“That’s a weak argument. Confederate soldiers fought for patriotism, pride, and their brothers in arms, like soldiers have always done. As they say, wars are started by old men and fought by young men. Not usually for the same reasons.”
Are you saying that it is a weak argument to assert that:
—Men who were unlikely in the extreme ever to profit from the institution of slavery would not want to die for the institution of slavery.
There’s no doubt that they *did* die; we’re arguing about *why* they died, and I’m saying “not for slavery.”
You seem to agree.
I agree that the soldiers’ motivation wasn’t slavery. I disagree that it means slavery wasn’t the cause of the war. Those are two separate things.