Good post.
Slavery was pressed upon the southern colonies by the Crown many decades before the Union was formed. The largest slave owners were offered franchises under the charter system, and the use of slave labor vs non-slave labor was not for them to choose, but rather part of the charter agreement. In fact, holders of of colonial plantations, sea ports, logging operations and the like, were not true owners, and were often forced to take their payment in the form of new slaves that they did not want. There are numerous records of the colonies petitioning the Crown to end the vicious cycle of slave trade for which no one could see a happy outcome.
While there were still advocates of slavery in the southern states at the time of the civil war, very few southerners even owned slaves, much less were willing to give their lives in defense of the institution.
The northern abolitionists were not all morally superior - for many it was an economic position rather than a moral one - slavery devalued their labor and they did not want it extended westward.
There were other concerns that caused the southern states to resist abolition even though few owned slaves - the slave population had continued to grow long after slave trade ended - there were questions of what would happen under abolition. Many wanted to find a way to unravel it in a way that left them safe and financially whole. A common analogy was that of holding a poisonous snake - how do you let it go with out getting bitten? The northern colonies and various European countries had phased skavery out over say, 20 years or the life of the slave, but the South was given no such compromise.
Slavery was (is) an awful blight on our history but it is important to remember it far pre-dated the states and far pre-dated any of the 600k who died in the civil war.
I agree with those who say the war was completely avoidable and a huge failure in leadership. Lincoln was not a tyrant but neither can he be considered a great president.
For those who insist the South fought the Civil War to keep slavery, one question needs to be answered: During all but the last months of the Civil War, Lincoln had the following offer always on the table: withdraw articles of secession and you can keep slavery and end the war.
If the South were seceding and fighting to keep slavery, why would they not take that offer? Obviously, the decision to secede was due not to fear of losing slavery but rather due to the many abusive trade tariffs, price controls and other economic coercions perpetrated on them by the Northern States.
**”Slavery was pressed upon the southern colonies by the Crown many decades before the Union was formed.”**
The Brits made slavery lawful in every colony, but slavery prospered in each to the degree it made economic & social sense.
Some colonies used more slaves than others and were later more reluctant to abolish it.
**” While there were still advocates of slavery in the southern states at the time of the civil war, very few southerners even owned slaves, much less were willing to give their lives in defense of the institution. “**
Only true if you look only at individual slave-holders.
But if you ask how many family households owned slaves, then the answer is nearly 50% in Deep South states, declining to fewer that 5% in a Border State like Delaware.
**” The northern abolitionists were not all morally superior - for many it was an economic position rather than a moral one - slavery devalued their labor and they did not want it extended westward. “**
No, long before 1860 all Northerners opposed slavery in their own States, for both moral and economic reasons.
But slavery in the South was a precondition for Union so Northerners were willing to leave it be there.
**” There were other concerns that caused the southern states to resist abolition even though few owned slaves - “**
But even Border States like Delaware which had very few slaves and the numbers declining over time still refused to abolish slavery voluntarily in the 1860s.
So slavery was more than mere economics, it was also a state of mind and ideology impervious to mere cost/benefit analysis.
**”I agree with those who say the war was completely avoidable and a huge failure in leadership. Lincoln was not a tyrant but neither can he be considered a great president. “**
War was only avoidable through surrender and destruction of the United States to the CSA. In that event millions of white Unionist in Southern states would be sacrificed to the Slave Power.
**”For those who insist the South fought the Civil War to keep slavery, one question needs to be answered: During all but the last months of the Civil War, Lincoln had the following offer always on the table: withdraw articles of secession and you can keep slavery and end the war.
**”If the South were seceding and fighting to keep slavery, why would they not take that offer? Obviously, the decision to secede was due not to fear of losing slavery but rather due to the many abusive trade tariffs, price controls and other economic coercions perpetrated on them by the Northern States.”**
Good point, but Secessionists were totally clear in their original documents that protecting slavery was the reason.
It was also the reason they refused to offer slaves freedom in exchange for military service.
But Civil War, not slavery, was the reason Upper South states (i.e. Virginia) joined the Confederacy, and protecting slavery alone could not bring them back to Union.
True. There were slaves in all the colonies.
“While there were still advocates of slavery in the southern states at the time of the civil war, very few southerners even owned slaves, much less were willing to give their lives in defense of the institution.”
In the deep south the economy was based on slavery. Slaves did much of the work and non slave owners had very few opportunities. While most did not own slaves the economy was dependent on slavery.
In the states further north slavery was less common. In Maryland, for example, the tobacco farms in southern Maryland depended on slave labor. In the rest of the state there were few slaves.
“The northern abolitionists were not all morally superior - for many it was an economic position rather than a moral one - slavery devalued their labor and they did not want it extended westward”
There were actually very few abolitionists in the north. They were not popular. The northern states very gradually ended slavery. The Republican base was in the Midwest. They opposed creating a slave based economy in the Midwest and the west. They did not call for abolishing slavery in the southern states.
Most people who opposed slavery were Christians and did so on religious grounds. The head of the campaign to abolish slavery in Great Britain was an former slave ship captain who converted to Christianity and wrote the hymn Amazing Grace. Almost all opposition to slavery was on religious grounds but few wanted an immediate end to slavery.
Some southern slave owners thought slavery was a bad system. George Washington ordered his slaves freed after the death of his wife Martha.
“There were other concerns that caused the southern states to resist abolition even though few owned slaves - the slave population had continued to grow long after slave trade ended - there were questions of what would happen under abolition. Many wanted to find a way to unravel it in a way that left them safe and financially whole. A common analogy was that of holding a poisonous snake - how do you let it go with out getting bitten? The northern colonies and various European countries had phased slavery out over say, 20 years or the life of the slave, but the South was given no such compromise.”
Southerners did not have a single view on slavery. Most were not slave owners.
There were a group of Democrats who wanted to create slave based economies in the Midwest and the west. There were secessionists who wanted to use slavery and the threat of abolition as a motivation to leave the union.
“Slavery was (is) an awful blight on our history but it is important to remember it far pre-dated the states and far pre-dated any of the 600k who died in the civil war.”
Slavery was never an “awful blight on our history.” Every civilized society in the history of the world had slaves. Slavery is in the bible. Slavery was present in every country in the world and is still present in much of the world today. America is unique in that it abolished slavery not in that slavery existed.
“I agree with those who say the war was completely avoidable and a huge failure in leadership. Lincoln was not a tyrant but neither can he be considered a great president.”
The Civil War was avoidable. It was caused by very small group of secessionists. Lincoln was an outsider with almost no political experience who was able to preserve the union when the Washington establishment said it was impossible to do. Lincoln was great for preserving the union and preventing the Civil War from bankrupting the country.
“For those who insist the South fought the Civil War to keep slavery, one question needs to be answered: During all but the last months of the Civil War, Lincoln had the following offer always on the table: withdraw articles of secession and you can keep slavery and end the war.
If the South were seceding and fighting to keep slavery, why would they not take that offer? Obviously, the decision to secede was due not to fear of losing slavery but rather due to the many abusive trade tariffs, price controls and other economic coercions perpetrated on them by the Northern States.”
The decision to secede was never publicly debated or put to a popular vote in the south. A small group Democrat Party activists pushed secession through the state legislatures in very quick votes. Most secessionists thought that the government would not fight to preserve the union. Southerners suffered severely because of secession. Had they been able to think through the consequences, been able to vote and understood the Lincoln would fight to preserve the union they probably would not have voted to secede.
They also thought that England and France would join the fight on their side. They were wrong about that too.