'As some in the South attempted to overthrow the US Constitution, I don't think they were concerned about centralized gov't, as they set up one for themselves. If they wanted out, they should have followed cooler heads, and done so using the US Constitution and the law, rather than the musket. By resorting to the sword, they contributed to making the federal government more centralized. Just the opposite of their hopes.'
This statement shows how little you know about what happened. The South was trying to peacefully secede. They voted on it in each state, it passed referendum, they wrote out the reasons for secession and presented them to Washington. Lincoln had moved troops down to Ft. Sumter in anticipation of just such a move by the South, however when the South had seceeded Ft. Sumter was no longer a friendly fort, it was being occupied by "foreign invaders". Lincoln also made the unprecedented move of basically starting a war by calling up troops to go and fight.
The South didn't want to overthrow anything! They didn't want to be a part of the Union anymore and wanted the right of self determination guaranteed to them under the intent of the Founding Fathers, and Lincoln et al said "Nope you can't go anywhere and we (the Federal Government) will decide what is good for you!".