Both sides of my family came out of the Jamestown colony in the mid 1600s. None ever owned slaves. All were farmers, traders and watermen. Some owned trading vessels and plied their trade between Baltimore and Cuba. They were to a man landowners and proud Americans. They comprised a brigade of militia soldiers commissioned by George Washington for the protection of the Capital.
They were all committed to the southern cause as free men unwilling to live under the heel of federalism and northern commercial interests.
The issue of slavery was a non starter for my ancestors. They lived side by side with people of color throughout the eastern shore of MD. They worked together, owner property together and worshiped together. These were true country people who valued family, freedom and hard work.
And then they took up arms in a stupid cause against The United States of America, launched the bloodiest war in American history and lost. The End.