Confederate Flag wavers claim the the Civil War was all about “states’ rights,” not slavery. But in this video Colonel Ty Seidule, head of the history department at the US Military Academy at West Point, offers plenty of evidence that this isn’t the case. For example, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens wrote “Our new government was founded on slavery.” And slave states were happy to bow to federal law when it benefited them:
From Vox:
Mississippi once complained that New York’s notion of states’ rights was too strong — because it prevented Mississippi slaveowners from bringing their slaves up North. This war wasn’t about the principle of federal power; it was about the threat that the federal government might eventually use that power to abolish slavery.
Ultimately, Seidule’s point boils down to something very simple: Be honest. Americans should be able to admit that a huge part of the country was devoted to slavery, so much so that they were willing to die for it. But at the same time, Americans should be proud that their government waged a war to end slavery.
“It is to America’s everlasting credit that it fought the most devastating war in its history in order to abolish slavery,” Seidule concludes. “As a soldier, I am proud that the United States Army — my army — defeated the Confederates.”