Quote:No, no no.  Again, that is ridiculous.   The only reason anyone cared about states' rights was because some states wanted the right to have slaves.  That was the reason for the argument over states' rights.   Slavery.  

 

The reason Lincoln said he didn't want to free the slaves was because that was the reason the Southern states were leaving: they thought he was going to try to end slavery.   Of course he denied it, because he was trying to stop them from seceding.   But the war started because the Southern states seceded, and the reason they seceded, in their own words, was to defend slavery.  

 

You make it sound like there was some academic debate about states rights that got out of control and led to a war.   Wars don't start over issues like the role of the federal government vs the states.  No one cares about that issue unless there is a reason to care about it (slavery). 

 

If you look at the entire history of the era of the 1850s, the country was consumed by the issue of slavery.   It's all anyone talked about.  

 

The entire world was consumed by slavery, the war was over the reality of one group telling another group how they could or couldn't commence commerce. If it was all about slavery then explain the slave states in the North. They didn't secede because ending slavery didn't destroy their commerce, the northmen slave states where not dependent on agriculture to survive.

 

Was the South racist, yes. Was the South dependent on Slavery, yes. Was the war fought over Slavery, No. Heck Lincoln had to bring in foreign fighters to fight his war, it wasn't about slavery it was about holding a union together regardless of the people's desire to be apart of the union anymore.

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