Why did the South feel justified in seceding from the United States? -The newly elected president wanted to abolish slavery, but the Constitution protected slavery.
-Even before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President, he promise to immediately abolish slavery.
-Texas, the first state to secede, stated that slavery was moral and legal, and should remain that way.
-The North had refused to enforce things like the Fugitive Slave Act or export Southern goods.

-The newly elected president wanted to abolish slavery, but the Constitution protected slavery.

Explanation: When Abraham Lincoln became president, Southerners decided that their best course of action, rather than additional compromise, was to form their own country.

basic principles: federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, judicial review, representative democracy, limited government, rule of law, individual rights and responsibilities, consent of the governed, majority rule, popular sovereignty, equal protection.