The emancipation proclamation did not free a single slave in the United States. None. The border states that didn’t join the confederacy were allowed to remain as slave states. It applied only to the rebel states and since they were no longer part of the United States, the proclamation meant nothing to any slave in either the north or the south.
I know that of course. Again, that was politics. Lincoln didn’t want to alienate the border states. None of that changes the fact that slavery was the underlying cause. It had been the subject of endless debates and compromises for decades. There had already been a mini civil war over it in Kansas. And the slave owning elites were determined to hold onto what would be trillions of dollars worth of “property” in today’s money.
I had ancestors who owned fought on both sides, and some who were in Germany. I don’t claim that slavery was the motivation for the average soldiers on either side, though for some it surely was, especially on the Union side. As for the flag, it means different things to different people. I don’t think most people who fly it are racists, and I’ll argue with those that do. It’s unfortunate that many racists adopt it as their own. OTOH, I understand and respect that those who see it as a symbol of oppression have a legitimate reason to do so. I’m perfectly happy to let the residents of the south sort it out without interference.
That’s a long editorial, but the bottom line is trying to whitewash history to remove slavery as the primary cause of secession is just wrong.