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Here’s my problem with the idea of the civil war was fought over slavery

Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:04 pm
Posted by Jack Daniel
Gold member
Member since Feb 2013
28404 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:04 pm
Only the very wealthy in the south owned slaves. The average southerner was a homesteader raising a family on a small farm and trying to survive. Why would this guy fight a war for this rich slave owner that benefited him in now way?
Posted by Azkiger
Member since Nov 2016
26853 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:05 pm to
Dunno, but each state was quite clear what their stance was with respect to owning slaves.
Posted by SouthernHog
Arkansas
Member since Jul 2016
6816 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:05 pm to
Most fought to protect their homelands from yankee tyranny.
Posted by Asharad
Tiamat
Member since Dec 2010
6275 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:07 pm to
quote:

Why would this guy fight a war for this rich slave owner that benefited him in now way?
North central Alabama rebelled against the confederacy because they were poor farmers and miners with no stake in slave trade.
Posted by Madking
Member since Apr 2016
65866 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:08 pm to
You don’t attack personal liberated property after the War was over unless you’re trying to crush wealth in the region. You also had Rebel bandits who continued fighting long after the war. Why would they do this, these are not slave owners they were mostly farmers attacking railroads and railroad owned banks who were taking their property and communities.
Posted by Mithridates6
Member since Oct 2019
8220 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:09 pm to
About 1/4 of Southern white families owned slaves. Large slaveowners (planters) were small in number, but they controlled the government, the press, etc. They banned the publication of anti-slavery materials and wouldn't even allow Lincoln to be on the ballots in 1860. Non-slaveholding whites were pretty lukewarm about secession, which is why the CSA enacted conscription before the North. Counties with few or no slaves were likely to be unionist in sentiment
This post was edited on 6/16/20 at 10:06 pm
Posted by tduecen
Member since Nov 2006
161245 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:10 pm to
Slavery was a big issue but mainly because it was when the federal government was taking away some state rights. Many of the leaders of these states felt it would not end with just removing slavery and the federal government would assert more power over them so they dug their heels in the sand.
Posted by viceman
Huntsville, AL
Member since Aug 2016
30688 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:10 pm to
Wars are fought over money and resources. In Iraq it is oil. The American civil war was fought over control of the two biggest cash crops that dominated the American economy at the time. "King" cotton and tobacco, both grown in the South. I just wonder if 150 years from now the history books will say the Iraq invasion was prompted by weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by More&Les
Member since Nov 2012
14684 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:11 pm to
quote:


Only the very wealthy in the south owned slaves


Democrats mostly, as were the vast majority of CSA government and generals.

quote:

Why would this guy fight a war for this rich slave owner that benefited him in now way?


Because once the Democrat led CSA attacked the Union they were trying to defend this...

quote:

The average southerner was a homesteader raising a family on a small farm and trying to survive.


Democrats are now and always have been the problem
Posted by Shrevewave
Member since Jun 2020
65 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:11 pm to
The Civil War was a tragic colossal mistake that should have never happened.
Slavery was a tragic colossal mistake that should have never happened.
Posted by Mithridates6
Member since Oct 2019
8220 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:14 pm to
Slavery was bad for the average white person as well. Southern whites did much worse in literacy, nutrition, property, etc. Slavery only benefitted the fat cats who thrust the country into war when Lincoln wouldn't let them spread slavery everywhere
Posted by Shrevewave
Member since Jun 2020
65 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:14 pm to
quote:

In Iraq it is oil.

That's not why we fought to overthrow Saddam...
Posted by KiwiHead
Auckland, NZ
Member since Jul 2014
35465 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:14 pm to
You free the slaves, then they would be free to compete with the poor whites to provide goods and services thereby reducing the value of their labor. If I was a poorer non slave owning white guy I would fight against it
Posted by viceman
Huntsville, AL
Member since Aug 2016
30688 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:15 pm to
quote:

That's not why we fought to overthrow Saddam...


Posted by Madking
Member since Apr 2016
65866 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:15 pm to
Those numbers are impossible. The country had about 38 million people at the time, most in the north. Of that population about 3 million were black, it’s impossible that 33% of 35 million people (11.5 million) could own 3 million people much less once you split the north and south populations. I agree with most of your post but that number isn’t right.
This post was edited on 6/16/20 at 8:16 pm
Posted by Jyrdis
TD Premium Member Level III
Member since Aug 2015
13360 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:17 pm to
The problem here is that so many of the seceding states stated in the declarations of secession that the primary cause was protecting slavery.
Posted by RollTide1987
Augusta, GA
Member since Nov 2009
69210 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:17 pm to
quote:

Why would this guy fight a war for this rich slave owner that benefited him in now way?


1) How many times throughout history have we seen poor farmers go to war to fight for the interests of the wealthy?

2) If slaves were set free these poor farmers would be competing with the newly freed slaves at the market.

3) These poor farmers had dreams of striking it rich and owning slaves themselves.
Posted by BayouBlitz
Member since Aug 2007
18126 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:18 pm to
And the very wealthy had all the control.

But way to try to reinvent history to match your agenda.

Idiot.
Posted by AUstar
Member since Dec 2012
19127 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:22 pm to
quote:

Only the very wealthy in the south owned slaves.


That's false. About 20-25% of white males owned slaves. (Most of those people owned only one or two). This is easy to verify with census records which recorded the number of slaves in each household.

This notion that only the wealthy 1% owned slaves is revisionist history.
Posted by Mithridates6
Member since Oct 2019
8220 posts
Posted on 6/16/20 at 8:24 pm to
Obviously women and children wouldn't have been slave owners. According to the 1860 census, in the fifteen slaveholding states, one in four families owned slaves.
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