Whop thinks the civil war about slavery?????

Question

I responded this in another post. I can't believe what people are apparently being taught in school these days.

CIVIL WAR WAS NOT ABOUT SLAVERY. THE CONFEDERATE FLAG DOES NOT REPRESENT SLAVERY.


The civil war was NOT about slavery. The only reason slavery was brought up during the war was because Lincoln (wisely so) saw an opportunity to recruit more soldiers. He freed the slaves (even his own)if they fought for the north.

The fact is, most people in the south did not own slaves. The wealthy few did. To think that the thousands and thousands of poor or middle class white people in the south were willing to go to war for the slaves of a few wealthy people is ludicrous.

The confederate flag represents history for a great number of people in this country. To tie it to racism is ignorant.

I am not saying that some people displaying the flag are not racists. There are ignorant racists also.

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DMan, your argument does not hold water.

Not all germans were nazi's. All nazi's were racists. The nazi's were a pollitical party, and the party in control at the time they invaded poland.

whoisgod, I don't even know where to begin with you. You are wrong on every level.

When the slaves were freed, where did they work? On the same farms they always worked at. So you are saying that people were afraid that slaves would take their jobs, so they went to war. Did you even listen to what you said?

As for the war for oil b.s. That's a whole different topic. I'll educate you in a different category about that one. (BTW, is clinton the one who wanted all the oil?) http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/wmdquotes.asp

sausage fingers, my snake lusting stalker followed me here.

Answer 1

The Civil War was about states rights. You are right, most people in the south did not own slaves. I am from North Carolina and in my family research, no one in my family ever owned slaves, they were just poor farmers. When I see the confederate flag, I see a part of my southern heritage. It was the Confederate battle flag. It just happens to be the symbols that stupid racists use.

PS I am loving all your questions. I am glad that GWB is STILL our President too.

Answer 2

Are you familiar with the word connotation? If not you can go to the site below to read up on the word. The connotation of the flag is very different than what it was used for. All flags have been used for identification. The connotation behind the flag is very different than what it was used for. The flag stands for something as a symbol. It is not the south or people in the north would not also use it, and if it were the south than more southerners would have kept it. But no instead it is a reminder of the separation (I am not talking race, I am talking separation only of north and south - the origin of the war). It reminds people that the south wanted to be separate, wanted to NOT be part of this country. I see no reason that they did not do that except for that fact that the north wanted that land. As for the people in that war, they did not know better they fought because that was their job, the people of today, do know better, you can not say you are patriotic and then run around with a confederate flag, it is a contradiction, so you may want to look at what you are trying to tell others about the flag first before posting, it is a symbol of separation and more so a symbol of NOT wanting to be a part of the United States of America!!!

Answer 3

Ok, you are right, the Civil War had very very little to do with slavery, slavery was only part of the issue that served as an excuse to go to a war that had been coming for a long time (Missouri Compromise etc).

However, a major aspect of the Nazi belief structure is the racial superiority of the Arayan race. If you read Mien Kampf, which Hitler wrote during his year's imprisonment in pre-Nazi Germany, you will see how much emphasis was put on racial superiority. A number of the German people were only "Nazi's" because Hitler was bringing them economic prosperity etc as well as brainwashing the entire nation (quite an amazing feat actually). The real Nazi's actually were/are racist and therefore the swastika (look up it's history by the way, quite amusing) is a racist symbol, unlike the Confederate flag.

Sorry, that was a sidenote directed at the guy who was talking about Nazis

Answer 4

The Civil War was about state's rights versus the rights of the Federal government. Since the union was victorious we in the years following take for granted that Federal Law and power usurp State Law in almost all situations but prior to the civil war this was not the case and the argument about which carried greater power was fought constantly. Thirthteen of the states has been in existence for longer than the federal government and all had constitutions and established laws of their own. Also people identified themselves in much stronger way back then as being from a particular state. It was not like today when most of us have traveled through and lived in different states and for the most part its all the same except for some small details. A person born in Virginia would have seen themselves as Virginian first and American second and many never traveled more than a few miles from their birthplace in their lives. The war was really about if the southern states had a right to unjoin the union because in effect they had joined the union voluntarily 100 years before and they saw no reason they could not choose to no longer be a member. Slavery from what I understand was a very hot debated issue much like say Abortion is today. Abolishinests and Slave Owners felt very strongly about their beliefs on the issue but the actual commiting of troops and warfare was not about freeing the slaves. The after effect caused that and it would have happened anyway except that most probably the federal government would have had trouble enforcing the laws in the south if the southern state government claimed to be able to overrule federal laws but since the confederacy was defeated they had no choice but to comply with the laws of the union

