[Conserev1]

That the prob the Civil was not about Slavery it was about States rights! Slavery was a side issue!

[celmak]

"That the prob the Civil was not about Slavery it was about States rights! Slavery was a side issue!"

Not for the Rebel States.

[tanknetter]

That the prob the Civil was not about Slavery it was about States rights! Slavery was a side issue!

Many of the secession bills from the Confederate states specifically call out slavery as an issue driving their decision.

That isn't to say that slavery was THE issue. There really wasn't one single issue. The causes of the Civil War were many, and highly complex in nature, including not only slavery and states rights, but also economics, industrialization, trade, manifest destiny/expansion.

And there was a HUGE disconnect between the underlying motivations of the Southern power-class and the Southern manhood that made up the rank and file of the Confederate armies.

To try to peg the cause of the Civil War on one single issue (or just elevating one issue to a "first amongst equals" status) grossly oversimplifies (caters to the low-information voter, I suppose) and does a great disservice to both history and the memories of those who fought, bled and died on both sides of the matter.

[Joe 6-pack]

"That the prob the Civil was not about Slavery it was about States rights! Slavery was a side issue!"

You might find John Stuart Mill's The Contest In America, quite illuminating. It was written in 1862 in the wake of the Trent affair when the Brits had good cause to be pissed with the Union, and the Confederacy had good cause to be courting the Brits. It makes for an interesting account being written contemporaneous with the events in the states when the outcome of the war was anything but certain. Mill vigorously opposed England's siding with the CSA precisely because even at that time, he viewed the Confederacy's cause as being inextricably linked with slavery.

[jmacusa]

Yeah, ‘’states rights’’. The right of states to own slaves.

[Vermont Lt]

What right was it that the states wished to retain? It was slavery.

You can paint it over any which way....but slavery was bad and needed to be abolished—north and south.

Anyway, the fight is over and we have bigger fish to fry today. Lets agree to disagree about the causes. Lets agree to work against the current enemy.