The loss of the War for Southern Independence had many bad consequences for the defense of state soveriegnty, besides the effect on modern perception. The Republican Party had contempt for the 9th and 10th Amendments. The federal govenment began growing and the nation became more Centralized, even before the War was over and in time, the Democrat Party was taken over by liberals advocating Big Government. In modern times, it was not the WBTS that confused Americans over the issue of States Rights, but rather the Civil Rights Movement, where Southern state governments attempted to deal with integration by means of force. It was a tragically bad idea, a tactic more in keeping with our federal masters. The images of Governor Fulbright and Governor Wallace trying to prevent black children from attending white quasi public schools was poison.
Today, when Arizona or other states assert their sovereignty, we are called bigots by opponents. They are not conjuring revisionist history about the WBTS, so much as recounting the violence and mistakes made during the Civil Rights era of the 1950's and '60's. It is twisted logic, but seems to have some leverage with our public educated society. Anyone remember Barry Goldwater and his stand on the 1964 Civil Rights Bill?
Goldwater supported desegregation and civil rights to varying degrees. He got himself into political hot water, however, with his opposition to legislation that would eventually turn into the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Goldwater was a passionate Constitutionalist, who had supported the NAACP and had backed previous versions of civil rights legislation, but he opposed the 1964 bill because he believed it violated states’ rights to self-govern. His opposition earned him political support from conservative southern Democrats, but he was detested as a “racist” by many blacks and minorities.