Talk:American Civil War/FAQ
Below are answers to frequently asked questions about the corresponding page American Civil War. They address concerns, questions, and misconceptions which have repeatedly arisen on the talk page. Please update this material when needed. |
Many of these questions arise frequently on the talk page concerning American Civil War (ACW).
To view an explanation to the answer, click the [show] link to the right of the question.
Wikipedia requires that we rely on the best officially documented research available, without any original research. The best historians (McPherson, Nevins, Freehling and even the better Southern historians such as Potter) don't support Lost Cause interpretations of causes.
States' rights was a lesser issue. The original secessionists were not very careful in separating states' rights from the slavery issue. South Carolina's declaration of reasons for secession is one example out of many. However, Lost Cause historians did try to separate state's rights from slavery after Confederate defeat.
The tariff was a lesser issue. The tariff issue was a much larger issue three decades before the war, and even then John Calhoun, who led South Carolina's attempt to nullify the Tariff of 1828, said that the tariff issue was related to slavery. In his March 6, 1860 speech at New Haven Lincoln said that the slavery issue was more important than the tariff or any other issue.
Even though northern states didn't allow equal civil rights for blacks, they were still much more antislavery than the South. Also, secessionists mentioned fears for the future of slavery many times in their declarations of reasons for secession, political speeches and editorials.
Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis said a great deal about controversy over slavery before the war. They downplayed the slavery issue when the war began because, as historian James Ford Rhodes explained, Lincoln needed to keep the loyalty of the border states, which were both pro-slavery and pro-Union, and Davis hoped to get support from Britain and France, where slavery was unpopular.As to whether issues of right and wrong were part of the controversy, Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Stephens had the following to say about this:
"You think slavery is right and should be extended; while we think slavery is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub." - From Abraham Lincoln's letter to Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, Dec 22, 1860
"We at the South do think African slavery, as it exists with us, both morally and politically right. This opinion is founded upon the inferiority of the black race. You, however, and perhaps a majority of the North, think it wrong." - From Stephens' reply to Lincoln, Dec 30, 1860