I respectfully disagree with those who claim that the War Between the States was fought over slavery or that the abolition of slavery in the Revolutionary Era or early Federal period would have prevented war. It is my opinion that war was inevitable between North and South due to complex political and personal differences. The famous Englishman Winston Churchill stated that the war between North and South was one of the most unpreventable wars in history. The Cause that the Confederate States of America fought for (1861-1865) was Southern Independence from the United States of America. Many parallels exist between the War for American Independence ( 1775-1783 ) and the War for Southern Independence.

There were 10 political causes of the war ---one of which was slavery-- which was a scapegoat for all the differences that existed between the North and South. The Northern industrialists had wanted a war since about 1830 to get the South's resources ( land-cotton-coal-timber-minerals ) for pennies on the dollar. All wars are Economic and are always fought between centralists and decentralists.

In 1215 when the Barons of England forced King John to sign the Magna Carta the decentralists won. In 1783 when the peace treaty was signed ending the American Revolution the decentralists won. In 1865 the centralists won when The War Between The States ended with Southern defeat.

The North would have found an excuse to invade the South even if slavery had never existed. Slavery was just a convenient excuse and scapegoat for Northern agression.

The Northern hypocrites conveniently forgot that it was the 5 Northern states of Massachusetts,Connecticut,New Hampshire,Rhode Island and New York that had imported the slaves from Africa to America. They had state owned and private owned fleets of ships.

There was nearly a war (1828-1832) over the tariff when South Carolina passed nullification laws. The U.S. Congress had increased the tariff rate on imported products to 40% (known as the tariff of abominations in Southern states). This crisis had nothing to do with slavery. If slavery had never existed --period--or had been eliminated at the time the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776 or anytime prior to 1860 it is my opinion that there would still have been a war sooner or later.

On a human level there were 4 causes of the war--New England Greed--New England Fanatics--New England Zealots--and New England Hypocrites. During "So Called Reconstruction" the New England Industrialists got what they had really wanted for 40 years--THE SOUTH'S RESOURCES FOR PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR. They would have found some excuse for a war and invasion of the South to get what they had long wanted.

The 10 political causes are :

1. TARIFF--Prior to the war about 75% of the money to operate the Federal Government was derived from the Southern States via an unfair sectional tariff and 50% of the total 75% was from just 4 Southern states--Virginia-North Carolina-South Carolina and Georgia. Only 10% of this tax money was being returned to the South. The Southern states were being treated as an agricultural colony of the North and bled dry. Read John Randolph's (of Virginia) remarks in opposition to the tariff of 1820. The North claimed that they fought the war to preserve the Union but the New England Industrialists who were in control of the North were actually supporting war to maintain and increase the money they were receiving from the tariff. The industrialists wanted the South to pay for the industrialization of America at no expense to themselves.In the 21st century such political handouts are known as Corporate Welfare.

2. CENTRALIZATION VERSUS STATES RIGHTS---The United States of America was founded as a Constitutional Federal Republic in 1789 composed of a Limited Federal Government and Sovereign States. The North wanted to and did alter the form of Government this nation was founded upon. The Confederate States of America fought to preserve Constitutional Limited Federal Government as established by Americas founding fathers, most of whom, were Southern Gentlemen from Virginia. Thus Confederate soldiers were fighting for rights that had been paid for in blood by their forefathers upon the battlefields of the American Revolution. Abraham Lincoln had a blatant disregard for The Constitution of the United States of America and his War of Aggression against the South changed America from a Constitutional Federal Republic to a Democracy and broke the original Constitution.

3. CHRISTIANITY VERSUS SECULAR HUMANISM--The South believed in basic Christianity as presented in the Holy Bible--the North was full of Socialists and Atheists--Southerners were afraid of what kind of country America might become if the North had it's way. Secular Humanism is the belief that there is no God and that man,science and government can solve all problems. This philosophy advocates human rather than Christian values. The infamous socialist Karl Marx sent Lincoln a letter of congratulations when he was reelected in 1864. A number of European Socialists came to America and fought for the North.

4. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES--Southerners and Northerners were of different Genetic Lineages. Southerners were primarily of Western English (original Britons),Scottish,and Irish linage (Celtic) whereas Northerners tended to be of Anglo-Saxon and Danish (Viking) extraction. The two cultures had been at war and at odds for over 1000 years before they arrived in America. Our ancient ancestors in Western England under King Arthur humbled the Saxon princes at the battle of Baden Hill ( circa 497 AD --516 AD ). This culture clash that occurred 1861-1865 had been brewing for 1500 years.

5. CONTROL OF WESTERN TERRITORIES--The North wanted to control Western States and Territories such as Kansas and Nebraska. New England formed Immigrant Aid Societies and sent settlers to these areas that were politically attached to the North. They passed punitive laws against slavery which simply told Southerners they were not welcome. It was all about control--slavery was a scapegoat.

6. NORTHERN INDUSTRIALISTS WANTED THE SOUTH'S RESOURCES. The Northern Industrialists wanted a war to use as an excuse to get the South's resources for pennies on the dollar. They began a campaign about 1830 that would indoctronate the common people of the North and create a mental state that would allow them to go to war against the South. They used slavery as a scapegoat and brought up the morality claim against the South while conveniently forgetting that the New England states were responsible primarily for the importation of slaves from Africa.

