The Confederate States seceded in order to preserve slavery. This is an established historical fact. Now everyone shut the f**k up.
Southerners had become increasingly paranoid over the previous 3 decades, and the more things went on the more they thought everybody was out to get their slaves.
It doesn't matter the slightest what Lincoln was actually going to do of his Presidency - for them, the mere notion of having a Republican in the White House was enough of a menace to their precious "institution".
