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If the South ceded without constitutional basis, then Lincoln and the North may have had constitutional grounds to prevent such secession.

What constitutional grounds can override the Declaration of Independence? If it is asserted to be more powerful than British Law when that was in effect, it certainly must be more powerful than any subsequent US Law.

After all, the authority to create the Constitution was conveyed by the Declaration. It is the declaration the created the Nation. It is the mother of all subsequent authority enacted by the United States.

For example, if Congress were to pass a law forbidding slavery, the South could show that the Constitution gave the feds no authority to pass such a law.

Lincoln was the Obama of that era. (Both Lawyers from Illinois who engaged in extra-constitutional executive actions. ) The Union was already routinely violating the constitution as regards fugitive slaves, and Lincoln was expected to issue all sorts of extra-legal "Executive Orders" designed to interfere with Slavery or any other thing as Lincoln saw fit.

Given his subsequent track record, this was not a foolish concern.

Unconstitutional federal action, which is probably at least around 80% of federal action today, is by definition tyranny and, therefore, destructive and should be resisted at every level. It is as true then as it is now.

It is worse now as a consequence of how successful it was then. We allowed the FedGov to cross many bridges back then that it should not have been allowed to cross. Much of our current mess is the consequence of the doctrines and principles that were birthed from that war.

Anchor babies is one of them. Banning Prayer in Public Schools is another. Abortion is a third. "Gay Marriage" is a forth.

In fact, there are a whole host of modern legal maladies which are the result of that conflict.

Me: If the South ceded without constitutional basis, then Lincoln and the North may have had constitutional grounds to prevent such secession.
You: What constitutional grounds can override the Declaration of Independence? If it is asserted to be more powerful than British Law when that was in effect, it certainly must be more powerful than any subsequent US Law.
After all, the authority to create the Constitution was conveyed by the Declaration. It is the declaration the created the Nation. It is the mother of all subsequent authority enacted by the United States.

Well, the D/I isn't considered to have mandatory authority but it certainly is an authoritative document to discover original intent and understanding of constitutional presumptions. It also also I believe lays a valid foundation for secession which could and should be used as a template for states considering secession.

I think I've changed my mind a bit on the validity of the South seceding from the Union because I now realize they should have, as was reflected in the D/I, laid a proper moral foundation and gone through a more step-by-step process of attempting through notification and nullification of unconstitutional federal acts to curtail further unconstitutional encroachment.

The D/I first lays the moral argument for freedom, prudence, and, finally, cessation. It then lists 27 specific grievances. IMO, the South should have begun by nullification of unconstitutional federal acts and taken it from there. As the D/I said, prudence dictates a certain longsuffering before final secession action is taken.

Fast-forward to today, I've told the Texas National Movement they should consider this before launching what likely could be a premature attempt at cessation.