Did the Yankees fight in the American Civil War for Black people's rights?

[MerakSahibi]

Yes

No. The North had already industrialized and was looking for Nibbas to employ in its factories.

[abc3643]

Well, considering that you are not an American, you need to understand a few things first...

The "North" consisted of states that did not have slavery. Like England, they abolished slavery.

However, the "South" consisted of states that still had slavery and, for those wealthy plantation owners that could afford to purchase slaves, they didn't want that to come to an end because you don't have to pay slaves any wages, among other perks...

Also, the North's economy was not dependent on slaves and was more industrial than the agrarian South.

So, for 4 decades or so before the American Civil War, this was becoming more and more of an issue. Before Lincoln, the two previous presidents - Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan - didn't really address this and, to a certain extent, made the situation worse. It was already not looking good for the Union (that is, the United States which is a "perpetual union of states") and that the Southern states might go their own way. Lincoln ran to keep the Union together. But, many in the South interpreted Lincoln's election in 1860 as the final straw, so they began to secede. Lincoln was elected on 08 NOV 1860 and the first state to secede, South Carolina, did so on 24 DEC 1860. Lincoln was inaugurated on 04 MAR 1861 and South Carolina began the Civil War by firing upon the Union's Fort Sumter on 12 APR 1861.

>>>> So, remember that. It was the South that started the American Civil War, not the "Yankees" (the North).

OK, so why did the Southern states secede? Was it "States Rights"? Yes and no but the bottom line was that it was slavery and they said so in their own declarations of secession.

Here is how the Constitution Center summarizes South Carolina's secession:
https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/south-carolina-declaration-of-secession-1860

======

Summary

The victory of Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 elections convinced South Carolina legislators that it was no longer in their state’s interest to remain in the Union. South Carolina declared its secession from the United States. Citing “an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding states to the institution of slavery,” South Carolina insisted that the Northern states had breached their constitutional obligation to enforce federal laws like the Fugitive Slave Act and had “united in the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States” who would “inaugurate a new policy, hostile to the South, and destructive of its beliefs and safety.” “We, therefore, the People of South Carolina. . . have solemnly declared that the Union heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America, is dissolved.” Within months, a total of eleven slaveholding states declared their secession from the Union. And war came. The Union defeat of the Confederate army was nothing less than a defeat of secessionist theories of the Constitution. It also opened up the door to profound changes in the federal system during Reconstruction.

======

You can read the full South Carolina secession declaration document here:
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/csa_scarsec.asp

SO...

Did the Yankees fight in the American Civil War for Black people's rights?

No. They fought because someone decided to fight them.

The "Yankees" (aka the North aka the Union)'s ultimate objective was to keep the Union together - that the United States is a "perpetual union" so that, once a state joins, it cannot leave.

It was only once the war was almost 2 years old that President Lincoln said (in polite terms) "Fuck it" and issued the Emancipation Proclamation on 01 JAN 1863 which said the slaves were free. Of course, they really wouldn't be free until the war was over, but, from the North's / Union's perspective, any slaves were now free in the legal sense.

You can read the text of the Emancipation Proclamation here:
https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured-documents/emancipation-proclamation/transcript.html

[Chazmatazz269]

People in the north owned slaves. The fight was only characterized as north vs south because slaves were more prominent in agriculture than in industry. The north still had farms and slaves were utilized in a wide variety of industries.

[abc3643]

@Chazmatazz269
Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri were the slave states that remained in the Union.

[Twalli]

Half of Missouri. We had a star on both flags. Kingston, MO never officially rejoined the Union. Jesse James fought against The Union.

[Chazmatazz269]

The Yankees fought to give the federal government overreaching authority over the states. Slavery just happened to be the underlying issue that triggered the war. Additionally, not only blacks were slaves and not only whites were slave owners. Slavery has literally never been a racial issue. People of all races, creeds and colors have been slaves and people of all races, creeds and colors have owned slaves. Afghanistan recently codified slavery under Islam. Yet millions of lunatic lefties are ignoring that because one of their cult leaders made it happen by withdrawing US presence before the local government could be stabilized. That and they can’t get enough of Islam even in its darkest forms.

[Twalli]

Slavery in the U. S. at that time was a racial thing. The institution of slavery is not racial. Slavery is in The Bible. However it was racial at this time.

[Chazmatazz269]

False. Even in the US, blacks owned slaves and whites were slaves. Look up Anthony Johnson and John Casor.
Slavery has always been a class issue. If you could afford slaves, you had slaves.

[katiesmuff]

I think it was a mixed bag and many other things other than freeing the blacks were key reasons.

[OneViewpoint]

It was complicated. Yes they fought against slavery. But they were also fighting to keep the country from fracturing into smaller weaker entities. And they were fighting because the Confederacy started the war and the Union could hardly ignore the treason. The Confederacy on the other hand was fighting to keep their slave base economy. And most Confederate soldiers were not landowners. They were uneducated impoverished White men who identified as farmers sharecropping on wealthy landowner's plantations.

[Twalli]

Most Union soldiers did not originally intend to end slavery. When they started winning and saw how badly slaves were treated, they became abolitionists, because they knew it was becoming a problem that would result on a war if they didn't end it then.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

@Twalli most looked for glory.
I doubt many cared about the issues.

[Twalli]

@FrodoSkywalker007 Most felt that losing an election doesn't justify secession. It's not really a debate over what they thought. We have their letters. There are multiple letters thry sent explaining why they decided to end slavery. Mainly because they felt if they didn't end it now, their sons would have fight in a war over it.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

Of course

[FrodoSkywalker007]

Lincoln was a Republican. The Republican Party campaigned and founded itself on Abolition. The south began succeeding the union after the election. Put two and two together.

[ThisSiteSux]

Wow. Men are the retard for a change. The Republican President that freed the slaves wanted to send them home. Nobody in the north wanted to work with them, live with them. Everyone that they were going home.

[msc545]

So they fought against the right of southern slave owners to continue owning slaves. They also fought against the rights of southern slave owners to make huge profits by employing slaves to pick their cotton and other crops.

[canamlusciouslad73]

Honkkkie, please. What white folk (aside from perhaps John Brown) were willing to die for us eight generations ago?

[Cidknee]

A few hundred thousand, that's who.

[FrodoSkywalker007]

Wow, that's a dumb question. You studied history right?

[Jersey2]

Most did. Men won’t die for someone else’s greed knowingly.

[KostasKouvalis]

I don't think so, because fugitive slaves could still be deported from the north..

[jonah777]

The fight for slavery wasn't originally apart of the civil war it didn't play a part until the later years but it did become of the key elements that brought the war to its final conclusion

[Pterodon]

Yes and a lot of white republicans died for that right

[Snakeyes7]

I despise your use of that terrorist organization for the yes option, but yes.

[fishbone77]

They fought to preserve the union.

[Cidknee]

To free the slaves.