Good read about why the Civil war wasnt about slavery

I posted this link in the other thread about causes of the war. I thought I would post it here to make it more visible.

The author is a professor at Emory University.
This is a long article but a good read. Well thought out and researched material.

The link takes you to a scan of the actual article that was in a SCV magazine so it may be easier to read by printing it.

http://www.carolannwilson.net/Livingston.pdf

My opinion is that this is absurd. Was it the sole cause? No. Should it be eliminated as a factor? No. But to ignore its obvious impact is ridiculous. That slavery was not the reason for the Civil War is part and parcel of the Myth of the Lost Cause that some southerners still cling to. The confederacy's own constitution protected it (No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law denying or impairing the right of property in negro slaves shall be passed [by Congress]). As painful as it may be for some to admit, and some never will, it turned out for the best.

I thank you for taking the time to read the essay, and glad you expressed your opinion . I am curious to know if you feel Dr. Livingstons entire synopsis is absurd or only portions? He does say in the essay that slavery was an issue, just not THE issue. This is the position and opinion of most southern students of the war.

His essay is well supported (footnotes) by articles and books written by others, many of which are "Northern" historians. I found one very interesting consistency in each of what he referred to as "anti slavery episodes" That being that those who wanted to end slavery had no real plan for how to accomodate those who were to be freed. The facts presented showed many of these who opposed slavery were indeed racists, but opposed slavery as we all do today from the humanity aspects. Some northern states even had laws preventing freed slaves from coming there.

If those who wanted to end slavery werent willing to make the freed peoples thier equal then what was to become of them??
See example below from a quotation of A. Lincoln

From the article..............
Consider Lincoln’s remarks in a debate with Stephen Douglas,
September18, 1858:
“I will say then that I am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races … there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other men am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”6 quoted from
Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, 1832-1858, ed. Don E. Fehrenbacher
(New York: The Library of America, 1989), p. 271.
6. Ibid., pp. 636-37, italics added.

Milkman said:

If those who wanted to end slavery werent willing to make the freed peoples thier equal then what was to become of them??
See example below from a quotation of A. Lincoln

From the article..............
Consider Lincoln’s remarks in a debate with Stephen Douglas,
September18, 1858:
“I will say then that I am not, nor have ever been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races … there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And inasmuch as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other men am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”6 quoted from
Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, 1832-1858, ed. Don E. Fehrenbacher
(New York: The Library of America, 1989), p. 271.
6. Ibid., pp. 636-37, italics added.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately that was the 64 billion dollar question that nobody had a good answer to, Marvin. Which is one of the reasons why Lincoln resisted the idea of immediate emancipation. But it's also why he was adamant that the expansion of slavery had to stop. As bad as it was trying to figure out how to accomodate 4 million freed slaves in 1860, it would be all the worse trying to figure out how to accomodate the 11 million slaves Robert Toombs predicted would be in the population by 1900.

Later in the same speech you quoted above, Lincoln said that even if the expansion of slavery was stopped, "I do not mean that when it takes a turn toward ultimate extinction it will be in a day, nor in a year, nor in two years. I do not suppose that in the most peaceful way ultimate extinction would occur in less than a hundred years at least; but that it will occur in the best way for both races, in God’s own good time, I have no doubt." So I think you could say his philosophy was this: when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. There'll be time enough later to figure out how to get out of the hole, but for now just don't dig the hole any deeper.

was reading a 100 plus year old book last night and a quote caught my eye..it basically was from a Southerner saying the North had introduced slavery to the South so the north could prosper..once the South began to prosper the North decided they wanted to take it all away..

Thanks for posting the article. I want to first say that I believe, wholeheartedly, that Mr. Livingston probably has forgotten more about history than I will ever know. I did graduate with a degree in history from a state university, for whatever that's worth. Mr. Livingston is clearly more qualified than I to speak or write on southern heritage & tradition. That being said, it has been my experience that the overwhealming majority of the people who claim "the Civil war wasnt about slavery" has a specific agenda they are trying to persue & are not swayed by the reality of what went on.
There were enormous differences between the two sides, the most obvious & most discussed of these is slavery. I explain it to my own kids like this:
A husband cheats on his wife, she forgives him (or so she says) & they stay together. Now that underlying mistrust doesn't disappear, it aggravates & agitates any other differences & annoyances between the two until it eventually comes to a head. Now they can say it was because of all the differences between the two, or because he cheated, but the reality is that it was "all of the above".
So, was the Civil War "about slavery?" The answer is "it's complicated".

OK,that will be fine.It was complicated.