Civil War was more about states’ rights

I must take exception to Hans Dunshee’s mischaracterization of the Civil War as being a about slavery (“Jefferson Davis Highway here? Legislator outraged,” Jan. 24 news story).

It was a war about states’ rights vs. federal rights. Slavery was the issue that President Lincoln used as justification to persuade the governors of the northern states to lend him troops and to sway public opinion to his cause. There was no standing army at this time, as George Washington was fearful of the oppressive power that a federal government would have if it were allowed to have a standing army and it was one of the powers that was specifically forbidden to it. The governors of the states had the armies. Given the amendments that were passed after the war (including giving itself the right to tax the income of citizens), there are some who feel that the wrong side won. We certainly would not have the all-powerful federal government and bureaucracy dictating so many aspects of our lives that we have today had Jefferson Davis and those who favor states’ rights prevailed.

Stanwood