true. They were making a lot of money from slavery.
In the 1850’s America had a one party Democrat controlled government. The Democrats were trying to create a slave based economy in the midwest and the west. Most Americans did not want a backward, slave based economy.
False. Trying to create a slave based economy in the Midwest and West? Pure fantasy.
The idea that the slave based south was the primary source of American wealth is simply not true. The manufacturing and innovation in the north made it far more prosperous.
Simply not true. The South had always been the wealthiest portion of the country. The industrialization of the North had allowed it to make up considerable ground....that along with economic policies that benefited the North at the South's expense such as high protective tariffs paid overwhelmingly by the South and grossly disproportionate federal government expenditures for infrastructure and corporate subsidies, but the South was still a bit wealthier than the North even in the mid 19th century.
During the Civil War the south was unable to adequately supply their army. The South was mostly poor, backward and uneducated. There were a few wealthy plantation owners but there was not the level of prosperity that was in the north and the midwest.
Most of the country was poor, backward and uneducated. The South was not moreso than the rest of the country in that regard. The South was unable to adequately supply itself. It did not have a navy and thus found it difficult to import things it needed like the North could. It also had an economy that was geared toward producing cash crops for export. That was the highest return on capital. Thus they did not build as many factories and their agriculture was not geared toward food production. It is not because they were especially poor or backward that they could not supply themselves. Their economy was not geared up to do so. It was far more efficient to produce tobacco, cotton, indigo, sugar, etc and import what they needed.
Most southerners opposed secession. It was pushed through by a small group. By the end of 1864 there was no support left in the south for the Confederate government and soldiers were deserting in large numbers.
False. Pure fantasy. Some Southern states held referendums on secession. Some elected delegates to secession conventions. There was widespread public support for secession. To claim that by 1864 there was no support left for the Confederate government was also false. Somebody was mowing down hordes of Yankees in 1864....
Lincoln and most Americans would never have gone to war just to end slavery. The Republicans did not want to abolish slavery. They wanted to prevent a slave based economy in the Midwest and west. And they wanted to preserve the union.
There was never any danger of a slave based economy in the Midwest or the West. They wanted to keep their cash cow - the Southern states - from leaving. That was their overwhelming motivation.
The Republican Party was founded in 1854 in Wisconsin. At the time the U.S. had a one party system. The Democrat Party controlled the government. The priority of the Democrat Party was the expansion of a slave based economy.
The Republican Party had its main support from the tradesmen and small farmers in the Midwest. The Democrats had recently passed the Kansas Nebraska act for the sole purpose of expanding the slave economy into the Midwest and the west. Most Americans did not want have to earn their livelihood and support their families in a slave based system with a few wealthy slave holders and the rest of the people struggling in extreme poverty.
That is why the Republican Party grew so quickly.
The South at the time had a few wealthy plantation owners. The majority of the people lived a poor and backward life with little or no opportunity. The innovation and advancement came in the north.
Read about the south in the winter and spring of 1865. Desertion from the army was common. There were riots against the government. There was little support for the Confederacy.
Secession was pushed through very quickly by a small group. It was not debated. It did not have wide support. Those who pushed secession falsely claimed that no one would fight to preserve the union and that an independent Confederacy could be easily acheived without any struggle. Those Democrat politicians who pushed secession did enormous harm to the average southerner. People lost their lives, their wealth and their land.