You are right, about 1 in 4 people in the south had slaves at that time. However the civil war was not started over the institution of slavery, although it was a major conflict. In fact Lincoln did not declare the emancipation proclimation until after the war had started. He also did not tell the south that he was going to abolish slavery durring his presidential campaign, he believed that slavery would die out on its own. It was started because the South believed that they no longer had any real power in the American government, especially after the election of Lincoln. The South ceceded because they wanted to start their own country following the laws that they believed in. So Lee did not ask his men to fight to keep their slaves, but to defend their own beliefs. This was one of the resons that the south put up a good fight, they were defending their way of life.

A lot of the southern soldiers fought for states rights and a reduction in the power of the Federal Government. They should have freed the slaves, then fired on Fort Sumpter.Then we would not have to deal with this Idiot, George Bush!

A RICH MAN'S WAR, AND A POOR MAN'S FIGHT: It seems that States rights were an important issue with the non-slaveholding Southerners. They lost fighting spirit and heart toward the end of the war, when it became apparent that the Planter Class was not holding its end up, was not serving in the war, was paying for substitutes, and, in fact, when asked to lend their slaves to the war effort to be used as laborers moving supplies or building fortifications actually refused. In addition, many of the war evaders were speculating in cotton and making huge fortunes. Many plantation owners insisted on planting profitable cotton instead of foodstuffs for the south, thus further demoralizing the yeoman soldier. It was the common soldier who called it a "rich mans war, and a poor man's fight."

Slavery was on it's last leg long before the South's struggle for independence. It had already disappeared on the European front (for the most part). However, even after the war, the slave trading ships of the North still dealt in the supply of slaves to the Carribean areas. Even in European waters where slave trading had been outlawed, non-American slave trading vessels would often hoist the American flag if threatened, because authorities would ignore the American slave trading ships. The northern states had dropped slavery only when enough cheap labor became available from immigrants. They didn't, however, drop racism. Northern states passed laws forbidding Negroes from entering their states, working, owning property, etc. Most people loyal to the northern cause, were thus not because they wanted to stamp out slavery, but because losing the revenues from the southern states would cripple their economy. Many of those in the north who did not agree with forcing the southern states to remain in the union were jailed when Lincoln ignored the constitution's habeas corpus. Many of these ugly facts of the war are not taught to the school children in their history lessons. Virginia, a southern state, was the 1st to outlaw slave trading. Northern states still traded in slaves long after the war ended. Brazil was the last country to outlaw slavery. If the Southern states had achieved their goal of independence, their economy, which had been ravaged by the northern states in unbalanced tariffs, would have blossomed. After cotton died out, the last remnants of slavery would have vanished. The south would have become more industrialized out of necessity. Their constitution, had it survived, would closer resemble the constitution of the American forefathers than does present day America. Race relations would undoubtedly be much better today, as southerners would not have suffered the atrocities of "reconstruction" where they were humiliated and ravaged by the victors. This, I believe, is the catalyst of the ensuing resentment. The northern states, however, would had suffered great economical losses had the south won. They would have survived, but would probably pretty much resemble some of the present day northern industrial cities, filled with squalid living conditions, crowded tenements, and much poverty. Chances are, the north and south would have eventually reunited, but would be more of a true "United" states with more state sovereignty as the writers of the constitution had envisioned, rather than a "Conglomerated" states with the federal govt. being the main governing body. The federal govt.'s main purpose would be defense, as was intended from the beginning. References available. It's really interesting to study actual history, instead of the spoon fed kind of which textbooks are made. It's important to remember that the victors get to write the history books.