[UnderseaLcpl]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. States' rights were the primary cause of the Civil War. If the common people who did most of the enlisting and fighting and dying in the war really believed in the slavery issue, the Nroth never would have had to draft and the South would have. The North would have abolished slavery in Union states, which it did not, and the morale and combat performance of Southern units was inarguably better on a man-for-man basis in most cases despite inferior equipment and supply. Note, also, that Britain intended to support the South, despite having abolished slavery itself in 1833 and the trade of slaves in 180....something.

All factors, including the timing of the outbreak of the war, point to the likliehood that the real cause was the debate over states' rights brought on by the introduction of the Morril Tariff, which was intended to make selling cotton to the newly-industrialized North more appealing to the South than selling it to the Empire.

The causations of wars are never as altruistic as the populace believes. As with everything political, the wars of nations generally hinge upon the will of the powerful and influential, while the burden of wars rests upon the gullible populace. I don't defend the South as being full of noble elites who sought to defend freedom, either (though I did at one time, before I read a little more of the early firsthand accounts). They were just as much motivated by the agitations of the wealthy and powerful as was the North. I defend the South because I believe in stronger states' rights, just as the rebel soldiery did. This nation was founded upon ideals of freedom and inalienable human rights, but just as the Confederate states (obviously) didn't abide by this ideal, neither did the Northern States, and their actions prove it.

Even in the computer age, where massive amounts of information can be shared and exchanged in mere seconds, we still keep falling for the lies that the influential tell us while they pursue their own interests. Whether on the left or the right, one must acknowledge that we will still fall for any BS propaganda we are fed. Democrats routinely bash the 2003 invasion of Iraq for moral reasons, but hardly a one of them acknowledges the suffering of the Kurds or the Shiite majority under the Baathist regime because there's no movie about it. Republicans support the war, despite professing a desire to reduce government spending and the power of the state, and a professed desire for freedom of the individual.

Politics beget war, war is about politics, and the winners write the history books. Given a choice between that and greater diffusion of power, even in service of politics, I'll recognize Confederate History Month.