"N2EY" wrote:

You're forgetting at least two states. There were 34
in 1861, but 18+11+3 = 32


The other states did not get involved. There were 18 Union States and 11
Confederate States. California and Oregon wanted nothing to do with the
issue or the conflict. The four border states did not secede.


But slavery *was* threatened, because the trend was
clear to see. As the West and Midwest developed, more
and more free states would be added. (snip)


The trend was not so clear. Certainly some of the Midwest states,
dependant on farming, would want slaves.


Then what *was* the South fighting for? What rights did
the 11 states cherish so greatly that they would secede and
fight a war to keep them?


You're looking for an easy answer to a very complex question. I suspect
there were as many reason for the conflict as their were people involved.
Some of the roots of the Civil War dates back to the Revolutionary War
nearly a century earlier, where many Southerners did not want to break with
England, sided with England during the conflict, and were persecuted for
that afterwards. Others objected to the taxes and tarrifs on farm goods
heading overseas, seeing that as similar to what the North objected to
leading up to the Revolutionary War and reducing profits from their primary
markets. Others saw the attempts for fix market prices on farm goods by
Northern firms as a threat to free markets (and were angry the government
did nothing to stop the practice). Others objected to what they saw as
efforts by Northern States to limit the political influence of the Southern
States. The list goes on and on (and I certainly don't have the time to go
on and on here).


No argument there - but where were most of the slaves?
In the Confederate states!


Only if you ignore indentured, bound, or apprentice, workers in the North.
These were people purchased at slave auctions (blacks), or from poor
families (whites), and given contracts to work for years in Northern
factories to hopefully earn their eventual freedom. Ben Franklin and his
maternal grandmother were both once apprentice workers. She married the man
who held her contract. Ben Franklin escaped to Philadelphia (breaking his
contract and the laws). The only differences between this and outright
slavery were the legal papers and the idea of possible freedom some day. Of
course, because of the working conditions, few ever lived long enough to be
free. This practice continued long after slavery was abolished.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/