Another fact that is conveniently forgotten is that there were very few slaves in the north by 1800. Up until 1776 - any slaves that were owned were owned by British colonists. There WAS no USA until AFTER the revolution.
The fact remains that most of the slaves were in the South. Whatever reasons for that that Southerners may come up with does not change the facts.
Saying that the only reason the North didn't have many slaves is that the soil in the North is all rocky is not true. Ohio, Michigan and Indiana have much better farmland than the Southern states. There have been settlers in Michigan since the 1600s - but there were very few slaves in Michigan. There were many mills and factories in the North - it would have been cheaper for the mill owners to use slaves rather than employees - but they didn't.
The reason they didn't is because most Northerns thought that slavery was wrong and wanted no part of it - not because the soil was rocky.
Certainly you'll find some slaves in the North if you go back far enough. You'll find slaves in London, Paris and Rome if you go back far enough. But you didn't find them in the 1850s and 1860s like you did in the American South.
The "you guys did it too" argument just doesn hold water.
As I said, the truth is the truth - Northerners DID have slavery and IT IS NEVER HINTED AT IN SCHOOL. The latter is the point of this article and of this discussion.
You're correct about the farmland in the upper mid-west by the time of the ACW; I'm still stuck on the original colonies from whence the slavery thing came. The East Coast northern region is rocky. Half of MD is rocky, and amazingly, THAT half of MD was more the northern sympathizers in the war (although, not by any means all).
Indeed the argument is not an excellent 1, but it does serve to put northerners and others in proper perspective, not as the perfect angels they're made out to be. (And as I stated very early, check out some old news about banning slavery in NJ in the 1830s - many of those Yankees weren't too happy about it!)
the VAST majority of northerners couldn't have cared less about slavery. there is simply NO truth to you post. sorry, but that's FACT!
free dixie,sw