SOUTHERNERS AGAINST SECESSION: THE ARGUMENTS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL UNIONISTS IN 1850-51.

Focuses on the rejection by Southerners of the idea of secession as a cure for alleged Northern infringements on Southern constitutional rights. Efforts of unionists in the South in helping stave off the crisis in 1850; Congressional debate over the legitimacy of slavery's extension into the territories arising during and after the Mexican War.