The question of whether slavery was the main cause of the war is often laid with weight on southerners as if it is a yes or no opinion. I firmly believe that more fought against the north for different reasons and that Lincoln catered in the Slavery Issue to the forefront. Of course years of debates led up to that moment. My question is simple: Did a majority of white U.S. soldiers in the Civil War enlist and fight to free the slaves? Why did the average Union soldier join? Why did the officers defend the Union? Was it because of slavery? If it was, the attitudes in the modern north sure don't match that sentiment today, do they? So why did most Union soldiers join? I think it fair to reverse the typical stereotype of southerners and pose the question to northerners. I am not defending the ideal of slavery. Please be objective and think about this before you reply. I wish we could do a multi-faceted poll on this topic.
In discussing this topic, there are three separate questions:
1) What was the cause of a war? That is, what led the antagonists to seek war?
2) Why did men enlist, or otherwise provide support for, a war?
3) Were the men who enlisted or "fought" or "supported" a war aware of the causes of a war?
These questions can have different answers, from one war to the next. Consider the Viet Nam War, in which the average soldier was around 23-24 years old. The vast majority of those men probably could not locate Viet Nam was on a map prior to their involvement in the conflict. Their understanding of the geo-political issues at stake might have been intangible or opaque at best. Many were drafted, and had no real desire to fight. But there they were.
The American Civil War was a whole different animal. But those 3 questions are key to ask.
I have often cited this quote by John Mosby, AKA the Grey Ghost
Now while I think as badly of slavery as Horace Greeley did I am not ashamed that my family were slaveholders. It was our inheritance. Neither am I ashamed that my ancestors were pirates and cattle thieves. People must be judged by the standard of their own age.
If it was right to own slaves as property, it was right to fight for it. The South went to war on account of Slavery... I am not as honored for having fought on the side of slavery-a soldier fights for his country-right or wrong-he is not responsible for the political merits of the course he fights.
The South was my country.
Note the nuance of his statement. He acknowledges outright that "the South went to war on account of slavery.” But that is not why he fought. He fought to protect his country. He would have fought whether the Confederacy went to war over slavery, tariffs, or the price of tea in China. His attitude was, my country right or wrong. He fought out of patriotism.
I think Mosby speaks for a lot of southerners. They were not fighting “for slavery” per se, but they were not ignorant or naive about the fact that slavery, or rather the desire to protect it, is what led to the war. Some might have
enlisted out of patriotic duty, some because they were fearful of what the invading northern horde might do, some because they were drafted.
Northerners, I think, did perceive that they were engaged in a war to preserve the Union. They felt that the CSA was an economic, geo-political, and military threat. Some might have
enlisted out of patriotic duty, some because they were fearful of what the invading northern horde might do, some because they were drafted.
Related to your question: I have seen various correspondence where Union men do indicate an understanding that the war had evolved into a war in which slaves were to be given their freedom, if the Union won. Some might have interpreted that emancipation had become a war goal. Of course, no less than Abraham Lincoln, more than once, insisted that this was a war to preserve the Union. But certainly by 1864, it was clear to everyone that emancipation had been been proclaimed, and that the Union was freeing slaves.
So, while most US soldiers certainly did not enlist to free slaves, their actions led to that effect, and they knew their actions were leading to that effect. Make of that what you will.
- Alan