States rights was the cause; slavery was the occasion. (you can't ignore the fact that a)slavery was protected by the Constitution and b)slaves were property, also protected by the Constitution)
Think about it with this hypothetical: the state of California wants to allow same sex marriage. A president is elected who opposes same sex marriage and has verbalized his intentions to amend the Constitution to prohibit same sex marriage. The people of the state of California say, no thanks; we'll secede. Now, did they secede because they're all a bunch of flaming fags that want to marry each other or did they secede because of states rights (10th Amendment)?
As for the northern degrading itself, how? The northern states weren’t engaging in slavery.
WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT?!?!?
You need a history lesson: Slavery in the North
I vote that they would secede because they’re all a bunch of flaming fags.