Quote:
Originally Posted by GatorB
(Post 17044464)
YEs it was. Redneck like to use the "states right" BS to justify starting a war. The only "right" they had a beef over was slavery. If Lincoln had said slavery could continue in the south forever there never would have been a Civil War.
If the war wasn't about slavery I find it very coincidental that the south which had issues with the federal government over slavery already decided to secede only weeks after a ABOLITIONIST became president. Totally not connected right?
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I'm no history buff but the civil war was not about abolishing slavery. It had a lot to do with the federal government putting a stop to the expansion of slavery into areas where it didn't already exist. The southern states that seceded already had slaves so it's not like the gov tried to stop slavery and the south said no. And also the south had little influence in gov matters so when their proposal to extend states rights was denied they said screw this crap we're leaving this overbearing gov and starting our own.
One major reason for turning it into a war against slavery in 1863, two years after the war started, was because the British were backing the south and the union army definitely would have lost against them. Lincoln knew the British were against slavery so he created the Emancipation Proclamation, which didn't actually free slaves, and the British dropped out. What freed the slaves was the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1865 after the war, it had to be added since since Lincoln used slavery as a war tactic.
Lots of people think Lincoln was doing all of this to help black people and end their suffering but I really don't think that's true. Some of the stuff he said while running for President sure makes him sound like a white supremacist,
"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."
-Lincoln 1858
Oh also, I highly recommend reading this site http://www.slavenorth.com/ to learn about the northern states role in slavery and how racist the north really was during those days because it sounds like you grew up in one of the regions where they only teach a revision of history.
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