that is satisfactory enough.
A nation that has the constitutional ability to peacefully abolish slavery - and refuses to use it - is no better off than a nation that doesn’t have the constitutional ability.
That ability did not exist in the U.S. in 1860.
Still in 15 states of the Union slavery was illegal. The states of the Confederacy did not have that right.