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If it was about slavery, then the Southerners were fighting for slavery right? Making all of them evil bigots. The Yankees were fighting against slavery right? Making all of them hero's. You can't clap with one hand? Let's make sure I have been properly trained: For the South, it wasn't about stopping a federal invasion or states rights, it was all about slavery. You said so. I have been schooled now. Thank you. You really straightened me out.

You keep missing my point. Again, I direct you to post 46. Certainly, I would be willing to bet the farm that out of all the Confederate soldiers fighting, a vast majority of them fought for their state and not for slavery. My argument is not 'oh dur hur those EVIL Southerners are all oppressing the slaves! Go UNION WOO'. Not even close.

Here is my argument in a nutshell: the social and economic facets of the Civil War are rooted in the effect slavery had on them and political discourse throughout the antebellum years, REGARDLESS of the personal feelings of the soldiers fighting and dying in the actual war. One can certainly look at the words, thoughts, and letters of the multitude of noble men on both sides and come away with the conclusion that 'hey, this isn't about slavery!'. However, slavery's role in affairs leading up to that point in time was not insignificant. Nor is it something that one can ignore and just wonder, 'okay, if this one little thing in the Civil War was different with the slave issue, what would've happened?'. You can't do that, because you'd have to make an appropriate change in the events leading up to then, and soon you're off an entirely different tangent.

Are we clear now?