Many revisionist historians claim that the Civil War was fought to end slavery. At the time the Civil War began slavery was legal in New Jersey and New Hampshire as well as Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, Missouri and West Virginia. Lincoln waged his war against the eleven states that seceded not the eighteen that had Constitutions that authorized slavery.
Eleven states that seceded and declared their independence from the United States. President Lincoln did not acknowledge them as a separate nation, but as states in rebellion. If in fact the Southern States never left the Union why was it necessary for them to be re-admitted?
Congress required that the Southern States ratify the 14th Amendment in order to be re-admitted to the Union. Did they have the Constitutional authority to make such a request? Was the ratification of the 14th Amendment achieved by coercion?
The colonists declared their independence and seceded from Great Britain.The Southern States declared their independence and seceded from the United States. In both cases the wars were fought over the right of secession.
A Civil War is one in which groups within a country battle for control over their government. The colonists did not want to control Great Britain and the Southern States did not want to control the United States, in both cases they just wanted to be a free and independent. Lincoln wanted to preserve the Union just as King George had wanted preserve his Colonial possessions.
The American Colonists were being harassed by the Redcoats and it is unknown who actually fired the first shot. While it is true that the first shot in the Civil War was fired by the Confederacy it can be argued that the acts of aggression by President Lincoln had instigated the war.
The Colonists believed that the King George had been violated their rights as English citizens. They felt that Parliament was passing laws without their consent and without their representation. The Southern States in 1860 faced a similar situation, with the Congress and the Presidency controlled by the Northern States, the South felt that they were not being treated fairly.
The Southern States did not want war, they just wanted to be left alone. If Lincoln had allowed the Southern States to leave in peace, six hundred thousand lives could have been spared. President Lincoln wanted to micro manage the South just as King George had wanted to control the American Colonies.
While only 30% of the people lived in Southern States, they collectively paid 80% of the taxes collected by the Federal Government. The eleven states that seceded believed that the Federal government was created by the states and that the it was supposed to preserve, protect and defend the rights of the people not to make decisions that had been reserved to the states and to the people.
If Lincoln was so opposed to slavery why did he not demand that General Ulysses S. Grant and General William Tecumseh Sherman free their slaves. Both of these men that fought to free the slaves, didn't free their slaves until the ratification of the 13th Amendment. Robert E. Lee freed his slave in 1862.
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