Why are so many people completely misinformed about what the Civil War was really about?

Question

Go ahead and give your opinion on why the Civil War was fought. Please be as specific as possible. Maybe this can lay to rest all the misconceptions.

Answer 1

The Civil War was about a philosophical difference in the centrality of national government. Simply put, it was a battle between states' rights and a strong central government. While one of the key issues was the legality of slavery, it was that the southern states wanted to have ultimate jurisdiction over such matters, not to have the jurispredence punted to those damn yankees.

The Civil War was a means of resolving conflict that was inherent to the birth of our federal government and the power balances between states.

This is best summed up by the perception in society regarding the identity of the country prior to and following the Civil War. Prior to, society identified the US as 'states united' and referred to the nation as a coalition of states. After the Civil War, the modern view of the nation as a single entity emerged and has maintained to this day.

Answer 2

The Civil War began after Lincoln's attempt of diplomacy to reunite the Union failed. One by One, Southern States began to secede from the Union because of some of Lincolns policies.

The South also felt that if Lincoln eventually had abolished slavery, many people would lose everything because they would have to pay people to work their plantations etc.

The Southern States felt that any decision about slavery etc. should be up to each State and not the Federal Government.

Lincoln was not well liked in the South. Even though Lincoln himself was against slavery, at first he had no intention of forcing an end to it. It came as a result of the North winning the War.

It was also the South who fired the first shot of the War.

I don't know how close I am but this is what I can remember from my School days, more than 30 tears ago.

Answer 3

In a nutshell, the Civil War happened because The United States of America had reached a crisis point. The Missouri Compromise had essentially divided it into 2 opposing sides already. It was going to fall apart, since the Constituion legally allowed secession. People weren't willing to give up slavery, believing it meant economic ruin (most of the South), so they wanted to leave. If the country was going to continue to exist, intact, enough people had to slaughter each other until they got tired of it and went home, leaving much of it in both economic and physical ruin, but otherwise intact.

Most people had strong opinions about slavery; slavery, not secession, was the primary catalyst for the war, in my opinion. And in the years following, it certainly sounded better to say that we had collectively triumphed over an evil institution than to say we defied our own laws when the chips were down and killed each other by the thousands to keep the country from falling apart. The defeat of those who enslave others is morally unambiguous and easily accepted; trying to understand how slavery could have ever been legal--utilised, and then defended in the land of the free and home of the brave is much more difficult.

We're taught as schoolchildren to believe the good stuff, that the US is a beacon of freedom and hope; a country who has nobly fought in defense of others in 2 world wars, and embraces those fleeing oppression and tyranny. That's true, up to a point, but it's sure not the whole story. I think we don't tell our children the truth because we'd just as soon forget it ourselves. And it seems to be working!

Answer 4

People are misinformed for three major reasons:
1) Bad education and especially inefficient History lessons,
2) General lazyness and disintrest in important matters of the past,
3) Hollywood and all the lies and stupidities they put out in films.

The main reasons for the American Civil War were also three:
1) The unsolved sovereignity question (is sovereignty with each State or with the Union),
2) The unsolved question of slavery (which was a moral question for the North but an economical one for the South),
3) Lincoln's impatience with the Southern hot-heads and his assumption that he had the right to save the Union at ANY price.

Answer 5

The south, Confederacy, wanted to separate from the north, Union/USA. They fought. Many lives were lost. Mostly poor white men. Some women, children, blacks, etc. The North/USA/Union won. The eastern states were now the USA. There were several political issues discussed back then, as there are now. Ours are things like immigration and abortion. Theirs were things like slavery. Amongst the promises made and kept were emancipation of blacks, probably starting with those who served in the war. I'm going on memory, so don't claim a flawless recount. But it was along those lines. Am I close?

Answer 6

rel wrote: "Nobody died when Clinton lied"

Really rel? You can't seriously feel that way, can you? Didn't you see Blackhawk Down? Knowing that most of the issues we are dealing with today were issues that Clinton put off while he was in office having his way with interns infuriates me. Had these been dealt with at the proper time, we may not be in the situation we are in today.

As for the Civil War, history is written by the victors. This is the way the North wanted to portray it, and it has been ever since. Not everything is emphasized in the correct proportion, thus, people see a skewed view of it.

Answer 7

Because textbooks, teachers, and school's make out that it was about slavery. The Civil War was about the South trying to Separate from the Union. They wanted to separate from many different reasons, not just because of slavery. The biggest reason was the fact that Lincoln was elected president, and the South didn't like it.

Answer 8

I thought is was mostly due to the industrialized "north" having more influence in the federal government and passing laws that hurt the agricultural "south"... dragging slavery into it was a way to weaken the south without hurting the north. It was a political move not an ethical move in freeing the slaves... notice the Emancipation Proclamation ONLY freed slaves in confederate states... being that the "north" won, they got to write the history books. And Rel, sure, when Clinton was in office we had troops in Bosnia just standing by watching the civillians get massacred...

Answer 9

It didn't start because of slavery , that came later in the war . Most people think that was the reason , but the President didn't want to do that because he thought that the country would be forever divided . I'm not sure just why it started ? I did see it on PBS through , can't remember .

Answer 10

Industry including Agra business. Was burdened with the legal responsibility of slave ownership. Laws dating back to the Elizabethan era demanded the Slaves should be feed clothed sheltered and have their basic medical need provided.

Irish immigrants worked harder for less money and did not have to be housed or feed.

By freeing the slaves it opened the door for Irish labor and higher profits for industry.

Giving the slaves 40 acres and a mule was cheaper than feeding them. A small cash out lay easily offset by cheep Irish labor.