States’ Rights was much larger than the issue of slavery. From the earliest years of the country, politicians had separated into two camps: Jefferson and States’ Rights vs. Hamilton and Federalism (supremacy of a national government).
As we saw in an earlier blog post, the United States was established under states’ rights. This was logical because a state is an independent political entity. It is not part of a country, because it is one.
These arguments continued into the antebellum years. For instance, a great congressional debate in 1830 on the subject was argued by the great orator Webster from Massachusetts and the congressman from South Carolina. It’s remembered not for content as much as the oratory skill of Webster.
What I am saying is that States’ Rights is the overall argument, as the Confederacy declared. Slavery was only one policy in the disagreement.