The Answer to the "What caused the Civil War?" question is not a debate.

[MarcATL]

Brother Beau of YouTube fame breaks down why very thoroughly in this succinct video essay. Watch...



That means if your mammy or pappy told you it was over "Northern aggression" or "States rights" they were lying to you.

It wasn't. It was all about slavery.

 

[Esdraelon]

Like most things prized by the Left, it was an effort that seemed to be about morality when in fact it was at least equally about economics. The industrialized North had no need of slaves and the South's only form of competition was by using them as the entire nation HAD DONE for over a century.

Rehashing that history as a means to further divide us is a tactic the Left is employing that will lead to evil as bad as the original sin itself and they do not give a damn so long as it keeps them in power.

 

[MarcATL]

Like most things prized by the Left, it was an effort that seemed to be about morality when in fact it was at least equally about economics. The industrialized North had no need of slaves and the South's only form of competition was by using them as the entire nation HAD DONE for over a century.

Rehashing that history as a means to further divide us is a tactic the Left is employing that will lead to evil as bad as the original sin itself and they do not give a damn so long as it keeps them in power.

It was documented to be about slavery by the very states snowflake.

Deal with it.

 

[boevans]

The CW happened because the South wanted the states right to own, sell, and buy human beings.

 

[DukeU]

Why are these people stuck on things that divide us instead of things that bring us together?

What difference does it make what started the Civil War at this point?

I guess it's easier to fight over things from the past that we can do absolutely nothing about. than it is to fight over our current situation and things WE CAN control.

Look in the mirror.

Are you promoting racism by constantly calling people racist and bigots?

Or are you promoting racial harmony and peace by highlighting our strengths, and achievements?

From what I read about our history we've come a long way, and the only thing holding us back are the ones who want and continually try to divide us.

 

[Darkwind]

It was documented to be about slavery by the very states snowflake.

Deal with it.

Okay, if you want to be knowns for incomplete knowledge, go ahead. I won't lose any sleep over the fact that you are not talking about an accurate history, but a modern agenda.

 

[Darkwind]

The CW happened because the South wanted the states right to own, sell, and buy human beings.

A partial answer, but essentially correct.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

The civil war happened because the northern mills were price fixing the price of cotton.

 

[LeroyDumonde]

Executive Mansion,
Washington, August 22, 1862.

Hon. Horace Greeley:
Dear Sir.

I have just read yours of the 19th. addressed to myself through the New-York Tribune. If there be in it any statements, or assumptions of fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not, now and here, controvert them. If there be in it any inferences which I may believe to be falsely drawn, I do not now and here, argue against them. If there be perceptable in it an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I "seem to be pursuing" as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt.

I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors; and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be true views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men every where could be free.

Yours,
A. Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Horace Greeley

 

[blackhawk]

There were multiple things that caused the civil war and slavery was one of them but not the only one. Sadly this is how most people learn history today.

 

[Esdraelon]

It was documented to be about slavery by the very states snowflake.

Deal with it.

I said nothing to the contrary. I simply gave a bit of honest perspective that assholes like yourself always ignore. If as a black man in America, you are standing up to push hate on this nation for a national sin that was over 150 + years ago, YOU are the evil plaguing America today. If your ilk keep pushing this, we'll have no choice but to "deal with it".

 

[rightwinger]

The Civil War was not about Slavery

It was about States Rights……A States Right to allow Slavery
It was about Secession…..States that seceded to preserve Slavery
It was about Economics…..A Southern Economy built on Slavery

 

[wamose]

The Democrats were pissed to give up their slaves. They still are, judging by the border free for all they created. What next, Democrats breaking their hoods out of their closets? Viva Trump.

 

[BackAgain]

I go this far (and I believe it’s quite accurate):

If the American colonies and States had never had any slavery, the Civil War probably would never have taken place.

To that extent, it seems clear that slavery was the major cause of the American Civil War.

 

[Crepitus]

Brother Beau of YouTube fame breaks down why very thoroughly in this succinct video essay. Watch...



That means if your mammy or pappy told you it was over "Northern aggression" or "States rights" they were lying to you.

It wasn't. It was all about slavery.

Beau does tell it like it is.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Brother Beau of YouTube fame breaks down why very thoroughly in this succinct video essay. Watch...



That means if your mammy or pappy told you it was over "Northern aggression" or "States rights" they were lying to you.

It wasn't. It was all about slavery.

Even Lincoln didn't make the Civil War all about slavery. He stated that he would free all, some or none of the slaves if it preserved the Union. In the South the people who did not own slaves would have had no reason to preserve the institution so it's certainly likely that believed it was about State rights. The Slave owners definitely wanted to keep their slaves.

Before you go into your inevitable rant calling me a racist I will tell you that I believe slavery is a disgusting practice that needs to be stamped out no matter where it is and who it involves.

 

[Esdraelon]

I agree and I'

I go this far (and I believe it’s quite accurate):

If the American colonies and States had never had any slavery, the Civil War probably would never have taken place.

To that extent, it seems clear that slavery was the major cause of the American Civil War.

I agree and I'm a Southerner born and raised in the 60s. Slavery was the proximate cause but it wasn't about morality or the degree of ethics inherent between North and South. Southern economic power came from labor-intensive agriculture while the North was industrialized to go beyond needing such labor.
Add to that the fact that only an extremely tiny number of Southerners owned chattel slaves and the idea that one side was clearly in the right versus another that had no argument at all for preserving their economic heritage, and you can quickly find the source of the odor prior to the 1860s.

 

[rightwinger]

Add to that the fact that only an extremely tiny number of Southerners owned chattel slaves

Misleading when 40 percent of the population of the South was in bondage.
There may have only been one owner of all the slaves on a plantation, but many others profited from those slaves. The economy of the South was built on Cotton and slaves did the work.

 

[MinTrut]

Brother Beau of YouTube fame breaks down why very thoroughly in this succinct video essay. Watch...



That means if your mammy or pappy told you it was over "Northern aggression" or "States rights" they were lying to you.

It wasn't. It was all about slavery.

Secession was about slavery and state's rights.

The war was the North's aggression/terrorism.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

The South wanted to be able to continue the practice of slavery, therefore they declared their independence when it became clear the U.S. was headed towards banning it.

The North, went to war NOT to end slavery, but to preserve the Union.