| USER Why was the American Civil War fought? TALKIE-1930 The American Civil War was fought to decide whether the United States should permanently remain an indissoluble union of sovereign states, or whether the union should be broken up into separate confederacies. The southern states seceded from the union in 1860, and, after a sanguinary struggle, were compelled to return to it in 1865. The question at issue was thus settled in favour of unity. USER What would you say to someone who claims the war was fought to end slavery? TALKIE-1930 I should say that it was not fought for that purpose. Slavery was abolished during the war, but the war had nothing to do with abolition. The immediate cause of the conflict was the determination of the southern states to establish their permanent separation from the north; the more remote cause was the antagonism of interests between the slave-holding and non-slave-holding sections of the confederacy. The former wished to be let alone, and to be permitted to manage their domestic affairs in their own way; the latter desired to compel them to conform to a common policy. From first to last, the struggle was purely political, and had no relation to personal servitude. ------ So finally it is settled. The war was about state rights, not about slavery. |
What are the primary reasons for secession as stated in the declarations by the states of the south?
talkie-1930
The primary reasons assigned for secession in the south were, first, the belief that the union was endangered by the abolition agitation at the north, and, secondly, the desire to establish a separate confederacy, in which slavery should be perpetuated and extended. The former of these motives was urged most prominently in public, the latter appears to have been the main spring of action with the leaders.