Why did the southern states believe they hard the right to secede from the union?

Answer 1

When the United States were formed and the constitution ratified, all rights not expressly given to the federalgovernment were left to the states. The question of states rights were thecause of the civil war. Since there was nothing denying the right of secession, the states felt( andI personally believe rightly so) that they had every right to leave the union if they no longer wanted to be associated with the federal government. Many states were even lookingat the possibility of becoming part of other countries. The U.S. government could not have a foreign government so close to their border so they chose a devisive issue to rally around, knowing it would push the southern states to try to separate. This, and the war that followed formed the biggest part of the U.S. Governmentas we know it. They violated constitutional protections, suspended Habeas Corpus (Proof required to arrest a person) and levied income taxes (Still held by many to be unconstitutional) to "protect" the union.