Who Was Right in the American Civil War

[General Mung Beans]

Who was overall right in the American Civil War?

 

[shinbits]

the ones not lashing the slaves

 

[Douger]

I think both sides were horribly wrong. Neither side was willing to give up some power, or wealth, or ideas to accommodate the other and America is still paying the price of that war today.

 

[BobW188]

That word overall is very important; and overall the Union had the better cause. To "accomodate the other" the Union would have had to sanction either disunion, which would have likely resulted in other regions breaking away, or the unrestricted spread of slavery into all areas of the United States that had not yet acheived statehood.

 

[Gracchus]

Had the North hanged every Southern white man, and sold every Southern white woman in the slave markets of Morroco, the moral balance would still have been on the Northern side. (IMO)

 

[Sphinx777]

and sold every Southern white woman in the slave markets of Morroco

What Do You Think Of Concubinage?​

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.​

 

[Sphinx777]

Spoiler: One Night With The King

 

[Gracchus]

What Do You Think Of Concubinage?

You mean like Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings? Well, she was at least his wife's half-sister and unlike his father-in-law Jefferson did at least manumit their children when they came of age.

In general, I am against it, although it is not of great concern to me, as long as it is consensual.

 

[bps916]

War does not decide who is right,only who is left

 

[keith99]

I think both sides were horribly wrong. Neither side was willing to give up some power, or wealth, or ideas to accommodate the other and America is still paying the price of that war today.

And many other posts on htis thread have already shown just how right you are.

 

[Auburn88]

Who was overall right in the American Civil War?

If you believe the story that the Civil War was fought to defeat slavery, then I guess the North was right.

However, if you understand the history behind it, then the South was right.

 

[Kalevalatar]

"Other" as in neither side. To start killing your (Christian) neighbours for economic gains (read: greed) is never right.

 

[Douger]

"Other" as in neither side. To start killing your (Christian) neighbours for economic gains (read: greed) is never right.

Absolutely agreed. The same goes for the American Revolution, and most other wars ever fought in fact.

 

[grasping the after wind]

If you believe the story that the Civil War was fought to defeat slavery, then I guess the North was right.

However, if you understand the history behind it, then the South was right.

The war was fought because of slavery. All other factors that led to the war were offshoots of the fact that the South practiced slavery and the North did not. Overall the North was wrong not to allow the South to depart from the Union. there is no rightness to forcing one group of people to associate with another group that has an entirely opposite view of what is moral. There is reason to believe that the South would soon have had to abandon their slave economy had they been allowed to fend for themselves. The South was also wrong in it's insistence upon slavery.

 

[Auburn88]

The war was fought because of slavery.

Nope. Good to see the government school propaganda machine is alive and well.

All other factors that led to the war were offshoots of the fact that the South practiced slavery and the North did not.

Actually, slavery was practiced in each of the Northern states. The legal importation of slaves was perfectly legal in New York as late as 1848.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

the ones not lashing the slaves

So, forcing women and children to work ten, twelve, fourteen hours a day in factories is okay, it's only when you lash them that there's a moral problem?

 

[Gracchus]

So, forcing women and children to work ten, twelve, fourteen hours a day in factories is okay, it's only when you lash them that there's a moral problem?

Do you think that the slaves worked an eight hour day? Dawn to dusk was the rule, and longer if there was enough moonlight to work by. And the northern worker could quit without being lashed or mutilated. Nor could northern husbands, wives or children be transferred hundreds of miles away at the whim of an employer.

I remember that when I was in school, nearly fifty years ago, the argument was made that the war wasn't about slavery. (After all publishers had to sell textbooks in the South!) But my analysis of the reporting and records of the time indicates that without the division of the country into part with slavery and part without slavery, there would have been no war.

And the South fired the first shot. Because they lost the election! And the South rejoiced and thought themselves very fine for starting the war.

Add to this, the only real major differences between the U.S. Constitution and the Confederate Constitution, were the line-item veto, the term of office of the president, and the fact that in the South, slavery was given a protected status.

 

[Gwenyfur]

Considering we're still facing the exact problems that they were facing 145 years ago...

yeah...pretty danged stupid if ya ask me...

States rights vs Federal rights

States believed (and still do) that their laws should be over federal law
The Federal government believes that their laws preempt any state laws and take precedence no matter what

heh...and it's getting worse, more heated, and once again states are beginning to mutter about seceding from the Union...

 

[Gracchus]

Considering we're still facing the exact problems that they were facing 145 years ago...

No.

yeah...pretty danged stupid if ya ask me...

Don't be so hard on yourself.

States rights vs Federal rights

States believed (and still do) that their laws should be over federal law
The Federal government believes that their laws preempt any state laws and take precedence no matter what

That is how the courts have ruled, and the constitution has not been amended to change that.

heh...and it's getting worse, more heated, and once again states are beginning to mutter about seceding from the Union...

States don't mutter, people who are too cowardly to speak plainly mutter.

The Confederacy died, at least in part, of state governments that refused to support the central government at Richmond.

 

[jayem]

No.


The Confederacy died, at least in part, of state governments that refused to support the central government at Richmond.

The CSA's single biggest error was in underestimating the resolve of the North. Southern leaders believed that if they inflicted enough damage on Union armies, the North would give up rather quickly and leave them be. (Just like the American colonies gained independence, when the British decided that fighting the Revolutionary War wasn't worth it.) But the Confederates didn't account for the tenacity of Lincoln. They never expected the war to be pursued for as long, and as relentlessly as it was.