150 Years Ago: Yes, The Civil War Was About Slavery

Nearly sixty years ago, my American History professor lectured on all the other things besides slavery that might have contributed to the Civil War.

I was never persuaded that Americans went to war over protective tariffs.

I was persuaded, though, that northern Republicans fought for the Union, not to free the slaves, until perhaps after the Battle of Gettysburg.

No longer.

The New York Times' series "Disunion" has documented the centrality of slavery to the Civil War from the outset.

In a recent post in that series, Professor James Oakes of CUNY thoroughly lays that issue to rest. Not only did influential Republican voices clamor for the end of slavery, most of the incidents used to demonstrate Lincoln's purported reluctance to free slaves turn out to reflect quite the opposite - his determination to end slavery.