[CommerceComet]

I never identified the state as West Virginia. And I'll tell you why: I didn't want to embarrass my many friends who like to believe the north was fighting to “free the slaves” while they were grabbing money with both hands and adding a slave state into the empire.

What possible difference does the specific identity of the state make?

[HandyDandy]

Darn good question. I wonder if our friend can give us an example of a Free State being admitted into the Confederacy, and if not, why not? Seems the North had Slave States and Free States. The South had only Slave States.