| > Some things I have read suggest the civil war didn’t start per se over slavery. It started over slavery for the South, as is clearly laid out in secession documents, founding documents of the confederacy, the Cornerstone Speech, etc. It started over preserving the Union for the North, but most of the vehemently pro-slavery faction having buggered-off out of the Union during the war, and the provocation of the war itself being a factor, the war also tipped the political balance against slavery. > My general understanding is the South wished to secede. There were many differences between that region and the rest of the country, slavery being only one difference. Slavery was the main difference, as the seceding states said fairly explicitly in seceding, but also as even a casual review of the conflicts (both political and violent) leading up to secession makes very clear. > My general understanding is the South wished to secede. The slaveholders and their political allies wished to preserve slavery. Some of them chose to secede as a means of doing so. > The Deep South continues to be a distinctive region and is more religious than most of the rest of the country. Yes, it remains the seat of power of a large and powerful religious community founded not too long before the Civil War by seceding from a broader national group explicitly over the issue of preserving slavery (the Southern Baptist Convention), very much like the later political secession. Not sure how that does anything but underline the contemporary (to the Civil War) importance of slavery in the region and how it is foundational to the regions enduring culture and institutions. |