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The Democrats at the time used “States Rights” as a term to protect slavery. As in a ‘a state’s right’ to have slaves. The Democrat Stephen Douglas even passed the Kansas Nebraska Act in 1854 which would potentially expand slavery North of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. As Kansas and Nebraska became states they could choose to be a slave state or not. That brought people like my family who were Underground Railroad people to Lawrence Kansas to fight against the expansion.
It also brought pro-slavery people to the state as well leading to the bleeding Kansas days. And spurred the formation of the abolitionist Republican party in 1854. One of my relatives even spoke at the Republican convention of 1856 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. New York Times called him the lion of the evening. Because he spoke about the fight in Kansas.
The Republicans originally chose the abolitionist John Charles Freemont as their presidential candidate in 1856. But he lost to the pro-slavery Democrat James Buchanan. Buchanan supported slavery in Kansas. And he was instrumental in the Dred Scott case.
This led to the Republicans electing another abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. This caused Pro-slavery Democrats to secede southern states from the Union in 1861 to protect their “state’s rights” to own slaves. Lincoln declared war without congressional approval (angering Democrats) to ‘protect the Union’ but he also believed war gave the President more power which is how he freed the slaves through emancipation.
After the war the Democrat ex-confederates created the klan to terrorize whites and blacks across the south to keep them from voting Republican. It’s first wizard was Nathan Bedford Forrest who attended the Democrat convention right before the first klan meeting.
Since we are a Democratic Republic, a Republic of Individual states. The term “States rights” has been used to protect State autonomy, the right to govern itself, concerning any myriad of issues. Such as each State determines it’s own election methods and regulations. At that time it was used to protect slavery. Each state used to have it’s own militia and armory because we were a Union of individual states.
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