It Wasn’t About Slavery

• 179 Pages
• Hardback
• Extensive Notes
• Extensive Bibliography
• Index Included

If you think the Civil War was fought to end slavery, you’ve been duped. In fact, as distinguished military historian Samuel Mitcham argues in his provocative new book, It Wasn’t About Slavery, no political party advocated freeing the slaves in the presidential election of 1860. The Republican Party platform opposed the expansion of slavery to the Western states, but it did not embrace abolition.The real cause of the war was a dispute over money and self-determination. Before the Civil War, the South finances most of the federal government- because the federal government was funded by tariffs, which were paid disproportionately by the agricultural South, which imported manufactured goods. Yet most federal government spending and subsidies benefited the North. The South wanted a more limited federal government and lower tariffs- the ideals of Thomas Jefferson- and when the South could not get that, it opted for independence. Lincoln was unprepared when the Southern states seceded, and force was the only way to bring them- and their tariff money- back. That was the real cause of the war.

Praise for It Wasn’t About Slavery

“A great read! Very informative, well written, and superbly researched. It brings out the truth behind the Civil War for those who can handle it. I recommend it highly.” – Phil Robertson, Duck Dynasty patriarch and author of The Theft of America’s Soul

“Dr. Samuel Mitcham has nailed down this myth for all times for those who have the honesty to hear the evidence. If it was about one thing, the war was about money, the intent of the ruling elements of the North to keep their profitable control of Southern land and people.” – Clyde Wilson, professor emeritus, University of South Carolina