So says you. Nobody is defending slavery. Secession was legal and still is legal, you don't have to like the reason for it, it could be over tulip bulb futures.
There is nothing wrong with defending the South in her secession bid, wanting a decentralized National Government is the most conservative value there is. To criticize the South for seceding makes you a hypocrite, relishing in her defeated makes you a state-ist, a big government goon.
The south seceded because they were afraid their property was going to be taken away.
This wasn’t about guns, it certainly wasn’t about land or anything else, it was about PEOPLE. You can’t deny that. The very proclamations issued by the states of the CSA are all over it.
And then, they fired the first shot.
You can screech about states rights as much as you want, but the concept has been warped to fit your very limited worldview while the slaves were still being held.