It is absurd to me that people have been taught that the Civil War was fought because of slavery. Abraham Lincoln consistently said that the reason for the war was to preserve the Union. Whether slaves were free or not. He was voted in as a neutral candidate because he wasn't an opponent or proponent of slavery. The South seceded because they believed the people in Washington did not have their best interests in mind. It just so happened that the South was agricultural, so keeping slaves was important for them to sustain their economy. The slaves were freed in order to give the war a purpose as it grew more violent than those in charge predicted. Lincoln ingeniously also recognized that England and France could not justify helping a country that was "fighting for slavery" which effectively damned the South economically. To the soldiers who fought in the war, their State was effectively their country. Lee was not going to turn against his state and his family to preserve a fragile union. So he fought for his state and named his army The Army of Northern Virginia.

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Posted by basiletiger

lafayette, la.

Member since Aug 2007

2144 posts

Posted on 5/22/17 at 5:19 pm to JonTigerFan11

Some of ya'll need a little history lesson so I'm going to help you out.

1. Robert E. Lee did IN FACT, own slaves. Yes, he eventually emancipated his father in laws slaves, but only after he used them, for years, to his financial advantage.
2. According to Lee himself ""The painful discipline they are undergoing is necessary for their instruction as a race... How long their subjugation may be necessary is known and ordered by a wise Merciful Providence," He was talking about slavery being necessary for african american's so that they could become civilized...like they were animals...
3. He killed more americans than any opposing general in U. S. History.
4. He 100% supported the succession of the southern states from the country you now live in.
5. He fought as a confederate general to wholeheartedly defend the right to own slaves.
6. The Liberty Place obelisk that was removed was the rallying ground for David Duke. Yes, that David Duke (ya know, with the KKK)
7. If I see one more post asking for the removal of a Martin Luther king Jr. statue because New Orleans chose to remove statues that represent HATE to many people (even white people....) I am going to scream. silently. But still.
8. For those of you who don't know, MLK Jr. believed in the equality of ALL people regardless of their race or gender. He was probably one of the least hateful, least prejudice people to walk the planet. His message was love. And some of ya'll need some love apparently.
Please stop believing everything you read on Facebook and read some nonfiction.

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Posted by RollTide1987

Augusta, GA

Member since Nov 2009

65147 posts

Posted on 5/22/17 at 5:23 pm to JonTigerFan11

quote:
It is absurd to me that people have been taught that the Civil War was fought because of slavery.

The southern states, most especially those in the Deep South, seceded primarily over the question of slavery.

quote:
Abraham Lincoln consistently said that the reason for the war was to preserve the Union.

And then his tune started changing in 1862. But apparently we only want to take into account words he said while trying to woo the South back into the Union. By 1863-64, the war had taken on a whole new meaning.

quote:
He was voted in as a neutral candidate because he wasn't an opponent or proponent of slavery.

Not true. He was very much opposed to the expansion of slavery into the territories and wouldn't have been sad to see the institution disappear from America entirely.