You've said you think secession is legal, but you weren't convinced that the South had a good reason to do so. Their reason was simple. They didn't feel like the Union was beneficial to them. They felt that the government was being used to plunder the South and enrich the North. Yes, this did include the handling of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which never should have passed anyhow, but also with the collection and use of tariffs as well as political trickery.
Probably the easiest way to figure out what they didn't like is by looking at their legal framework, the Confederate Constitution. It was nearly identical to the Federal Constitution but there are some very important changes. Would they have made these changes if they felt that the original agreement were fair and just? If all that they wanted was simply to govern themselves, wouldn't they have just seceded and used the exact same constitution? But they didn't. They wanted to govern themselves better and they made the changes they thought appropriate to accomplish that goal.
Some of the changes are:
Internal Improvements (Corporate Welfare) was expressly forbidden.
The Executive Branch had one term limit of six years.
State legislatures could impeach Federal (meaning Confederate Government) Officials within their state.
Slavery was expressly legal but the international slave trade was expressly illegal. (this was the case with the US since about 1802)
Legislation intended to promote one industry over another (picking winners and losers) was expressly forbidden.
Any bill or resolution could only deal with a single subject which had to be stated in the title.
It was easier to amend.
And, of course, the Preamble stated "We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character..."
In regards to how they left, there is no written process for how a State should leave the Union. Of course, since Secession is in fact a power that a person or group of people (State) can and have made use of and it is not restricted in anyway by the Constitution, it is reserved to the States or People, as is evidenced in the Tenth Amendment. But, since there was no laid out framework for how to do it, they had to decide the best way to go about it. What did they decide? They decided that since the vote to ratify the Constitution was fair and just, the only fair and just way to unratify the Constitution would be the same process; and that's exactly what they did. They held conventions and voted on it. And then, just as the American Colonies sent their former unifying sovereign fair and just notice of their departure, so did the Confederates. These are known as the Ordinances of Secession.
Keep in mind, this was all done by the first seven states to secede. Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. After Lincoln called for an invasion of these seven states (without Congress' approval), Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia seceded as well because they strongly disapproved of Lincoln's actions.
I'm not sure there's much reason to go further. All that's left is destruction and the death of the Founders' America (two of them).
_________________
"The principle, on which the war was waged by the North, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals."
-- Massachusetts Abolitionist, Lysander Spooner
Probably the easiest way to figure out what they didn't like is by looking at their legal framework, the Confederate Constitution. It was nearly identical to the Federal Constitution but there are some very important changes. Would they have made these changes if they felt that the original agreement were fair and just? If all that they wanted was simply to govern themselves, wouldn't they have just seceded and used the exact same constitution? But they didn't. They wanted to govern themselves better and they made the changes they thought appropriate to accomplish that goal.
Some of the changes are:
Internal Improvements (Corporate Welfare) was expressly forbidden.
The Executive Branch had one term limit of six years.
State legislatures could impeach Federal (meaning Confederate Government) Officials within their state.
Slavery was expressly legal but the international slave trade was expressly illegal. (this was the case with the US since about 1802)
Legislation intended to promote one industry over another (picking winners and losers) was expressly forbidden.
Any bill or resolution could only deal with a single subject which had to be stated in the title.
It was easier to amend.
And, of course, the Preamble stated "We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character..."
Originally posted by: The Declaration of Independence
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
In regards to how they left, there is no written process for how a State should leave the Union. Of course, since Secession is in fact a power that a person or group of people (State) can and have made use of and it is not restricted in anyway by the Constitution, it is reserved to the States or People, as is evidenced in the Tenth Amendment. But, since there was no laid out framework for how to do it, they had to decide the best way to go about it. What did they decide? They decided that since the vote to ratify the Constitution was fair and just, the only fair and just way to unratify the Constitution would be the same process; and that's exactly what they did. They held conventions and voted on it. And then, just as the American Colonies sent their former unifying sovereign fair and just notice of their departure, so did the Confederates. These are known as the Ordinances of Secession.
Keep in mind, this was all done by the first seven states to secede. Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. After Lincoln called for an invasion of these seven states (without Congress' approval), Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia seceded as well because they strongly disapproved of Lincoln's actions.
I'm not sure there's much reason to go further. All that's left is destruction and the death of the Founders' America (two of them).
_________________
"The principle, on which the war was waged by the North, was simply this: That men may rightfully be compelled to submit to, and support, a government that they do not want; and that resistance, on their part, makes them traitors and criminals."
-- Massachusetts Abolitionist, Lysander Spooner