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"The confederates excersized power over other states?"

The people in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota who depended on commerce provided by the Mississippi river probably thought so.

Secession was not some benign act that only effected the citizens of the states who seceeded.

Besides there is NOTHING in the 10th amendment that says that the powers that belong to the states can only be exercised within their own boundaries.

But actually I do see the folly of MY arguement(unlike supporters of unilateral secession).

The people in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota who depended on commerce provided by the Mississippi river probably thought so.

The following was passed by the Confederate Congress on February 25, 1861:

The Congress of the Confederate States of America do enact, That the peaceful navigation of the Mississippi river is hereby declared free to the citizens of any of the States upon its borders, or upon the borders of its navigable tributaries; and all ships, boats, rafts or vessels may navigate the same, under such regulations as may be established by authority of law, or under such police regulations as may be established by the States within their several jurisdictions.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, All ships, boats, or vessels, which may enter the waters of the said river within the limits of this Confederacy, from any port or place beyond the said limits, may freely pass with their cargoes to any other port or place beyond the limits of this Confederacy without any duty or hindrance, except light money, pilotage, and other like charges;...

The people in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota who depended on commerce provided by the Mississippi river probably thought so.

Odd that they did not realize their dependence on the South when they were clamoring to exclude their influence in the territories, ain't it? I mean, after all, Lincoln clearly understood fedgov's dependence on Southern commerce to the extent that he felt he would "have no government!"