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Originally posted by Wang Tang
Abraham Lincoln did not start the war with the goal of abolishing slavery. About halfway through the war, he decided that the only way to win the war was to free the slaves. But slavery certainly was the main issue from the very beginning, even though freeing the slaves didn't come until halfway through the war.
Slavery was not the direct cause of the civil war, but it WAS indirectly the cause of the civil war. What directly caused the war was the Secession of the South, justified by Senator John Calhoun's idea of State's Rights. State's Rights was not the cause of the Civil War, it was only justification.
The real reason why the South wanted to secede was the Free State, Slave State Issue. In 1854 Congress thought they had solved the problem with the Kansas-Nebraska Act which stated that all new states would use popular sovereignty to decide if it would become a Slave or Free State. Popular Sovereignty was when the people of the state would all vote on whether to make the state free or slave.
When Kansas attempted to vote on becoming a Free or Slave state, people from Nebraska would come over to Kansas just to vote to swing the vote a certain way and then go back to Nebraska. This caused outrage from both sides, notably John Brown, who went around killing slave supporters.
The economy of the industrial North was also much more productive than the rural South, and there were many more Southerners migrating North than Northerners migrating South. Then, when Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860, the South, feeling politically powerless, and losing citizens to migration, seceded from the Union.
So yes, slavery 100% was the issue.
Originally posted by AlreadyGone
Lincoln's primary goal was to preserve the Union. ...yes, there were slaves up north.
Originally posted by MikeNice81
reply to post by captaintyinknots
I was not aware of that. Could you provide a link so that I could pursue that line of though in more detail?
Nah maybe 10%.... 90% was under the high tariffs imposed by the federal government. Northern Industrialists wanted control over the south, land tax etc....
The only real war over slavery was 6 months before the civil war, and that was with John Brown, he didn't start the civil war, the US hung him...
The US Civil War was caused by Abraham Lincoln election and the republican party, they wanted control over southern states, they didn't want them to become a sovereign nation....
Originally posted by captaintyinknots
Originally posted by Quickfix
reply to post by halfoldman
Not entirely true. lincoln tried to borrow the money, and the world bank(not their name back then) offered him intereswt rates of 25% and up. He refused and started printing his own money to pay for the war.
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country; corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in High Places will follow, and the Money Power of the Country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the People, until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war"-Lincoln