Alexandra Burke

Draft 1
9/13/16

Most people in our world today are well aware of the Civil War; what happened, who was
president, who won, etc. The Civil War was fought from 1861 through 1865. The two divided
sides were the Confederates and the Union, but many people still remain conflicted on the
reasons behind the war. Some people say it was just a need for secession, while others believe it
was based off of slavery. The country was completely divided on its views of slavery and
whether or not it was right. Though many people debate if that the main or only reason the Civil
War took place. Some people say without the general issue of slavery, there would still have
been a war, while others believe that each of the other reasons that could be claimed to have
caused the war stemmed from slavery and the disputes surrounding it.
While many people find numerous truthful and valid reasons to say that the Civil War
was caused by slavery, Gavin McInnes, a Canadian-American writer, actor, and comedian, thinks
otherwise. On June 23rd, 2015, McInnes took to social media to claim, The Civil War wasn't
about slavery. It was about secession. This brought about, to no surprise, a great conflict
amongst people and brought the issue back into discussion. In a later posting, McInnes also told
people to Look it up, if they believed the opposite of his stance. He believed that it was very
clear how he was right in his views and how anyone who thought otherwise was wrong.
Of course, much like the Civil War, people once again were divided on whether they
agreed and believed that the Civil War was not caused by slavery, or if they disagreed and
thought slavery started it all. While many did agree with McInnes, such as Jeff Schweitzer, who

stated, The war was fought over states rights and the limits of federal power in a union of
states, many did not. Schweitzer also points out in his essay how in school, we are all taught
that the primary cause of the Civil War was slavery, so thats what many have all grown up to
believe. Despite learning this point of view in school, people still grow their own opinions and
pass those onto others, thus creating the debate here today.
Jon Greenberg was one of those who had some beliefs differing from those of McInnes.
So, he went to the internet and researched the topic to great lengths to find what he believed to be
true and to prove his own thoughts. He just began by looking up causes of the Civil War and of
course, yes, there were a multitude of reasons behind it, but every reason stemmed back to
slavery; the debate over what would become of slavery, the economics and control over the
slavery system, differences between the North and South. All of his research connected back to
slavery, but yet people still do not see this as the cause of the war.
Greenbergs intention in his research was not only to just discuss how the Civil War
really was about slavery, but also to prove that McInnes was wrong. Greenberg did not just rely
on internet sources, because those are not always credible and correct. So, he proceeded to talk
with some historians who were well educated on the topic. They also stated that McInnes
statements and views were wrong. Eric Foner, professor of history at Columbia University, led
Greenberg to look at the statements of secession of the eleven states who did back in the time of
the war, specifically South Carolina because as Foner explained, It is all about protecting
slavery. Historian Stephanie McCurry also pointed Greenberg towards Mississippis statement
of secession which began with the statement, Our position is thoroughly identified with the
institution of slavery. Two out of the eleven states have put the reason of their secession to be
because of slavery. In the South, slavery was extremely important. They relied on the slaves to

care for their land and homes. The southern states strongly supported slavery while the Northern
states for the most part wanted to abolish slavery because they did not see the need for it. There
was great political tension between the abolitionists and non-abolitionists which was one of the
focal points of the secession. While the Republicans were pursuing the abolition of slavery,
southerners threatened to secede if the Republican nominee for president, Abraham Lincoln, was
elected. Despite the lack of support from any southern state, Lincoln still won the 1860 election
which then finalized the states desire to secede. Greenberg thus stated, So just to be clear:
Slavery led to secession, which led to the Civil War.
McInnes used Google to assist his beliefs of whether or not the war was caused by
slavery, and while the internet can be really helpful and provide a lot of information, it does not
always provide the correct information, which I believe helped lead his statement to be easily
proven incorrect. Many sources are not always reliable because they dont always take into
account where the information originated from, who altered it, or how they learned it.
Now, a question has risen about this matter, which is a rather intriguing one. If its so
clear and a fact that the war stemmed over arguments of slavery and whether to abolish it or not,
what is causing so many people to have such strong beliefs that there are other reasons more to
blame than slavery? While many people may believe that it isnt about slavery, their reasoning
behind it is far too abstract and not provable in any way. For example, one person went on to
reason that the war was about Scottish rebels, who lived in southern states, wanting to separate
and be free from the rest of the country. While yes, there may have been some Scottish rebels
living in southern states who did want to be free from other control, this was clearly not the
reasoning behind the Civil War.

On a public debate website (debate.org), questions are proposed and it is left to the public
to respond with their selection and the reasoning as to why they feel this way about their answer.
This question specifically had many responses defending each answer to the question, but in the
end the side that won was the one stating that the war was about slavery. This is where I stand,
as well. After reading so deeply about this matter, I have come to the conclusion that the Civil
War was in fact about slavery. People can have their opposing beliefs, but with the research
people have done and information thats been provided, all reasons lead back to slavery.

Works Cited

Craven, Julia. "The Civil War Was About Slavery. Confederate Leaders Were Totally
Clear On This." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 22 June 2015. Web. 14 Sept.
2016.
Greenberg, Jon. "In Defense of Confederate Flag, Frequent Fox News Guest Claims Civil
War Wasn't about Slavery." @politifact. Ed. Aaron Sharockman. N.p., 25 June 2015. Web. 14
Sept. 2016.
Schweitzer, Jeff. "Slavery and the Civil War: Not What You Think." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 14 Sept. 2016.
"Was the Civil War about Slavery in Your Opinion?" The Premier Online Debate Website.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.