After passage of the Civil Rights Acts and Voting Rights Acts, the SC took a long hard look at their options. They could stay in the US of A or they could leave. Succession was not an option at that time so they established a long view toward 2054+/-. They developed a two prong strategy. 1. Infiltrate as many nodes of federal power as possible and try to get the offensive acts softened or repealed. 2. Prepare for a successful succession. I will address the first tomorrow, but today is all about armed rebellion.
There were 2 causes of the Confederate defeat. 1. The Great Army of the North and 2. The blockade of Southern ports which starved the South of guns, ammo and food. (Yes I am simplifying.) After every war the military budget was cut and the military was downsized. The SC took advantage of these budget cuts to remove the first great threat to a successful second succession by using the agents they had infiltrated into the Congress, the Supreme Court and the Military over the decades.
The SC prepared for succession by picking up the Great Army of North and moving it lock, stock and barrel into the possession of the South. Many Northern Army, Navy and Air Force bases were dismantled and relocated to southern climes under the guise of budget cuts, downsizing, and "all weather capability". After the Viet Nam war this transfer accelerated. There are only a few places now where the Federal Government could establish an Army to retake the South in the event of a second succession. It would have to start from scratch with men and weapons. While there are many trained veterans in the North, active duty members would be under the control of officers of questionable loyalty and in Southern hands on Southern bases. The first action of the SC would be to remove any non-white, non-Christian, non-loyal southerners from the equation.
The SC also used the Viet Nam War to develop the myth of Southern service in the military, sending good old boys into the services and officers training at a high rate. There are now a significant number of commanders of nuclear submarines who are loyal sons of the south. Not to imply that they are or ever would be disloyal to the US, but, in the first succession, a number of Confederate troops were members of the Federal Army and resigned commissions to join the Confederate forces. It is not unthinkable that the SC would order a sub commander to surface outside of DC or New York and use the threat of a nuclear missile attack to ensure that the second succession would not be resisted.
In addition, where the SC does not have physical control of the men and arms such as the major Air Force bases in the North they used another control method. The SC sent religious brain washers in the form of "evangelicals" into the Air Force Academy to gain control over the minds of the officers who would run the Air Force. Let's not forget that the major headquarters for the Air Force drone division is in Texas.
I do not want to imply that Southern Servicemen and women are disloyal. They have fought and died for our country and made great sacrifices for America. And most would be hard pressed to choose succession. However, the SC has a small but extremely dedicated cadre of followers in key positions. And they are spending massive amounts of money hammering home several key psychological levers; Evangelical Christianity, fear of the Federal Government, States Rights, Creeping Socialism and/or Communism, gun rights, and money "wasted" on Social Security and Medicare.
These levers are stirring up big waves on the political front and can cause decent rational people to do strange things. Even join the New Confederacy.