Like other Northern states, Maine passed personal liberty laws that in effect nullified part of the Constitution and the fugitive slave law. Rightly or wrongly, Northern states were not living up to their part of the Constitutional bargain.
It seems a bit hypocritical of them to claim that they "devotedly cherish the constitution" out of one side of their mouth, while working against the Constitution out of the other.
Oddly, in the mid-18th century it was northern -- not southern -- states who were having their rights trampled by an over intrusive federal government. This can be seen by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act and the Dred Scott decision.
But laws that keep men in chains as chattel slaves should be opposed -- you agree with that, don't you?
The Dred Scott decision was not based on anything in the law or precedent and remains one of the worst Supreme Court rulings ever -- right up there with Roe v. Wade.
You are perilously close to making excuses for the slave power.
Walt
Exactly! They twisted the Constitution to suit themselves. By doing so they were violating the Constitution that the South lived by.