Confeder-H8 History Month: Did the South Secede from the Union over Slavery?

One might think this question is a no-brainer, right? After all, all of the secession documents assign the preservation of slavery as the reason for withdrawal from the Union. But no. In a recent study by Teaching Tolerance, only 8% of High School students polled could correctly identify the preservation of slavery as the cause for secession.

On one of my Facebook posts, a defender of the Confederacy said this:

“The Confederacy was about more than just racism. It was about a people gathering together to stand against a tyrannical government that was bullying them. I will admit that slavery was part of what the Confederacy wanted to keep, but it was not the only reason that the Confederacy fought for independence. Too many people on the left view the Confederacy as only a group of backwoods redneck racist hicks that wanted nothing more than to keep their slaves. The vast majority of the Southern population did not own slaves; only the wealthy few did... I've said all along that slavery was a factor, but it wasn't the only factor.” 

To that he appended a link to prove his point. And what does this link say? Take a look:

What led to the outbreak of the bloodiest conflict in the history of North America? 

A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery. 

In fact, it was the economics of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the conflict. 

A key issue was states' rights. 

The Southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal laws they didn't support, especially laws interfering with the South's right to keep slaves and take them wherever they wished. 

Another factor was territorial expansion. 

The South wished to take slavery into the western territories, while the North was committed to keeping them open to white labor alone. 

Meanwhile, the newly formed Republican party, whose members were strongly opposed to the westward expansion of slavery into new states, was gaining prominence. 

The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, as President in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, was a clear signal to the Southern states that they had lost all influence. 

Feeling excluded from the political system, they turned to the only alternative they believed was left to them: secession, a political decision that led directly to war. 

Translation: The Civil War was not fought over “the moral issue of slavery.” The Civil War was, rather, fought over the economics of slavery, over forcing free states to acquiesce to slavery, over the expansion of slavery, and over the growing possibility that slavery might be outlawed. The common thread is slavery, in case it escaped anybody’s notice.

It is common to hear that the Civil War occurred over States’ Rights rather than slavery. The foolishness of that statement should be clearly evident. What particular right were these states fighting for? Anybody? Further, a reading of the source documents clearly shows that the Southern states opposed States’ Rights when it came to other states embracing freedom.

READ: Five myths about why the South seceded by James Loewen