Scotty A Birge
My thoughts
Thu May 10 18:58:54 2001


My cut at the question:

Unfortunately all three are very intertwined. Slavery was issue that brought the State’s Rights discussion to the forefront. It was thought by southern states that slavery would be outlawed by the federal government. Southern states did not feel that the federal government had the right to enact such a law and infringe upon their livelihood (Slavery was an important economic component in some parts of the south but not in the north due to the types of economies). When the perceived anti-slavery candidate (Lincoln) was elected, the South saw that as a verification that the North (thru the federal government) would dictate laws and practices that the south did not agree with (and thereby compromising states sovereignty). The election (and the fears of what it might bring) brought about the dissolution of the nation which was only re-united by the war.

It is a mistake to say slavery was not a cause because obviously it was. Slavery was the spark that forced the issue of States vs Federal Governments to a head. Had slavery not existed, the south would not have succeeded and there would not have been a war. But it is also a mistake to say the war was a war to end slavery - because it wasn’t. It was a war to reunite the federal union of states. The ending of slavery was a consequence of the war. The Emancipation Proclamation was a political document which only freed slaves in rebelling states (border states which were slave states and still in the union were not affected and slavery was still protected - Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland). It took a constitutional amendment later to end slavery.

The war was fought to restore the union and was caused by the issue of State’s Rights sparked by the sectional disagreement over slavery. Sectionalism and pride fueled the debate and caused a million men to take up arms in the south and fight and die when very few ever owned a slave. The invasion of Federal troops was seen as something to be resisted. By and large, simplistically, northern troops fought to restore the union and southern troops fought to resist a perceived invader.

Very complicated question and issue.