I do not doubt that this is true. There were, however, a considerable number of Southerners who had an interest in maintaining and extending the institution of slavery. That is why they seceded and why they later began the war.
did you bother to actually read my post #26????
slavery, once again (SIGH!) was ONLY important to the slaveOWNERS. hardly anybody else cared about the "peculiar institution", period, end of story.
over 98% of southern soldiers, sailors & marines were NOT slaveowners (in point of fact, their average GROSS ASSETS were less than US $ 25.00 in 1860! ours was a PEASANT REVOLT/ARMY!) and did not fight for the slave-owning minority to own slaves. this was particularly true of the 100,000 plus black Confederate volunteers! (if the war was to preserve/spread the "peculiar institution", what were THEY fighting for????)
free dixie,sw