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Originally Posted by Armistead
Wasn't trying to argue moral equivalency, but comparing the experience.
The bigger point was the "political correctness" we see in movies, leaving out the overall truth. Political correctness makes the war about slavery, it wasn't. It portrays the Union as slave hating people wanting freedom for blacks, simply not true. Most in the north were as racist as those in the south. If you study the history of many Union Generls, most were ardent racist, owned slaves, etc. Lincoln made many racist statements, said blacks weren't equal of whites, should never vote, intermarry, etc. You don't see this in modern movies. Even before the war, Robert Lee spoke of slavery being evil in any country and that it should be done away with. Lee freed his slaves, Grant and Sherman kept slaves on staff during the war.
As Neal pointed out, had Lincoln not been killed, he probably would've tried to boat all blacks back to Africa...
Oh, I would bet that more Irish died from economic conditions than slaves.
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Slave owners: they may have kept their slaves alive and healthy physically, but they were destroying their souls and hearts.
One thing I have always wondered, why is/was the proposal to return the slaves to their native lands considered racist or wrong? One could hardly argue it was beneficial to them that they were taken from their land. And they never had a chance to build their own society in the Americas.
From everything I've read, and from what I know, racism was universal until the middle 20th century. White people in Lincoln's time may have abhorred slavery, and pitied the slaves, but very few accepted the slave as their equal. The common saying in the North during the Civil War was "The Constitution as it is; the Union as it was; the Negroes where they are." (Democratic Party slogan as well, if I am not mistaken). The North wanted slavery abolished but certainly did not want the slave population to move north.
As for creating heroes out of Lincoln, Grant, etc. If you are happy the US survived the civil war and slavery issue intact (as I am), then Lincoln certainly is a hero. In the book I am reading now, Lincoln was extraordinary for his calm and foresight. More than a few of the Presidents before and after Lincoln, I don't think they would have handled the split and war nearly as well. Lincoln was a hero and pretty much the savior of the country.
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Originally Posted by Sailor Steve
"Political Correctness"? Were the Southern States being politically correct when they seceeded?
You're right, the war wasn't about slavery. It was about Secession vs preserving the Union. Secession, on the other hand, was all about slavery.
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So... you're saying the war was about slavery