Answer 5

Unfortunately, the Nazis aren't all about killing innocent people because of race or illness/disability either. Most Germans didn't kill a Jew.

And yet, the Swastika is still associated with racism.

So is it ignorant to tie the Swastika to racism when it such historical symbol for the Germans? See the connections here?

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edited for dancein_therain:

People claim its States Rights. States Rights to what? For people to pursue their happiness in their own way. What is the pursuit of happiness? ECONOMY.

What is the southern economy? That's right, it's SLAVERY. And yet, poor people don't own slaves. But when has any war not been a rich-men's war? Many poor people still wanted slaves.

On a side note:
The assassination of Lincoln was the worst thing that happened. Because Lincoln was the one who wanted to give the South a complete clean slate, that the South didn't have to pay for the cost of war. Jefferson Davis was impeached not only because of being a Southerner, but because he supported Lincoln's plans. So good job, John Wilkes Booth! You ruined the relationship between the North and the South even up to this day.

Answer 6

Untrue. The war was about slavery. But let's be honest, it was not about setting them free or anything like that. The argument started when Lincoln was going to pass a bill that would count slaves towards the population of the state. Since more slaves lived in the North, it would give northern states more electoral votes. Why would the South want to jeopardize their vote based on this? This is what started the argument, and this, along with some issues led to the civil war. The Confederate Flag by the way, whether you wish to recognize it or not, symbolizes hate. I see a Confederate Flag, I think Red Neck. That makes me racist doesn't it.

Answer 7

The Civil War did formally become about Slavery after posting the Emancipation Proclamation, and even then one should keep in mind that Jeff Davis offered manumission to slaves who agreed to fight for the sou ht before the Emancipation was written.

In theory although the legal issue for the Federals was Anti-Secession ism the want of secession was via the realization that a Republican President meant the end of dis-proportioning. The Southern Slave States counted slaves as either two or three fifths of a man and so obtained greater influence in Washington than they should have had! A rose is still a rose by any other name! Slavery had always been the be all to end all issues!

Answer 8

uhh the civil war was ABSOLUTELY about slavery and had nothing at all to do with states right

do most people in our nation own oil today? no they don't, yet middle class and poor americans are out there fighting for oil

slavery is the only reason it took place, ALL WARS take place over economic issues, they have nothing to do with lofty ideals in a direct way

do you really think that poor and middle class whites in 1861 wanted negroes freed? why would they want them freed? so they could take jobs, land, food and other resources from the lower and middle class whites?

why did white folks up until the late 1960s still not want black people to have equal rights? why is that so? because they didnt want blacks taking jobs, food resources etc

if you think the civil war wasn't fought over slavery then you are pretty ignorant of your history

you probably also believe that we are fighting the current war so iraq can have "freedom"

the stars and bars are nothing but an american hate symbol akin to the nazi's swatiska flag

Answer 9

they don't teach that the war was directly caused by slavery..at least i wasn't taught that..i'm sure some ppl draw that conclusion b/c slavery was a factor, however in the war...the fact is even if they did not have enough money to own slaves they for the most part resented African Americans...if you go to the south today you will also experience more racism than anywhere else in the US..trust me on this I know

Answer 10

Did you just answer your own question? Well its worng, the civil war was partly about slavary, it was just not its biggest factor. Technically the civil war was about the south's reaction to years of nothern economic dominance....Oh ya and Lincoln never freed any slaves. The emanceipation proclimation only freed salves in the south. Lincoln skiped the boarder states altogether form fear of them succeding. So in essance Lincoln freed slaves where he couldn't and didn't where he could