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By 1861, South Carolina ("Too small for a republic; too large for an insane asylum") had already seceeded. The concept of the "confederated republic" and the "limited compact" harken back to South Carolina's favorite son, John Calhoun ("...a smart fellow, one of the first among second-rate men, but of lax political priciples and a disordinate ambition not over-delicate in means of satisfying self.").

The contention that the United States was a league of confederated, sovereign states, and that the Constitution was a simple, non-binding compact has been discussed here many a time. There is no sense in re-hashing that issue. In your quotation, you present the Governor's after-the-fact "spin" for South Carolina attempting to seceed. The principles of the CSA, and how it was to differ from the USA, are laid out in the CSA Constitution. The text is easily found on the net. As time allows, I will be glad to provide other contemporary quotes.

Thank you for your research into the issue.

No need to bother; I have a copy of the Confederate Constitution at hand.

Insofar as your dismissal of Governor Pickens' address, here are his comments before secession, if you care to read.

....
"Any thing tending to change or weaken this government and the subordination between the races not only endangers the peace, but the very existence of our society itself.

"We have for years warned the Northern people of the dangers they were producing by their wanton and lawless course. We have often appealed to our sister States of the South to act with us in concert upon some firm and moderate system by which we might be able to save the Federal Constitution, and yet feel safe under the general compact of union; but we could obtain no fair hearing from the North, nor could we see any concerted plan, proposed by any of our co-States of the South, calculated to make us feel safe and secure.

"Under all these circumstances, we now have no alternative left but to interpose our sovereign power as an independent State, to protect the rights and ancient privileges of the people of South Carolina.

"This State was one of the original parties to the Federal compact of union. We agreed to it, as a State, under peculiar circumstances; when we were surrounded with great external pressure, for purposes of national protection and to advance the interests and general welfare of all the States equally and Alike; and when it ceased to do this, it is no longer a perpetual union.

"It would be an absurdity to suppose it was a perpetual union for our ruin. The Constitution is a compact between co-States and not with the Federal Government. On questions vital, and involving the peace and safety of the parties to the compact, from the very nature of the instrument each State must judge of the mode and measure of protection necessary for her peace and the preservation of her local and domestic institutions, South Carolina will therefore decide for herself, and will, as she has a right to do, assume her original powers of government as an Independent State, and as such, will negotiate with other powers, such treaties, leagues or covenants, as she may deem proper."

So as is evident, any assertion that Pickens' post-secession speeches do not represent the truth and the reality of pre-secession thinking can be shown as invalid by virtue of his consistancy.

However, that is not the point. Your assertions have been debated ad nauseum here, with everyone remaining unconvinced of the truth of the secession. By reading the documents, it is evident that seceding states had many reasons of their own to take that step. The important question is what prompted Lincoln to order armed warships to Charleston while everyone knew it would cause war.