The two were most certainly linked c. 1860, as the words of the CSA founders of the CSA prove. The CSA was intended to be a slave-holding republic forever. It represented the ultimate denial of the founding principles of the Union.
One can today, make an abstract argument in favor of unilateral secession, but one cannot rationalize that secession as practiced by the southern states was anything but fundamentally based on racial prejudice. Slavery was an evil practice, and a government dedicated to the propagation of slavery was no less evil.
I don't deny that Rhett and some of the Southern Leaders had slavery in mind, but there were other primary reasons.
Several states, such as Virginia, seceded when Lincoln called for volunteers. They felt the Federals were overstepping their constitutional authority, by trying to coerce seceded states back into the Union. Stonewall Jackson is one such person that comes to mind. he didn't approve of slavery, but felt Virginia was justified in secession.....
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