7. SLANDER OF THE SOUTH BY NORTHERN NEWSPAPERS. This political cause ties in to the above listed efforts by New England Industrialists. Beginning about 1830 the Northern Newspapers began to slander the South. The Industrialists used this tool to indoctrinare the common people of the North. They used slavery as a scapegoat and brought the morality claim up to a feverish pitch. Southerners became tired of reading in the Northern Newspapers about what bad and evil people they were just because their neighbor down the road had a few slaves. This propaganda campaign created hostility between the ordinary citizens of the two regions and created the animosity necessary for war. The Northern industrialists worked poor whites in the factories of the North under terrible conditions for 18 hours a day (including children). When the workers became old and infirm they were fired. It is a historical fact that during this era there were thousands of old people living homeless on the streets in the cities of the North. In the South a slave was cared for from birth to death. Also the diet and living conditions of Southern slaves was superior to that of most Northern factory workers. Southerners deeply resented this New England hypocrisy and slander.

8. NEW ENGLANDERS ATTEMPTED TO INSTIGATE MASSIVE SLAVE REBELLIONS IN THE SOUTH. Abolitionists were a small but vocal and militant group in New England who demanded instant abolition of slavery in the South. These fanatics and zealots were calling for massive slave uprisings that would result in the murder of Southern men,women, and children. Southerners were aware that such an uprising had occurred in Santa Domingo in the 1830 era. They published a terrorist manifesto (The Helper Book) and tried to smuggle 100,000 copies into the South showing slaves how to murder their masters at night. Then when John Brown raided Harpers Ferry,Virginia in 1859, the political situation became inflammatory. Lincoln and most of the Republican Party ( 64 members of congress ) had adopted a political platform in support of terrorist acts against the South. Some (allegedly including Lincoln) had contributed monetarily as supporters of John Brown's terrorist activities. Again slavery was used as a scapegoat for all differences that existed between the North and South.

9. SLAVERY. Indirectly slavery was a cause of the war. Most Southerners did not own slaves and would not have fought directly to preserve or defend slavery. However they believed that the North had no Constitutional right to free slaves held by citizens of Sovereign Southern States. Prior to the war there were five times as many abolition societies in the South as in the North. Virtually all educated Southerners were in favor of gradual emancipation of slaves. Gradual emancipation would have allowed the economy and labor system of the South to gradually adjust to a free paid labor system without economic collapse. Furthermore, since the New England States were responsible for the development of slavery in America, Southerners saw the morality claims by the North as blatant hypocrisy. The first state to legalize slavery by statute had been Massachusetts in 1641 and this law was directed primarily at Indians. In colonial times the economic infrastructure of the port cities of the North was dependent upon the slave trade. Further proof that Southerners were not fighting to preserve slavery is found in the diary of an officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. He stated that "he had never met a man in the Army of Northern Virginia that claimed he was fighting to preserve slavery". If the war had been over slavery,the composition of the politicians,officers,enlisted men,and even African Americans would have been different. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had freed his slaves prior to the war whereas Union General Grant's wife Julia did not free their slaves until after the war when forced to do so by the 13th amendment to the constitution and court action. Grant even stated that if the abolitionists claimed he was fighting to free slaves that he would offer his services to the South. Mildred Lewis Rutherford ( 1852-1928 ) was for many years the historian for the United Daughters Of The Confederacy (UDC). In her book Truths Of History she stated that there were more slaveholders in the Union Army (315,000) than the Confederate Army (200,000). Statistics also show that about 300,000 blacks supported the Confederacy versus about 200,000 for the Union. It is estimated that about 93,000 were employed or served in an official capacity. Approximately 13,000 of the black Confederate's were combat veterans. Clearly,the war would have been fought along different lines if it had been fought over slavery.

10. NORTHERN AGGRESSION AGAINST SOUTHERN STATES. Proof that Abraham Lincoln wanted war may be found in the manner he handled the Fort Sumter incident. Original correspondence between Lincoln and Naval Captain G.V.Fox show proof that Lincoln acted with deceit and willfully provoked South Carolina into firing on the fort ( A TARIFF COLLECTION FACILITY ). It was politically important that the South be provoked into firing the first shot so that Lincoln could claim the Confederacy started the war. Additional proof that Lincoln wanted war is the fact that Lincoln refused to meet with a Confederate peace delegation. They remained in Washington for 30 days after the Fort Sumter incident and returned to Richmond only after it became apparent that Lincoln wanted war and refused to meet and discuss a peace settlement. Then Lincoln called for 75,000 troops to put down what he called a rebellion. He intended to march Union troops across Virginia and North Carolina to attack South Carolina. Virginia and North Carolina were not going to allow such an act of aggression against a sister Southern State so Lincoln's aggression caused the secession of the upper Southern States.

The WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 1861-1865 occurred due to many complex causes and factors as enumerated and summarized above. Those who make claims that "the war was over slavery" or that if slavery had been abolished in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed or in 1789 when The Constitution of the United States of America was signed, that war would not have occurred between North and South are being very simplistic in their views and opinions.

The Union victory in 1865 destroyed the right of secession in America,which had been so cherished by America's founding fathers as the principle of their revolution. British historian and political philosopher Lord Acton, one of the most intellectual figures in Victorian England, understood the deeper meaning of Southern defeat. In a letter to former Confederate General Robert E. Lee dated November 4,1866,Lord Acton wrote " I saw in States Rights the only available check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy. I deemed you were fighting the battles of our liberty,our progress, and our civilization and I mourn for that which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo (defeat of Napoleon)". As Illinois Governor Richard Yates stated in a message to his state assembly on January 2,1865, "the war had tended, more than any other event in the history of the country, to militate against the Jeffersonian Ideal (President Thomas Jefferson) that the best government is that which governs least".

James W. King is Commander of the Lt. Colonel Thomas M. Nelson Camp 141 Sons of Confederate Veterans in Albany, GA.