So slavery was the political meme horse used to perpetuate the war to maintain the union AFTER the war started.
“slavery was the political meme horse used to perpetuate the war to maintain the union AFTER the war started”
Correct. Once the casualties started to mount, the union could not have prosecuted the war without a moral cause.
Compare this cause (to end slavery) to why we joined in World War I. What the heck was THAT war about? (Technically, we were mad at the Germans for interfering with our commerce with the United Kingdom. This was similar to the cause of the War of 1812. In both cases, we got sucked into European conflicts.)
This country has gotten itself sucked into one after another no-win war, and now we’re losing them. By my count, the only “good wars” in our history were: the war of independence, the civil war (after the emancipation proclamation), World War II, and the Afghanistan War (prior to the surge).
War of 1812 - bad
Mexican War - o.k. (1)
Civil War - bad/good (before/after the emancipation proclamation)
Spanish American War - o.k./bad (2)
WWI - bad
WWII - good
Korean War - o.k.
Vietnam War - bad
Persian Gulf War - o.k.
Afghanistan War - good/bad (before/after surge)
Iraq War - bad
Obama’s Wars (Libya and Syria in addition to messing up our victories in Iraq and Afghanistan) - bad
(1) To his credit, Pres. Polk tried to negotiate a fair settlement of the border, and offered Mexico compensation if that border was put at the Rio Grande (the Texas claim). But, the Mexicans have always been very emotional and chose to fight rather than make a deal.
(2) The bad part was the suppression of the Moros. The Philippines is nowadays giving the Moros semi-autonomous status, which is what we should have done.
Tha is an astute observation, and perfectly correct. It’s the only conclusion one can reach when all the events and laws that were involved. The Union had to be saved and the South was not giving an inch. They wanted their own country and culture because their culture was genteel,while the northern culture (such as it was) was hard scrabble. When the South is completely taken over by liberals, the best part of America will have been lost. Folks who visit there now still come back saying, “the people are so friendly and polite down there.” Yes they are.....still.