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Why was there war?
Was it to perpetuate
slavery?
By 1860, though slavery was eventually doomed
by virtue of Christian conscience and simple economics,
it was thoroughly entrenched politically. The U.S. Supreme Court in
Dred Scott v. Sanford,had
ruled slavery legal and Fugutive Slave laws enforceable. Congress
had passed a constitutional amendment (yet to be ratified) to protect
slavery. Lincoln, though many Southerners didn't trust
him, had expressly promised not to intefere with slavery "directly or
indirectly, in the states where it exists." Had the Southern
States remained in the Union, slavery would be protected for at
least several decades to come. A three-fourths majority is required
to send a Constitutional Amendment proposal to the states---a majority
that could not be reached without cooperation by southern states. Accordingly, it
cannot be argued that the perpetuation of slavery was the driving issue
for secession.
By
seceding, the Southern states were forfeiting any rights and claims on the
remaining territories of the west. The slave-or-free status
of the western territories had long been in dispute in the United States,
but the Dred Scott decision had removed any legal impediments to slave
owners moving west into the new territories. By leaving the United
States, the Confederate States forfeited all claims to the western
territories and therefore, slavery could not be expanded unless other
western territories declared independence from the United States and
petitioned to join the Confederacy.
Let us keep in mind that, according to
census records, only six percent of the Southern people owned
slaves. Of those, only three percent were wealthy. The other
three percent were working families who owned less than ten slaves and who
worked along-side their slaves to make a living. Stated another way,
94 percent of the citizens in the South did not own
slaves.
Not many people would
voluntarily send their husbands, brothers and sons into battle against a
foe who outnumbered them three to one for the sake of preserving someone
else's right to hold slaves.
Now
let's put American slavery in perspective relative to the worldwide tragedy of slavery. We begin
that in Section 6.
Section 5: Causes of the war?
....under
construction
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What does the
Confederate flag represent?
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Conclusions
Copyright © Steve Scroggins - All rights reserved.
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