Scotty A Birge
I agree
Sat Jun 16 12:30:09 2001


I agree that Washington fought the war to reunite the states in the Federal Union. That is historically accurate. Many statements of the various parties, including Lincoln many times, expresses the wish for reunification and not for abolition. Lincoln's qoute was to the effect that he would free all, free none, or free some, if the union would be restored. The war was not fought by the federal government as a war of abolition. However, I have not read of any other driving force for southern secession save the protection of the institution of slavery. I would be most interested in any information you might have that would add to my understanding of this issue. Many ills have been discussed after the fact, but the documentation that I have seen from the period, only mentions the fear that slavery would be forcefully ended in the nation as a whole - not one mentions overbearing finacial policies (I am speaking of the 'reasons for secession' that many states issued with the declarations of dissolution).

The political leaders in the south left the union to preserve slavery in the states. The political leaders went to war against the southern states to restore the union (the motivation to the extent of the passion has never really been explained - was it national pride, was it the ecomonic loss of the southern states, was it something else?... probably a combination of it all - plus Lincoln did not want the nation to end on his watch - I havent seen anything concrete on this issue).

History is history and we can only go on what they said and did at the time. When Gen Cleburn advocated freeing slaves to become soldiers, the Davis administration (and many others) rejected it - that shows that the overriding motivation, even beyond southern independence was the continuence of the institution.

Sorry this was so long, but as a southerner, as one who's ancestors fought for the south, and as a student of history, I think it is important try to get to the truth, reguardless of how it may seem.