As for the war -
"It's the economy, stupid."
The North was jealous of Southern prosperity and tried enacting Byzantine legislation, which would hogtie the South & promote the interests of the North. When that failed, they devised other means, including armed aggression, to achieve their ends. Finally, when the Union was losing both popular support and the war, the Northern stratagists whipped up the populace over slavery, which was previously a non-issue, and thus forever branded the South as racist in it's entirety.
A number of hisorical studies have shown that slavery in the South was steadily declining & would have died out naturally in another 20 or 30 years. The North however, couldn't afford to wait because of their declining economy.
Have faith - the times, they are a changin'.
FReegards,
RebelTex
