A shocking number of Americans seem to still think that the Civil War was something other than a violent struggle on the South’s part to preserve the institution of slavery. Looking at the text of “Declarations of Causes” issued by a handful of Confederate states, however, tells a clearer story. In Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and South Carolina, state leaders released a longer explanation of the decision to secede to accompany their formal Articles of Secession. As the above analysis from the Civil War Trust shows, slavery the main topic of all but South Carolina’s declaration.
Click “Know More” to read Ta-Nehisi Coates on the importance of rebutting the “Lost Cause” narrative of the war. Hat-tip to Yoni Appelbaum.
Read more: http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/breaking-the-civil-war-was-about-slavery/