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.