April marks Confederate History and Heritage Month, and last Sunday was Confederate Memorial Day.
People like to boil the cause of the War Between the States as being purely about slavery. Eyebrows should be raised anytime someone can tell you the sole reason for a war. Slavery became an issue once the war began, but it was not the reason for the first shot.
In the events that led to Ft Sumter, the US Congress increased tariffs. Prior to the war, 75% of the money used by the Federal Government came from the South with only four of the southern states providing 50% of those tariffs. There was a constant debate on centralization of federal power verses the right of states to remain sovereign. Secular humanism began to rise and challenge the basic Christian principles observed by most in the south. There were cultural differences too that began when the country was first settled. There was a battle to control western territories as new states like Kansans and Nebraska were added. The industrial revolution in the north looked favorably on the south’s agricultural resources and wanted them. Abolitionists attempted to encourage a slave uprising that would have resulted in the murder of men, women, and children in the south similar to what had been done in Santa Domingo.
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