Yeah, and they are still doing it. And we are still resisting.
One thing I put to rest a long time ago when I was bow hunting in Alabama in 1986 and that was over a few beers by the locals when they all started chanting "the south will rise again". Knowing of course that us 4 were present. One guy said something that I will never forget. Right after that this guy slapped my friend on the back with a smile and gives him a kiss on the cheek and said hold on yank, never forget "we are all brothers". I never forgot but I am remembering these days those words more than ever.
The Rock
Only 10% of southerners owned slaves. Slaves were still owned in the north and the north was eager to leverage the continuation of existing slavery as a condition of national preservation.
The simple fact is race relations were much different back in those days and white supremacy, unfortunately, was de rigueur EVERYWHERE in the nation.
The southern DEMOCRAT elites may have been fighting for slavery but the overwhelming majority were fighting for state sovereignty. And the north, while claiming most of the abolitionists, was not fighting for emancipation.
History really is not that complicated. Not in this case. Only revisionist spin clouds the water. Shameful because the result of the spin is our lost spirit of self-determination.
"I recall, Captain Barringer, the talk you and I once had at my table in Lexington in the heated party struggle of 1860. Though differing in politics, we happened to agree as to the character of this war, if it once began. We both thought it would be internecine in its results. Neither of us had any special concern for slavery, but both agreed that if the sword was once drawn, the South would have no alternative but to defend her homes and firesides, slavery and all.
I myself see in this war, if the North triumph, a dissolution of the bonds of all society. It is not alone the destruction of our property (which both the nation and the States are bound to protect), but it is the prelude to anarchy, infidelity, and the ultimate loss of free responsible government on this continent. "
