What an evil fascist. No one is more critical of the Confederacy than I am, but they DID believe that the Constitution permitted both them to own slaves and to leave the Union.
The country disagreed fundamentally about what the Constitution said, but they were not “traitors” in any sense of the word.
“..but they were not “traitors” in any sense of the word.”
So stop with the being so critical.
The senior officers of the Confederate States Army were mostly West Point grads. They took the honorable step of formally resigning their commissions in the United States Army before heading south and forming the CSA.
In both cases, I think I agree with them. Per slaves, the amendment needed to be implemented, and per secession, well, might made right. The north banged them into submission, and the issue was settled.