"don't forget that New England was the FIRST to try that tactic."
Vermont, over maple syrup or something like that, wasn't it? Vermont secession must not have been viewed as too a serious blow, because I don't recall anyone bellowing on and on about it, and trashing the ancestors, of living Vermonters, who may or may not have been involved.
NO...during the War of 1812, or shortly before, the New England States were considering secession because of the disruption of shipping, etc. Secession wasn't just a Southern idea.