martyb
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Retiredbop...I gotcher back. As stated, there were many reasons for the war between the states, slavery included. Of course no one believes slavery was good and should still exist (although it certainly does in third world countries). My family owned slaves in the 1800's in North Carolina, and lost everything, along with most of the south in the Civil War. My great-great grandfather and his wife are buried on a hill overlooking his old homeplace, right next to many of his former slaves. Through the following years some of them requested to be buried at the "old home place" because that's where they considered home. When they were set free many of them did not leave, but chose to stay and work for my ggf on his farm. They were more like family than slaves. I'm sure this was not the same 100% all over the south, but it did happen. There were of course slaveholders who did not treat their slaves with compassion and these are the ones we always think of whenever the subject of slavery comes up. Slavery was wrong, and would never be tolerated in this country again, but it was absolutely not the entire story of the Civil War. I am proud of my family's history, having at least 5 ancestors who served the Confederacy during that time in our nation's history. However, I'm now sworn to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic so my allegiance is clear. The period in history of the American Civil War is a fantastic story, one I would urge all to spend some in-depth time to study. Please dig deeper than just what's on the surface, you'll be surprised.