{"product_id":"9781684512232","title":"It Wasn't About Slavery","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Great Lie of the Civil War\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e If you think the Civil War was fought to end slavery, you’ve been duped. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In fact, as distinguished military historian Samuel Mitcham argues in his provocative new book, \u003ci\u003eIt Wasn’t About Slavery\u003c\/i\u003e, no political party advocated freeing the slaves in the presidential election of 1860. The Republican Party platform opposed the \u003ci\u003eexpansion\u003c\/i\u003e of slavery to the western states, but it did not embrace abolition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The \u003ci\u003ereal\u003c\/i\u003e cause of the war was a dispute over money and self-determination.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Before the Civil War, the South financed most of the federal government—because the federal government was funded by tariffs, which were paid disproportionately by the agricultural South that imported manufactured goods.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Yet, most federal government spending and subsidies benefited the North. The South wanted a more limited federal government and lower tariffs—the ideals of Thomas Jefferson—and when the South could not get that, it opted for independence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Lincoln was unprepared when the Southern states seceded, and force was the only way to bring them—and their tariff money—back. That was the real cause of the war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A well-documented and compelling read by a master historian, \u003ci\u003eIt Wasn’t About Slavery\u003c\/i\u003e will change the way you think about Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the cause and legacy of America’s momentous Civil War.","brand":"Simon and Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":51138026930401,"sku":"9781684512232","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/0956\/0289\/files\/9781684512232.jpg?v=1792767320","url":"https:\/\/simon-and-schuster-dev.myshopify.com\/products\/9781684512232","provider":"Simon and Schuster Dev","version":"1.0","type":"link"}