The Truth Behind the Civil War

During elementary and high school, text books and teachers inform students about the history behind the Civil War.  We learn that after the War ended, Slavery was abolished in 1865 and that former President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves because he thought that slavery was wrong. President Lincoln will forever be known as the President who “ended” slavery in America.  Little did we students know that we weren’t taught the whole truth.  The Civil War had nothing to do with free the slaves, but all to do with getting the South back into the Union. Also, students learn that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves because he perceived slavery as being a God awful practice to force upon other human beings.  In reality, Lincoln did not even consider slaves to be human beings, just like most white during the 19^th Century.  He did not believe that slaves were, at all, equal to the whites.  Even Fredrick Douglas, a former slave who spoke against slavery, had his own doubts about President Lincoln.

The only reason why President Lincoln made the decision to free the slaves was because of the South becoming too powerful.  With the help of the tenth amendment, States were capable of making their own laws. The Southern States wanted to include slaves to their population in order to gain more power in the Senate.  Of course, the North was not about to allow the south to become more powerful than they were.  In result, the 3/5ths compromise was made.  This new law stated that each slave was worth only 3/5ths of a person.  Both slavery and the 3/5ths compromise went against the Declaration of Independence, written by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in 1776.  The Declaration of Independence states “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Technically, the 3/5ths compromise counted slaves as men, by law, even though they were only considered 3/5ths of one.  By law, slaves had the same rights as whites did.

When President Lincoln was elected into the White House, the Southern states were so upset, they decided to break away from the Union.  Virginia was the first state to leave. President Lincoln believed that the Unites States would work better as a whole, not split up into two different countries.  Lincoln tried to bring the south back into the Union, but the South refused, which made Lincoln go to extreme measures. Destroying the Southern Economy was the only way to break them and send them crawling back to the Union. Knowing that slavery was the base of their economy, that’s were Lincoln attacked first.  What most text books and teachers do not teach students is the fact that, Lincoln was willing to preserve slavery if the South had rejoined the Union.  He was not trying to help slaves, but rather, use them in order to regain control of the South.