http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp

Well that there's South Carolina's Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union. The first half is just a history lesson and the second actually starts listing their grievances. Now I'm not going to take the time to nitpick each states declaration, but they all pretty much modeled theirs after SC's so I'd say it's a fair example. Upon reading it, it pretty much just says they're pissed at the yankee states for not upholding their Constitutional obligation (which was to return escaped slaves and let slaveholders move about their states with their slaves in tow).

Specifically, "We affirm that these ends for which this Government was instituted have been defeated, and the Government itself has been made destructive of them by the action of the non-slaveholding States. Those States have assume the right of deciding upon the propriety of our domestic institutions; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the Constitution; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery; they have permitted open establishment among them of societies, whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and to eloign the property of the citizens of other States. They have encouraged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes; and those who remain, have been incited by emissaries, books and pictures to servile insurrection."

I mean that's a whole paragraph dedicated to solid QQ about northern states not obeying the rules. In essence, they (northern states) were demonstrating the yankee form of States Rights by NOT complying with those constitutional articles.

So if by Federalism you mean they seceded because they thought the federal government was becoming too intrusive and heavy handed (ie the slow transfer of powers from the states to the federal government) then no, I'm afraid you are incorrect (according to the document that they mailed to everyone at the time).

They also neglect to mention in their recantation of early American history that SC was the first state to rabble raise over the loosey gooseyness of the Articles. They were the leading voice behind a more powerful central (federal, lul) government.

TL;DR: In the document that SC sent to everyone saying "we gone bitches" they complain about the yankee states not obeying the federal government not the federal government over-regulating the [Southern] states.

Edit: For those interested this is a very informative read. It's a bit slow because it's primarily comprised of the actual historical documents.