It really wasn't. And far from 'dying', it was exploding in its horrific scope. In 1840 there were 2.8 million slaves. Only 20 years later, in 1860, there were over 4 million. The southern economy was dependent on slaves, and were so committed to the practice that they'd willingly murdered hundreds of thousands of US soldiers to preserve it.
Read the secession documents of South Carolina. They make it very clear that the issue they're fighting for is slavery.
The 'strong state' model carefully and cruelly preserved the most heinous abuses of basic human liberty imaginable. A complete theft of freedom. Beatings, torture, mutilation, rape and murder.......generationally. So children born into this liberty crushing hellscape by the millions.
And for roughly 70 years the strong state model nurtured, protected and expanded this brutal cessation of basic liberty.
On what moral basis should that have survived?
The strong state model had a fatal flaw: the Bill of Rights didn't apply to it. So there was basic rights there were not guaranteed for huge swaths of the State population....and accompanying abuses that were beyond horrific.
There was no recourse. The federal government had no means to preserve the liberty of American citizens from the tyranny of the State governments. As the Bill of Rights only applied to the Federal government.
It was assumed that States would preserve the liberty of their citizens, so there was no need for a Bill of Rights that applied to them.
As history would demonstrate, that assumption was WILDLY inaccurate. And it led to some of the most vile and horrific abuses of basic human liberty that our species has ever born witness to.
It was only with the expansion of the Bill of Rights to apply to the States, that the Federal government had the authority to protect the rights of Federal Citizens living in States from the tyranny of State government.
And that was long overdue.
