When today's 'neo-confederates' claim slavery had nothing to do with the origins of the Civil War the claim is nothing but a brazen lie, and they bloody well know it.
There's a reprint of an 1866 book History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee that supports what you've said. In this case history of a loyal county, the Unionist majority was abused at the hands of a Confederate regime that resembled an organized crime syndicate as much as an American government. The Rebel cutthroats were so noxious, even many former Confederate supporters helped the Union army bring the bushwhackers to justice.
In perusing the Tennessee secession vote returns, it's clear that slavery was the motivator in this state. Lowland Middle and West Tennessee counties supported disunion. The highland counties of the East voted to remain loyal. One of the few East Tennessee counties to vote for secession was Monroe County which had a more Deep South character and slavery presence than most counties. But even in lowland counties there still were many loyal Unionists. As the North Carolina governer admitted, the revolution belonged to the politicans and not the people. Nowhere in the South, did the rebellion enjoy the staying power to sustain itself in the face of reverses. When Grant and Sherman made the going tough, the Confederacy folded up quickly.
But the myth of the Solid South stuck and sadly many Southerners react to any negative comments about the CSA like it was an attack on the whole region, motherhood and apple pie.
Being the work was published one year after the Civil War concluded the details should be extremely fresh, unlike the rehashed neo-history being peddled today.
"Lowland Middle and West Tennessee counties supported disunion. The highland counties of the East voted to remain loyal."
It's really sickening so-called Americans would be willing to tare their own country to shreds for the sake of keeping men as slaves for profit.
"As the North Carolina governor admitted, the revolution belonged to the politicians and not the people. Nowhere in the South, did the rebellion enjoy the staying power to sustain itself in the face of reverses. When Grant and Sherman made the going tough, the Confederacy folded up quickly." Here is an elected Governor of a Southern state which as a state reluctantly joined in the rebellion, but the man is stating the truth, yet so many years later the pro-confederates of our era refuse to address the real facts and their real motives, which are un-American.
Like our nation is not confronted with enough major problems, some people are cemented to the failures of the distant past.
"But the myth of the Solid South stuck and sadly many Southerners react to any negative comments about the CSA like it was an attack on the whole region, motherhood and apple pie.
I realize more than ever before there was never a solid South when it came to breaking away from the Union.
Henderson County, Tennessee - Lost Tranquility: 1861-1865
Maybe the 'neo-confederates' should at least attempt to exist in the real world, not the forever 'lost cause'. .