Juliet, an ardent secessionist from Kansas, maintained that the Declaration of Independence enshrined the right of secession, which the election of an antislavery president gave southern states reason to invoke. John Halliburton [her cousin] disagreed, insisting, ‘I can hate [Lincoln] and still love the Union.’ Furthermore, Halliburton argued, 'no state has a right to secede’ because the Constitution followed and therefore superseded the Declaration, and its spirit forbade secession. Besides, the Declaration must be treated with caution.
'Why if we had to do as the delcaration of Independence says we should have to assert that all men were born free and equal… and fight for N—– equality.’ Better to abide by the Constitution, 'the bulwark of slavery,’ and stay in the Union, Halliburton concluded.
”- What This Cruel War Was Over: Soldiers, Slavery, and the Civil War, Chandra Manning.