The South disagreed, believing that the Federal fugitive slave law should preempt the Northern states' rights.
Thereupon the Southern states seceded in order to form a new federal government of their own, under which states were not free to make their own laws regarding slavery.
So yes! the Civil War originated as a states' rights issue. It's just that the North was the pro states' rights side........
Several Northern states, exercising their states' rights, decided that they would NOT actively enforce the federal law which required the return of escaped slaves to their self-styled "owners".
The South disagreed, believing that the Federal fugitive slave law should preempt the Northern states' rights.
Thereupon the Southern states seceded in order to form a new federal government of their own, under which states were not free to make their own laws regarding slavery.
So yes! the Civil War originated as a states' rights issue. It's just that the North was the pro states' rights side........
It is a requirement written into the US Constitutions. It may have been a state right to refuse to hand back fugitive slaves prior to the US Constitution, but after having ratified it, they must be regarded as having agreed to those terms.
The US Constitution required states to give back fugitive slaves. They could have objected to this requirement prior to agreeing to it, but once they agreed to it, they can no longer refuse to follow it. They voluntarily gave up that "state right."