this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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I mean, it kind of wasn't...
Lincoln honestly wouldn't stop talking about how he wasn't gonna touch slavery.
https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/march-4-1861-first-inaugural-address
What started it was the south thought the feds should be able to enforce southern law (escaped slaves are still slaves, and northern states had to return them) and the Feds said they couldn't force one state to follow another state's laws.
It's a valid distinction, but almost certainly not what she told her kids.
Like when people say it was over "states rights" but ignore the Feds sided with state's rights, and the South was the one arguing for a stronger federal government.
However during the war, Lincoln did outlaw slavery, but that was more of an economic sanction to dissuade European governments funding the South by buying up resources and land. The South would have still lost but it would have taken far longer if they were selling land/plantations/slaves to wealthy foreigners
It's one of the few things pretty much everyone gets wrong when you ask what causes it.
https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/slavery-cause-civil-war.htm
...
I hate to be the one that breaks this to you, but American conservatives lie about their reasons the vast majority of the time.
So while the South did claim that they started the war because the Feds were going to come take their slaves, that's just not true. As evident by Lincoln's inauguration speech. Check it out, it's mostly about slavery and how he wasn't going to outlaw it.
The South saying he was going to, should be listened to as much as when their modern counterparts like trump also make crazy claims about what is happening.
Hell, they called Biden a communist and kept saying he was gonna take their guns.
Why would anyone take an American conservative's words over facts?
The South lied about why they started the war, that shouldn't be surprising.
I understand what you’re saying, but you’re missing context.
The Federalists were anti-slavery and its expansion. Regardless of what Lincoln said in his initial address, he wasn’t the only one who was anti-slavery.
How do we know all this? We can look at sources that provide historical context, like this for example,
https://billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/the-missouri-compromise