The US population was considerably more than the population of Japan in 1941. What's your point, that the US should only fight wars with countries of equivalent population, whatever the provocation?
You cannot divorce slavery from the war although it was just a side issue at best although Lincoln did a good job "playing the slavery card."
Sheesh. Do you really need to see all the southern declarations that the cause of secession was all about the protection of slavery? I can produce dozens. Here's what Mississippi had to say:
"Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery-- the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization. That blow has been long aimed at the institution, and was at the point of reaching its consummation. There was no choice left us but submission to the mandates of abolition, or a dissolution of the Union, whose principles had been subverted to work out our ruin.
I think the point is that the Civil War is the crux where it is mainly a battle between the powers of the individual States vs. the leviathan of the Federal Government. If the Confederacy had won, would they adopt their own big federal system, who knows, but I think that and trade were the main issues of the disagreement.
If only there were as many southern declarations about tariff policy as there are about slavery.
I’m just pointing out demographics, not making a point if the war was right or wrong. I know slavery was a part of the conflict but not the only one, there were many other issues. It is just a shame that the PC crowd, the education system and so on has hammered the slavery issue so much that even many Freepers buy into the brainwashing where critical thinking is shut down.