I think you nailed most of the lost cause “beliefs”. The fact that these beliefs are not supported at all by the writings and speeches at the time is of no consequence. Our neo-confederates on this site are historical mind readers that truly know what the southern leaders meant.
I want to draw attention to one part of Lincoln’s New Haven speech because it supports my contention from a previous thread that the slavery issue and the abortion issue have many similarities. With the democrats being just as wrong then as they are now.
“You say that you think slavery is wrong, but you denounce all attempts to restrain it. Is there anything else that you think wrong, that you are not willing to deal with as a wrong? Why are you so careful, so tender of this one wrong and no other? You will not let us do a single thing as if it was wrong; there is no place where you will allow it to be even called wrong! We must not call it wrong in the Free States, because it is not there, and we must not call it wrong in the Slave States because it is there; we must not call it wrong in politics because that is bringing morality into politics, and we must not call it wrong in the pulpit because that is bringing politics into religion; we must not bring it into the Tract Society or the other societies, because those are such unsuitable places, and there is no single place, according to you, where this wrong thing can properly be called wrong!”
Modern Democrats use to admit that abortion was, if not wrong, at least not desirable. Bill Clinton’s “safe,legal, and rare”, statement. Just as Democrats before 1850 said slavery was wrong. Now though democrats say that abortion is a positive good and empowering to women. They attack anyone who won’t agree with them. Just as democrats then started attacking anyone who would not agree with them that slavery was a positive good.
It’s amazing to me that the issue might change, but the arguments and tactics the democrats use are the same.
You picked a wonderful passage to make the comparison. I first noticed the similarities between the two issues when I went through Dred Scott a few years back. Just as with Roe v. Wade the justices performed Olympic-level logical gymnastics to arrive at a predetermined outcome.