The Civil War

Re “They Didn’t March to Free the Slaves,” Commentary, July 25:

Robert McElvaine writes that “the objective of the North was not to end slavery but to preserve the Union.” With respect to the recent debate over an official apology for slavery, he adds that it is “time for other white Americans to recognize that although the cause for which so many Northern soldiers died was a good one (preservation of the Union), it wasn’t about ending slavery.”

If we can trust Abraham Lincoln as a credible spokesman for the cause of the North, then McElvaine is mistaken. It is true that Lincoln repeatedly said that his primary goal was the preservation of the Union. He also said that he had no intention of interfering with slavery where it existed lawfully in the southern states (he merely wanted to stop the spread of slavery into the federal territories). But his defense of the Union was intrinsically related to the gradual elimination of slavery.

Lincoln understood that slavery was diametrically opposed to the principle America was founded upon: that every individual is endowed by nature with equal rights. The theme of his famous “House Divided” speech of 1858 was that either the principle of freedom or the principle of slavery would eventually dominate the country: the two could not coexist indefinitely. So while Lincoln did indeed defend the Union, he did so because the Union was based upon true principles of freedom, and therefore placed slavery “in the course of ultimate extinction.”

THOMAS L. KRANNAWITTER

Ontario

What is missing from McElvaine’s commentary is why the North was determined to preserve the Union. Surely it was not for the purpose of chipping away at slavery over decades to come. Surely it was not because the North felt itself superior to the South in manning coast artillery batteries for hemispheric defense below the mouth of the Potomac. It was all about money, as wars usually are, at least from the side of the aggressor.

The North could not stand to lose its protective tariff advantage. It could not stand to have free trade between the South and the then more efficient manufacturing economies of European nations. What the North was intent on doing, and succeeded in doing, was to secure its economic stranglehold over the natural resources of the South. Northern soldiers died believing in freedom, but they died as servants of Northern industry.

GILBERT S. BAHN

Moorpark

McElvaine contends that the South fought the Civil War to defend slavery while the North was concerned only with preserving the Union. Yet, he insists that “slavery was the cause” of the conflict. How, if not for the efforts of Northern firebrands who kept the issue in the national forefront? Thanks to them, slavery became the focal point of debate as each new territory was admitted into statehood.

We should never forget the scar that slavery has left upon our society, but neither should we dwell on the transgressions of past generations. Only by looking forward will we achieve the dream of becoming the multiracial “melting pot” that has made us the envy of the world.

GRANT W. OSTAPECK

El Toro