[
3]
Legal justification of the South in secession.
the
Southern States have shared the fate of all conquered peoples.
The conquerors write their history.
Power in the ascendant not only makes laws, but controls public opinion.
This precedent should make the late Confederates the more anxious to keep before the public the facts of their history, that impartial writers may weigh and properly estimate them in making up the verdict of an unbiased posterity.
Besides, as they have been the objects of persistent misrepresentation, and authentic records have been perverted to their prejudice, their descendants are liable to receive and hold opinions hostile and derogatory to their fathers.
In this series of volumes, pertaining to the history of the
Confederate States, all concerned wish to disclaim in advance any wish or purpose to reverse the arbitrament of war, to repeal the late amendments to the
Constitution, to revive
African slavery, or secession as a State right or remedy; or to organize any party, or cultivate an opinion, which, directly or indirectly, shall inculcate disloyalty to the
Union, or affect the allegiance of citizens to the
Federal government.
Let it be stated, once for all, that this argument as to the right of the
South to be protected in property in slaves and the exclusive right of a State to be the final judge of the powers of the general government and to apply suitable remedies, is based on the
Constitution and the rights of the
