With Ferguson, etc. I keep hearing about slavery and the evils of the white man, etc. And, I thought of something - that many, many white men died in our worst war ever in order to end slavery. Did they not?
If you think that the Civil War was about southern slave owners v.s good northerners with a conscience then you are sadly mistaken.
The majority of northerners, at the time weren't abolitionist nor Quakers and believed no more in equal rights for the blacks than the South. The War was basically about the rights of the whites in the south. It was about power, control and economics. The south was the economic backbone of this country. They owned the monopoly on most of the U.S natural resources and agriculture. They also owned the larger majority of farm land and let them tell it, owned the most "property" but most of all, they made up most of the U.S's wealth. However, the politics and laws were being governed in the north. Think about it, if you owned a business and you had a partner that only owned 25%, while you owned and operated the other 75%, would you like it if your partner told you what you could and could not do and made all the major decisions concerning the business or would you just take your %75 and do your own thing? The southerners eventually grew intolerant and the final straw was when Lincoln was elected president. That's when a lot of the southern states decided to break away from The Union and northern politics to start their own separate government which ultimately became the Confederate States of America.
I woke up this way...
reply
share
bbb984
8 years ago
What are you even talking about? The north had over twice as many people as the south.
reply
share
Born_Tomorrow
8 years ago
That's true. The south only had 30% of the free population (black/white). This is why the north had more political power. Most of the citizens, particularly the ones who had rights to vote, lived in the north, which is why the south could never win in any political conflict. The south was always out voted in politics yet the South had 60% of the wealthiest men in the country so most of the country's wealth came from down south. Do you now understand the discontent? The final straw was when Lincoln was elected president.
I woke up this way...
reply
share
bbb984
8 years ago
I had somehow thought you said the population was larger in the South. I get what you're saying, but it doesn't mean you're right. The reasons for the Civil War have been debated since the war started. How much of it had to do with what. If you don't think it had a lot to do with slavery, then I don't know what to tell you.
reply
share
Born_Tomorrow
8 years ago
If you don't think it had a lot to do with slavery, then I don't know what to tell you.
It's true that slaves benefited greatly from the war and gained their freedom. However that was not the sole purpose for the war. In actuality slavery was basically just a fish in a large pond.
I woke up this way...
reply
share