In fact, Confederates opposed states’ rights — that is, the
right of Northern states not to support slavery. The South’s
opposition to states’ rights is not surprising. Until the Civil
War, Southern presidents and lawmakers had dominated the federal
government. The people in power in Washington always oppose
states’ rights. Doing so preserves their own. This argument is
bizarre. Franklin Pierce, the 14th President (1853-1857) was
from New Hampshire and declared support for the Confederacy
during the Civil War. James Buchanan, the 15th President was
from Pennsylvania, and believed secession was illegal AND that
going to war to stop it was also illegal, Zachary Taylor,
initially from Virginia, was elected as a Whig, and was the last
President to hold slaves while in office. As to secession,
Taylor noted persons "taken in rebellion against the Union, he
would hang ... with less reluctance than he had hanged deserters
and spies in Mexico."