How else are we to understand the why of the war unless we read and believe what was said during this conflict.
http://www.factasy.com/forum/?action=printpage;topic=348.0"The people of the United States are no longer living
under a government of laws; but every citizen holds
life, liberty and property at the will and pleasure of
the army officer in whose military district he may
happen to be found."
--Roger B. Taney (1777-1864) Chief Justice, U.S.
Supreme Court [1861, after Abraham Lincoln suspended
habeas corpus]
When asked, "Why not let the South go in peace?"
Lincoln replied: "I can't let them go. Who would pay for the government?"
In order to coalesce the forces in the North, Lincoln had to stage an incident to inflame the populace, which he did. The firing on Sumter was, by his own admission, a setup for just such action. Lincoln was aware that provisioning Sumter could provoke a war.
Lincoln's letter to Gustavus Fox on 1 May, 1861, makes it clear that he was pleased by the result of the firing on Ft Sumter... "You and I both anticipated that the cause of the country would be advanced by making the attempt to provision Ft Sumter, even if it should fail; and it is no small consolation now to feel that our anticipation is justified by the result."
For the people who can see nothing but slavery at stake in this contest you miss the insight of men like British libertarian Lord Acton, who saw this victory for a centralized government as a terrible defeat for the values of civilized life in the West.
Lord Acton had been keeping a correspondence with General Lee throughout the war years I believe, and in November 1866, in another letter to Gen. Lee, Lord Acton wrote:
Quote
I saw in States' Rights the only availing check upon the absolutism of the sovereign will, and secession filled me with hope, not as the destruction but as the redemption of Democracy. The institutions of your Republic have not exercised on the old world the salutary and liberating influence which ought to have belonged to them, by reason of those defects and abuses of principle which the Confederate Constitution was expressly and wisely calculated to remedy.
I believed that the example of that great Reform would have blessed all the races of mankind by establishing true freedom purged of the native dangers and disorders of Republics. Therefore I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization, and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.
And last a quote about what we are facing today that reflects on our history and what we are willing to stand for or get on our knees for:
[T]he threat to liberty in the 21st century is the same as it has been throughout mankind's history. That threat is use of the coercive powers of government, under the color of law, to take the rightful property of some people and give to others, and the forcible imposition of the will of one group of people on another group. Such acts, most often done in the name of good, explain the ugliest portions of human history. The question is whether America will degenerate into what has been mankind's standard fare throughout history. We have yet to see the kind of arbitrary control, abuse and violation of basic human rights seen elsewhere. But if we ask ourselves which way are we heading, tiny steps at a time: toward more personal liberty or toward greater government control over our lives, the answer would unambiguously be the latter. We Americans face an awesome challenge and responsibility because if liberty dies here, it's probably dead for all places and all times. -- Dr Walter Williams
