The Righteous Cause Myth

We hear “Lost Cause” commentary ad nauseum from so-called experts, most of whom are political leftists, neocons, Straussians, and others of a similar ilk who claim the War for Southern Independence was about maintaining slavery. In reality, the only threat to slavery was outside of the Southern and Border States (Lincoln and the Republicans made that crystal clear). This arose, at least partially, from the Republican agenda of wanting only White settlers in the West; they consistently affirmed that they did not want Blacks as neighbors or as job competitors. Numerous Republicans, e.g., Greeley, Lincoln, Wade, etc., vocalized it and even wrote about it. The Free Soil Party echoed this agenda.

We also hear excerpts from Alexander Stephens’ Cornerstone Speech and are led to believe Stephens was the spokesman for the South. Stephens, Abraham Lincoln’s one-time friend, said his comments were taken out of context. Regardless, the individual with the most informed view of the Southern cause was Confederate President Jefferson Davis. On multiple occasions, he noted the States are the sovereigns in a voluntary federal republic and the South was fighting for independence, just as their “Revolutionary” ancestors had done. While conversing with Yankee spy, Edward Kirk, Davis is reported by said spy to have stated, “We are not fighting for slavery; we are fighting for independence.” Understanding the detrimental effects of the system, Robert E. Lee said: “The best men of the South have long been anxious to do away with this institution and were quite willing to see it abolished.” He also said, “So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South…”

Hundreds of thousands on the Southern side understood the goal was independence. Confederate General Richard Taylor, son of President Zachary Taylor, said the Confederates “have striven for that which brought our forefathers to Runnymede, the privilege of exercising some influence in their own government.” Taylor also scoffed at Stephens’ controversial “Cornerstone” statement. When questioned by James “Birdseye” McPherson about the reason for secession, Brigadier General E.P. Alexander explained: “It was not for slavery but the sovereignty of the states, which is practically the right to resume self government or to secede.”

Conversely, why was the Union determined to coerce the seceded States back into the Union? In his First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1861, Lincoln stated the “only” reason for invasion would be to regain the forts in order “to collect duties and imposts.” Lincoln “reminded a visiting abolitionist toward the end of January: ‘We didn't go into the war to put down slavery. To act differently at this moment would, I have no doubt, not only weaken our cause but smack of bad faith. ... The first thing you'd see would be a mutiny in the army.’" Union Officer Donn Piatt echoed Lincoln’s comments: “Lincoln well knew that the North was not fighting to free slaves, nor was the South fighting to preserve slavery. In that awful conflict slavery went to pieces.” There is no evidence the North invaded the South to end slavery.

Massachusetts abolitionist Lysander Spooner understood the mercenary nature of the individuals so adamant about denying Southern Independence: “The pretense that the “abolition of slavery” was either a motive or justification for the war is a fraud of the same character with that of ‘maintaining the national honor.’ …And why did these men abolish slavery? Not from any love of liberty in general…but only ‘as a war measure,’ and because they wanted his assistance, and that of his friends, in carrying on the war they had undertaken for maintaining and intensifying that political, commercial, and industrial slavery, to which they have subjected the great body of the people, both black and white.” Spooner also said the denial of consensual government is itself a form of slavery.

In 1864, J.P. Morgan, prominent American financier and banker, witnessed the “saving the union” fallacy first hand: “I supported President Lincoln. I believed his war policy would be the only way to save the country, but I see my mistake. I visited Washington a few weeks ago, and I saw the corruption of the present administration—and so long as Abraham Lincoln and his Cabinet are in power, so long will war continue. And for what? For the preservation of the Constitution and the Union? No, but for the sake of politicians and government contractors.”

It can be argued with considerable evidence that Union soldiers were fighting for the “Unrighteous Cause” of protecting the interests of Northern banks and corporations. This is the reality that later struck Smedley Darlington Butler (War is a Racket) when he realized he was fighting in foreign wars for similar reasons.

Sources: Destruction and Reconstruction, by Richard Taylor; A True Estimate of Abraham Lincoln & Vindication of the South, by Mildred Lewis Rutherford (The Morgan quote appeared on page 11 of the December 25, 1922, edition of Barron’s. Original source: New Haven Register; copied in New York World, September 15, 1864.); “Lysander Spooner, Neo-Confederate,” by Thomas J. DiLorenzo, LewRockwell.com, February 23, 2012, https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/lysander-spooner-neo-confederate/; “No Treason, No. 1,” Lysander Spooner, Mises Daily, March 22, 2011, https://mises.org/library/no-treason-no-1; Teaching American History, at: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/we-are-fighting-for-independence-not-slavery/: Facts and Falsehoods Concerning the War on the South 1861-1865, by George Edmonds; “Lincoln's Reluctant War: How Abolitionists Leaned on the President,” by David von Drehle, The Atlantic, October 26, 2012, http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/10/lincolns-reluctant-war-how-abolitionists-leaned-on-the-president/264125/; and Fighting for the Confederacy, by Edward Porter Alexander. Brion McClanahan, Phillip Leigh, and other writers at Abbeville Institute have exposed the Righteous Cause Myth for years.

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