150th Anniversary of the Civil War

The idea that Southerners were inspired by the need to fight an invasion is somewhat hampered by the fact of the amazing rush of volunteers to the Confederate army before the South was touched by Northern armies. The North had a similar rush of volunteers to preserve the Union. What inspired the Southern rush? The desire for independence? What, pray tell, was the reason the South thought it NEEDED independence?
It's not on today's Southerners that slavery caused the war. They weren't there. But denying history does lead one to wonder why someone does it.

 

Oh nonsense. Are you under the impression that the expansion issue was disconnected from the "current practice" issue? Sorry, the two issues were integrally linked politically and the answer to the expansion question is what would have decided whether and for how long the "current practice" continued (if secession/war hadn't decided it another way). And EVERYBODY KNEW IT.

The primary reason the South was dearly worried about the expansion issue was not because they so cared about slavery being in new states, instead it was because they knew losing on expansion meant the likelihood that they'd soon be losing their OWN slaves. New non-slave states meant the number of anti-slavery votes in Washington would soon begin to overwhelm the pro-slavery votes and sooner end the institution providing the labor engine of their economy.

That's the No. 1 reason for secession--knowledge that Lincoln's election meant the Washington balance of political power on slavery issues would soon shift irreversibly against them. Thus the only way to preserve slavery indefinitely would be to break free from Washington. All the other claimed causes--states rights, the economy, etc.--are largely obfuscatory jibberish. Follow those trails and it all leads back to slavery.