2.5
It Wasn't About Slavery
ByPublisher Description
The Great Lie of the Civil War
If you think the Civil War was fought to end slavery, you’ve been duped.
In fact, as distinguished military historian Samuel Mitcham argues in his provocative new book, It Wasn’t About Slavery, no political party advocated freeing the slaves in the presidential election of 1860. The Republican Party platform opposed the expansion of slavery to the western states, but it did not embrace abolition.
The real cause of the war was a dispute over money and self-determination.
Before the Civil War, the South financed most of the federal government—because the federal government was funded by tariffs, which were paid disproportionately by the agricultural South that imported manufactured goods.
Yet, most federal government spending and subsidies benefited the North. The South wanted a more limited federal government and lower tariffs—the ideals of Thomas Jefferson—and when the South could not get that, it opted for independence.
Lincoln was unprepared when the Southern states seceded, and force was the only way to bring them—and their tariff money—back. That was the real cause of the war.
A well-documented and compelling read by a master historian, It Wasn’t About Slavery will change the way you think about Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the cause and legacy of America’s momentous Civil War.
If you think the Civil War was fought to end slavery, you’ve been duped.
In fact, as distinguished military historian Samuel Mitcham argues in his provocative new book, It Wasn’t About Slavery, no political party advocated freeing the slaves in the presidential election of 1860. The Republican Party platform opposed the expansion of slavery to the western states, but it did not embrace abolition.
The real cause of the war was a dispute over money and self-determination.
Before the Civil War, the South financed most of the federal government—because the federal government was funded by tariffs, which were paid disproportionately by the agricultural South that imported manufactured goods.
Yet, most federal government spending and subsidies benefited the North. The South wanted a more limited federal government and lower tariffs—the ideals of Thomas Jefferson—and when the South could not get that, it opted for independence.
Lincoln was unprepared when the Southern states seceded, and force was the only way to bring them—and their tariff money—back. That was the real cause of the war.
A well-documented and compelling read by a master historian, It Wasn’t About Slavery will change the way you think about Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the cause and legacy of America’s momentous Civil War.
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2.5
Chris Watkins
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Brandon Saunders
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Hawkeye
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“This is a terrific book if you only have a tenuous grip on history ... or reality for that fact. The author doesn't explore the subject; they start with an absurd premise and proceed to cherry-pick and/or deliberately misconstrue events to support the absurd premise.
Save your money and, more importantly, your time and give this a pass.”
About Samuel W. Mitcham
SAMUEL W. MITCHAM JR. is a military historian who has written extensively on the Civil War South, including his book It Wasn’t About Slavery. A U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War and a graduate of the Command and General Staff College, he remained active in the reserves, qualifying through the rank of major general. A former visiting professor at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, he has appeared on the History Channel, CBS, NPR, and the BBC. He lives with his family in Monroe, Louisiana.
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