South Carolina led the charge to secession with its declaration on December 20, 1860, stating the reason it left the United States was “the increasing hostility on the part of the non-slave-holding states to the institution of slavery.” Mississippi, my dad’s home state, seceded, arguing that “our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery—the greatest material interest in the world.” No lies. No obfuscation. In fact, the secessionists argued that slavery was a positive good for both the enslaved and the slave owners.
