I never said that the United States went to war with the South over Slavery. It was Lincoln's intention to preserve the Union - emancipation came gradually as events unfolded latter.
What I said, and which is true no matter how it is spun, is that the immediate cause of the war was SECESSION and that the cause for secession was slavery.
If you disagree with that my friend, then the Confederate states disagree with you. The declarations of secession from the Confederate states all place Slavery as the prime motivator for secession. The Secession commissioners, all who were sent BY seceding states TO potential seceding states use the protection of slavery as the reason they should be joined. That amendment was all face-saving. It never would have passed the house nor garner the required approval in the states and they knew it. The writing was on the wall for the south - with each passing year new free states would be joining and they would be doomed by numbers (in the house & senate).
I think we might want to shift this to another thread or reply privately from here on - this thread might not be the best place for the discussion (or I could be wrong - still new to Freeper Post Edicate).
I truly do agree with you on one point: secession did indeed cause the war; however, since the northern-controlled Congress passed an Amendment (which Lincoln agreed with) guarranteeing slavery FOREVER in an attempt to lure the Southern states back into the Union-- and the Southern States DID NOT RETURN-- then clearly, regardless what they may have said, slavery was not the real reason for the secession. My friend, you can always count on one thing: politicians, reguardless of their stripe, will LIE to get the results they desire. Their actions, if followed closely, are far more telling than their words.
I NEVER mentioned the Emancipation Proclamation, or the fact that Lincoln himself had once sold slaves he inherited from his father in law.
However, as an engineer whose job it is to determine the root cause of failure, I think we need to look closer to determine the real root cause.
It is very true that secession caused the war. The seceded states (being free and indepedent nations) would never pay the tarriffs. Lincoln clearly stated in his first Inaugural speech that if the States did not collect the tarriffs, they would 'bring war upon themselves' I think were the exact words he used.
He was right. We brought war upon ourselves, in the way of Lincoln unconstitutionally raising 75,000 troops to attack American citizens.
Secession, my friend, only causes war in one condition: if the ruler(s) of the government in power refuse to recognize the right of self-determination so eloquently expressed in the Declaration of Secession - er, Independence. This type of tyranny has ALWAYS caused war, be it with King George (who also claimed he was trying to 'save the Empire'), Mao Tse Tung (who, when asked about the Tienamin (sp) Square revolt, gave Lincoln as an example of how he was 'saving his country'), or any of dozens of other tyrants.
However, we have seen secession happen peacefully many times now: all the States of the former Soviet Union have seceded peacefully, as did India.
Tyranny- government using force to FORCE itself upon anyone- is ALWAYS evil. Use this rule as your guideline, and you'll NEVER go wrong.