Slavery, Why the Northern States Were Wrong!

What really caused the Southern States to secede from the Union and destroy Liberty in America! To say that it was States' Right is to over-simplify the situation. We learned the following Union Marching song in the public Schools in the North in the 1950s.

"John Brown's body lies a-mould'ring in his grave,
His soul is marching on.
And He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
His soul is marching on."

From wikipedia.org

"John Brown (May 9, 1800 - December 2, 1859) was a white American abolitionist who advocated and practiced armed insurrection as a means to abolish all slavery. He led the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856 in Bleeding Kansas and the unsuccessful raid at Harpers Ferry in 1859.
President Abraham Lincoln said he was a "misguided fanatic" and Brown has been called "the most controversial of all 19th-century Americans." His attempt in 1859 to start a liberation movement among enslaved African Americans in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, electrified the nation. He was tried for treason against the state of Virginia and was hanged, but his behavior at the trial seemed heroic to millions of Americans. Southerners alleged that his rebellion was the tip of the abolitionist iceberg and represented the wishes of the Republican Party. Historians agree that the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859 escalated tensions that a year later led to secession and the American Civil War.
Brown first gained attention when he led small groups of volunteers during the Bleeding Kansas crisis. Unlike most other Northerners, who still advocated peaceful resistance to the pro-slavery faction, Brown demanded violent action in response to Southern aggression. Dissatisfied with the pacifism encouraged by the organized abolitionist movement, he was quoted to have said "These men are all talk. What we need is action - action!" During the Kansas campaign he killed five pro-slavery southerners in what became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre in May 1856, in response to the raid of the "free soil" city of Lawrence. Brown's most famous deed was the 1859 raid he led on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (in modern-day West Virginia). During the raid, he seized the federal arsenal, killing seven people (including a free black) and injuring ten or so more. He intended to arm slaves with weapons from the arsenal, but the attack failed. Within 36 hours, each of Brown's men had fled or been killed or captured by local farmers, militiamen, and U.S. Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Brown's subsequent capture by federal forces, his trial for treason to the state of Virginia, and his execution by hanging in Charles Town, Virginia were an important part of the origins of the American Civil War, which followed sixteen months later.
When Brown was hanged after his attempt to start a slave rebellion in 1859, church bells rang, minute guns were fired, large memorial meetings took place throughout the North, and famous writers such as Emerson and Thoreau joined many Northerners in praising Brown.
Brown's nicknames were Osawatomie Brown, Old Man Brown, Captain Brown and Old Brown of Kansas. His aliases were Nelson Hawkins, Shubel Morgan, and Isaac Smith. Later the song "John Brown's Body" (the original title of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") became a Union marching song during the Civil War.
Historians agree John Brown played a major role in starting the Civil War. His role and actions prior to the Civil War, as an abolitionist, and the tactics he chose still make him a controversial figure today. He is sometimes heralded as a heroic martyr and a visionary and sometimes vilified as a madman and a terrorist. While some writers, such as Bruce Olds, describe him as a monomaniacal zealot, others, such as Stephen B. Oates, regard him as "one of the most perceptive human beings of his generation." David S. Reynolds hails the man who "killed slavery, sparked the civil war, and seeded civil rights" and Richard Owen Boyer emphasizes that Brown was "an American who gave his life that millions of other Americans might be free." For Ken Chowder he is "at certain times, a great man", but also "the father of American terrorism."
Brown's nicknames were Osawatomie Brown, Old Man Brown, Captain Brown and Old Brown of Kansas. His aliases were Nelson Hawkins, Shubel Morgan, and Isaac Smith. Later the song "John Brown's Body" (the original title of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic") became a Union marching song during the Civil War."

_______________________________________________________________________ That Union Civil War Marching song was repeated by Northern Christian Fanatics from soon after John Brown was hung in 1859 until after slavery was finally abolished during the 1960s. That is not a typing error. I meant the 1960s, with the Civil Rights acts. The issue of slavery and civil rights was debated from the beginning of the Union in the late 1700s until recently. The fact that one of the two major political parties is about to nominate a man who is half African-American proves that we may be able to finally put the issue behind us. But, for over 150 years, slavery and the rights of black Americans has divided the nation. I sincerely believe that, in order to understand the great mistakes that happened, we must look at the history of slavery and the civil rights of African-Americans objectively rather than subjectively. "Might Makes Right", therefore, since the Northern States won the civil war, they were right. History is replete with the folly of this maxim.

Our First President, George Washington said:

"I can only say that there is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery."

