Lincoln put it best - half-slave and half-free won't work. They were legally immiscible ( unmixable ). The abuse of "states rights" in text by Southrun Lost Cau

Lincoln put it best - half-slave and half-free won't work. They were legally immiscible ( unmixable ). The abuse of "states rights" in text by Southrun Lost Causers is invalid and should be discarded - the Fugitive Slave Act and the Dred Scott decision clearly showed that they wanted Federal enforcement of that "state's right". You have the emerging legal unsustainability of this, coupled with slaves being the only asset of value left in the South. So, war, war.