Letter to the editor: The Civil War slavery myth

Bravo to the writer of “A Civil War history lesson” (Jan. 9, TribLive) for a fascinating, well-researched letter. He must have used a bulldozer to unearth this information.

When the Constitution was ratified, slavery was present in every state. May smaller states feared a powerful central government. That is why the words “slavery” and “secession” cannot be found in the Constitution.

That is the reason for the 10th Amendment. “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people … .” That is states’ rights.

Slavery had proved uneconomical in the North. The North did not approve of secession. Slavery was legal in the South. Indeed, some freed Black slaves owned slaves, and they were not rescued family. That isn’t put in the history books. Southern states believed in the right to secede from the Union.

The North decided to end slavery in the South. Northerners tried to shame Southerners. John Brown attempted to incite a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry. It failed. Laws were made restricting the spread of slavery. Forget the Constitution; use any means to kill it.

The South finally decided to secede. They did so peacefully. The North could not allow this, and so the Civil War began.

The North won the Civil War. The victor always writes the history of the war. Therefore, the Civil War was about slavery.

The North ignored the Constitution and invaded the South. It was Northern aggression, not slavery, but it is impossible to kill a myth.

Kathleen Bollinger

Fawn