As wikipedia.org states, in 1859 a Fanatic Northern Christian named John Brown attempted to start a revolution by the slaves in the Southern States against their masters. He and a band of Christian Fanatics attempted to take over the Harper's Ferry Armory in Virginia and arm the slaves for a revolution. Even if he had been successful, and had armed slaves for a revolution, they wouldn't have been able to use the weapons without intensive training and practice. Weapons of the 19th century were not easy to load and fire. It takes practice to be able to actually use a 19th century, even a modern, weapon to hit a target. The Christian Fanatic followers of John Brown were so ignorant that they didn't realize the folly of their plan. He and most of his followers were captured. He was hanged for treason on December 2, 1859.

He did manage to raise the indignant-cy of Fundamentalist Christians in the Northern States. The antagonism that resulted between the Northern and Southern States resulted in the secession of the Southern States from the Union. I am thoroughly convinced that Religious Fanaticism rather than either Slavery or State's rights was the true cause of the Civil War. It is a great omission of our Public Education System that the folly of John Brown and his Christian Fanatic followers is not taught as the true cause of the Civil War. History classes in High School teach that the Northern States were right and the Southern States were wrong. Historical Revisionism is the norm in our Public Education [sic] System.

It is taught that, in the Northern States, they were a much more moral people than the people in the Southern States because they voluntarily abolished slavery. That is false! The abolition of slavery in the North had virtually nothing to do with morality. Whoever said "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" hit the nail on the head. As the Northern States moved from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy, owning slaves became economically prohibitive. In the Northern States it became like owning a horse in the 20th century. In the 19th century, owning a horse was virtually an economic necessity. In the 20th century it became too expensive and was relegated to the vanity of rich people to own horses. The Northern States abolished Slavery for economic reasons rather than morality. Slaves were still an economic necessity in the Southern States until the economy of the South was destroyed by the Civil War.

It is also taught in history classes in the Public Education system that the slaves were severely abused by slave owners in the South. That is false. Some slave owners abused their slaves but the vast majority of slave owners treated their slaves humanely. Most of the slaves that were set free after the Civil War ended up in far worse straights than they were living in as slaves on plantations. They ended up having to practically beg for the necessities of life and doing far more menial jobs than working on a plantation. The negative effects of the sledge hammer method of ending slavery lasted for over a hundred years. I am old enough to remember the best decisions that our Supreme Court and Congress ever made. Brown v. the Board of Education is the best decision that the Court ever made. The Civil Rights acts of the 1960's are the best legislation that Congress ever passed. The issue of slavery and civil rights represents the bloodiest period of our history. Abraham, Martin and John, if reason had prevailed you wouldn't have been killed by Fanatics.

Now, let's try to imagine what would have happened if Religious Fanatics like John Brown had not caused the abomination that is called the Civil War. No war that this nation has ever fought has been as bloody and costly for this nation as the Civil War. I am convinced that, if not for the Civil War, the "Industrial Revolution" would have been moved up from the 1880s to the 1860s. The development of machinery would have abolished the necessity of owning slaves within a matter of two or three decades and the Southern States would have voluntarily abolished slavery. The result would have been that Southerners wouldn't have been directing their antagonism at loosing the Civil War at the former slaves and African-Americans for a hundred years. In fact, they would have hired them and paid them reasonable wages for working. Imagine how great it would have been if such things as electric lights, flight, radio, television, etc. had been invented twenty years earlier? It can easily be said that Religious Christian Fanatics did more to damage to the advancement of technology than any other group in history.

Today, students in the Public Education system are taught (brainwashed) to believe that socialism is superior to libertarianism. It is taught that the people are too ignorant to be trusted with the liberty of a libertarian society. Religious Fanatics 150 years ago caused the end of the libertarian system of the Constitutional Republic and began the mob rule of democracy. It is a shame that we can not correct the greatest mistake in our history and re-institute the greatest document and law that has ever been written, our Constitution. The first provision of our First Amendment and the First Commandment are in conflict with each other. Can the Religious Fundamentalists in this country accept the premise that our Constitution supercedes the Bible, that the First Amendment supercedes the First Commandment?

It can truly be said that Religious Fanaticism has been the greatest barrier to advancement in history. In the 20th century, Political Fanaticism took over that title when such political fanaticisms as Nazi-ism and Communism caused the abomination of the killing of millions of people. Today, Fanatic Muslims are trying to abolish the first provision of our First Amendment and force everyone to live under the rule of the kind of people that are blowing themselves up in the Middle East. How can we condemn them when Religious Christian Fanatics caused the greatest mistake in our history? It can truthfully be stated that Religious and Political Fanaticism are the greatest barriers to the advancement of human advancement and liberty. Today the Socialist Fanatics are preventing the advancement of constitutional libertarianism and abolishing what Liberty the founder's of this nation were able to contrive for us. Will we continue on the road to the slavery of socialism or will we revert to the liberty of our Constitution that our founders gave us? Only history will tell us.