What many seem to ignore is the fact that before the war started, Lincoln offered the proposed original 13th Amendment which would have made slavery protected forever in the U.S. if the then seceded 7 states would return to the union. Needless to say this was rejected by all as the South was done with the Yankee government and wanted to leave. So yeah, the right of slave ownership was certainly an issue, but obviously the South was wanting no more to do with the Federal government. Lincoln freely admitted to newspaperman Horace Greeley that the Federal government could not afford to let the South go as they would loose too much tax revenue. That is documented fact. Most Southern leaders knew that slavery was going away, but felt it was their problem to deal with and not to be dictated by northern abolitionists who were promoting mass violent slave uprisings a la John Brown, arguably our first domestic terrorist. Ironically, the later current 13th Amendment which ended slavery, did not go into effect until December of 1865, some seven months after the last Confederate army surrendered. Slavery was still legally practiced and enforced by Federal law in the non-seceded border slave states until then. Two noted slave owners that kept their slaves until then were Federal General Grant and Abe Lincoln's wife. So, to get a good understanding about this, it might behoove one to look at all the facts and perspectives before passing judgment.
