One question I always have about this sort of thing is what nature of country do latter day Confederates think there ought to be these days? I certainly decry the constant infusion of power to the Federal Government. I personally think the only thing that alters that is really loud, sometimes threatening protests that force the godless to toss us the occasional bone.
However, there was a sort of glue that sealed the big picture in 1865. If modern Confederates had their way, obviously, that would never have happened. Yet we wouldn't have had two nations ultimately. Didn't Georgia threaten to secede from the Confederacy in 1864 or 1865? Maybe eventually, Macon County would have had to secede from Georgia. And so on and so on. This could have been played out all over the continent. Is that a good thing?
If you think so, you must really feel encouraged by the liberal tactics of these days. The folks like Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota) want to do everything in their power to balkanize this continent to the nth degree. They are slowly succeeding. At this rate, the first new nation won't be called the Confederate States of America, but the affect will be the same. You'll have Latin Noth America in a large part of the old US. California will likely need to be split in two. You can have Liberal Land in the North East. We can likely think of at least two or three other ways to split this baby up. The best part is, however we split it, it will only be the beginning.
To me there isn't any part of US history more interesting than the Civil War Era. What I like about it is it was an ERA that produced great people, giants really, on both sides. I suppose if I could wave a magic wand, there are some aspects of it I would like to revisit and change. Since I can't do that, I will continue to take refuge is some of the great thousands of stories that came out of the area, some tragic and some exhilarating.
Lincoln took liberties that were theoretical abuses of power. He DID want to win. I wish people who hate him would tell me what they would have done differently if they were in his place.
I would have said,"Well, the declaration says that the legtimacy of government comes from the consent of the governed and the vast majority of the south no longer consents to this union. So they have the right to "institute new government" that suits them better. If they think they can do it let them have a go. I recognize the acts of secession and wish you success. We will stand ready to aid in any way we can and look forward to the future. Sincerely, Ole Abe"