The New CS Board

[jumanji0881]

OT: I do not understand all of the wrangling over Confederate statues. Apparently a lot of people have just recently decided that all of these statues symbolize racism. The Civil War did indeed have a lot to do with slavery, but as Trump correctly points out George Washington was a slave owner as was Thomas Jefferson. So perhaps their statues should be torn down as well. I personally would resist having Confederate statutes torn down. And I do tire of every special group feeling they deserve special treatment whether it's gays, lesbians, transgenders, womens' libs, or minorities. There are limits and I think, for example, that the issue of which bathroom a transgender should use is taking things too far (give them a third bathroom, men women, and x). The Civil War was also about states rights:

More from Wes about the causes of the Civil War : http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/causes-of-the-civil-war/

What led to the outbreak of the bloodiest conflict in the history of North America?

A common explanation is that the Civil War was fought over the moral issue of slavery.

In fact, it was the economics of slavery and political control of that system that was central to the conflict.

A key issue was states' rights.

The Southern states wanted to assert their authority over the federal government so they could abolish federal laws they didn't support, especially laws interfering with the South's right to keep slaves and take them wherever they wished.

Another factor was territorial expansion.

The South wished to take slavery into the western territories, while the North was committed to keeping them open to white labor alone.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Republican party, whose members were strongly opposed to the westward expansion of slavery into new states, was gaining prominence.

The election of a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, as President in 1860 sealed the deal. His victory, without a single Southern electoral vote, was a clear signal to the Southern states that they had lost all influence.

Feeling excluded from the political system, they turned to the only alternative they believed was left to them: secession, a political decision that led directly to war.