Righto. Sadly, that way of life was based on slavery, as they themselves repeatedly said.
Feel free to point out exactly how the central government was lording it over the South in 1860.
In actual fact, southern Democrats walked out of the Democratic Party convention in 1860 (twice) over refusal of northern Democrats to bow to their demand for a federal Slave Code imposing slavery in every territory, regardless of whether the inhabitants wanted it or not.
So there is actually a better case that the South seceded because they didn’t get the expansion of federal power they wanted.
South - One crop Cotton. Eli Whitney Cotton Gin streamlined cotton in being able to remove seeds more quickly. The South was not able to sell cotton to other countries. Cotton was only able to be sold to the Northern textile industry.
The south had no industry - there was no manufacturer of ammunitions, steel, or any other manufacturing. The South started its own iron works when the vote for secession went into place.
The South wanted to export cotton.
You mean they took the choice of having even less Federal power? How does that make any sense?