I think it is fair to say the south were belligerents and
by airborneirish (2023-12-29 11:07:17)
Edited on 2023-12-29 11:14:37

In reply to: "For the fundamentalist, slavery is front and center;  posted by EricCartman

Cannot Reply Return to Political

their cause was slavery plain and simple. As such, an answer that fails to lead with such a statement is indeed one framed to not piss off mouth breathing southerners who can't get over the fact that they lost in an immoral war.

That said, I agree with you that slavery was not what caused the Union to fight because Lincoln was entirely motivated to preserve the Union. The abolitionist movement may have been part of the context but was not the precipitating cause. Instead, as you state, Lincoln and the Northern states sought to preserve the Union.

There is ample evidence showing that Lincoln was open to continued slavery in the South and had to walk a tightrope to keep neutral slave owning states such as Kentucky out of the fight. He also had slave owning northern states to keep in the fold.

Finally, the emancipation proclamation wasn't signed until 1.5 years into the war. It's a common mistake to associate its signing with the start of the war. It's also interesting to see the motivations for signing it were only partly rooted in abolition. Many other factors such as foreign influence played a part.

I don't get how smart trivia people like sprack also forget that Maryland still allowed slave ownership at the start of the civil war...

https://www.loc.gov/collections/abraham-lincoln-papers/articles-and-essays/abraham-lincoln-and-emancipation/#:~:text=Although%20Lincoln%20personally%20abhorred%20slavery,where%20slavery%20was%20still%20legal.

Replies: