In the second part of the series on myths, we will look at the cause of the War Between the States. Whole books have been written on the topic, so I will limit my focus to a smaller portion. The myth is often floated that the war was about slavery. With such a myth, the Union takes the higher moral ground and appears noble in their efforts. Such stories make for creating a sense of noble actions. The truth is far from that picture.

One person who saw through the myth is Charles Dickens. When the war broke out , he wrote, “The Northern onslaught upon slavery was nothing more than a piece of specious humbug designed to conceal its desire for economic control of the South” . (His use of “humbug”, now gives a whole new meaning to “bah! Humbug!. Think about it-the word was used by its originator to express disbelief and disingenuous in the myths of the empire. ) Dickens wrote this prior to the Emancipation Proclamation, which means he saw through things even before slavery was ‘officially’ declared an issue. Dickens knew that the real cause of the war was money, “The quarrel between North and South, is as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel”. His contemporary, Karl Marx viewed the war as a class struggle and a chance to eliminate Christianity from the world scene. Marx often sent congratulatory letters to Lincoln on his actions. Lincoln also saw to it that many of Karl Marx’s communist friends who fled from Europe after the 1848 uprisings were employed in the US Army. The ranks of officers was filled with many communists, not to mention the Pinkerton’s and their communist associations. In many ways, the actions of McCarthy and Martin Dies were 80 years too late. The ranks of the military and government were already filled to the brim with bona fide communists by the 1860’s.

Lincoln himself knew the war was about money. In the days leading up to Fort Sumter, he main concern was “Who will collect my tariffs?”. In his inauguration speech of 1861 he vowed not to touch slavery. Like the typical politician, he went back on his word and before his first term ended, he went against his campaign promise.

It was only when the Union morale was low and in the wake of some defeats that the term “In God we trust” was accepted. The Union needed something to make it appear as though God was on their side. The use of the phrase was not a statement of religious commitment, it was propaganda put out by a war machine.

So the myths are 1) The war was about slavery, 2) That the war (as fought by the Union) was noble, 3) The military has never been communist/The Cold War was the first American war against communism.

Free the South!

J Murrah

Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Communists, Culture, Emancipation Proclamation, humbug, Karl Marx, Martin Dies, Political Well Being, slavery

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