Was the civil war a fight to save the union, or an effort to preserve the separation of people? Many opinions have been presented by historians as to why the civil war broke out. From the Northern perspective the South was just trying to protect its undiversified economy which relied heavily on slavery. Whereas, the South viewed the war as a result of conflicting interests between the federal government and states rights. In Charles Drew’s writings; Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War, he gives examples which support his claim that commissioners of the South anticipated succession through white supremacist ideologies. In Gary Gallagher’s writing; The Union War, he explains that certain claims
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The South had detached itself from the way the rest of the country had decided to start living their lives, and proceeded to try and exit the union. Southern commissioners went around to other pro-slavery states to convince them to also succeed the union. “Despite their enormous value, the commissioners’ speeches and letters have been almost completely overlooked by historians and, as a consequence, by the public at large” (Drews 293). The commissioners did not feel the need to censor their speeches or letters out of fear of being politically correct because they were speaking to other Southerners. These letters have been so overlooked that the blatant racism in them, has not solely justified the cause of the civil war for some historians. In fact John Smith Preston had given many speeches in favor of the South’s need for slavery; ““...the subject race… rising and murdering their masters” or “the conflict between slavery and non-slavery is a conflict for life and death,” or his insistence that, “the South cannot exist without slavery””(Drew 294). Prestons main goal was to make it believed that the civil war was explicitly over disputes from differing concepts between the North and South. This was an effort to make the
The South had detached itself from the way the rest of the country had decided to start living their lives, and proceeded to try and exit the union. Southern commissioners went around to other pro-slavery states to convince them to also succeed the union. “Despite their enormous value, the commissioners’ speeches and letters have been almost completely overlooked by historians and, as a consequence, by the public at large” (Drews 293). The commissioners did not feel the need to censor their speeches or letters out of fear of being politically correct because they were speaking to other Southerners. These letters have been so overlooked that the blatant racism in them, has not solely justified the cause of the civil war for some historians. In fact John Smith Preston had given many speeches in favor of the South’s need for slavery; ““...the subject race… rising and murdering their masters” or “the conflict between slavery and non-slavery is a conflict for life and death,” or his insistence that, “the South cannot exist without slavery””(Drew 294). Prestons main goal was to make it believed that the civil war was explicitly over disputes from differing concepts between the North and South. This was an effort to make the