People fight for different reasons. The vast majority of southerners did not own slaves and seemingly had little love for the rich landholders who did. [ Read their diaries or the lyrics to their songs. ] For that matter, read the diaries of the union troops or the lyrics to their songs and there is a glaring lack of reference to fighting for the slaves.
So why did they fight? The themes that come across - if you listen to the soldiers themselves - for the south was that they were fighting for "freedom" and the north was fighting to suppress "treason."
So why did they fight? The themes that come across - if you listen to the soldiers themselves - for the south was that they were fighting for "freedom" and the north was fighting to suppress "treason."