(04-11-2016 08:14 PM)ArmyBlazer Wrote:  

(04-11-2016 07:37 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 01:31 PM)ArmyBlazer Wrote:  

(04-10-2016 10:00 AM)bullet Wrote:  Even more than slavery, there were two things that really created the war-John Y. Brown and Dred Scott. Dred Scott meant the North no longer had "states' rights." They couldn't keep slavery out as the slaveholders were forcing their views upon them. John Y. Brown was lauded across the North. He attacked a US Army outpost to steal guns to give to slaves to kill Whites in the South. With the North applauding terrorism, the South no longer trusted the North.

These census numbers show why there was such fear in the South of a slave revolt. In MS and SC slaves were a majority. And they were close to a majority in the other deep South states. If you took out mountainous areas, they probably were the majority.

Not to derail the census aspect of the discussion, but what I think is one of the more understudied topics of the Civil War era South is the way whites in these mountainous areas viewed the Confederacy and separation with the Union. Rebellion was a much more contentious topic in places like east TN, north GA, NE AL and what became West Virginia (obviously).

There is this view out there of some kind of "solid south" type movement toward secession. The reality was much more nuanced than that certain parts of the South.

East TN was one of the most unionist parts of the south and it got occupied by the Confederates until the end. Locals in North Georgia served as guides to Sherman as he headed to Atlanta.

Yep, a lot of these people felt they were being drug into a war and expected to fight and die for something they never wanted. There are some fascinating stories about this region that get lost in the broader Civil War discussion.

The Lost State of Nickajack

The Free State of Winston

The Germans in central Texas around Fredricksburg were anti-secession and were persecuted during the war. Of course, Sam Houston resigned rather than be governor over a seceding state. Lincoln offered him troops, but he declined. He knew what would happen and told people. The economic power of the north over time would crush the south.