I want to add my comments to Hans Dunshee’s “marker” debate.
Some say slavery was the cause of the Civil War, other say states’ rights. I submit they are both right, but are missing the bottom-line issue – economics.
Slavery is an economic issue, apart from what one feels about its morality. The northern industries could not compete with the South because the South continued to use slave labor, whereas the North was not, by that time. Lincoln, favoring the Northern plight, abolished slavery, thus tipping the scale against the states’ rights issue.
Lincoln’s war freed the slaves, so that economic parity could be achieved between the north and south. It was the right thing to do, but that was not the driving issue. States’ rights needed to be redefined in the light of a growing union, and the rebels needed to be taught a lesson by a more powerful central government. Let Hans tear down the marker because Davis was a traitor to the Union. However, let’s leave slavery out of the issue, since too many of our country’s early leaders were slave owners.
Everett
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