60% of those younger than 30 say the main cause of the ACW was States Rights

[jimmy olsen]

Jesus Christ


Came across this poll while surfing the net and found this statistic terribly depressing. It's an absolute indictment of the poor quality of education in this country, compounded by a willing disregard for the truth by many in the south who want to sugar coat the past so they can feel better about themselves and their ancestors. A simple reading of the Confederate constitution, the individual declarations of independence written by several southern states and the words of the Confederate founding fathers themselves prove that root cause of the war was slavery.

http://www.people-press.org/2011/04/08/civil-war-at-150-still-relevant-still-divisive/

There is no consensus among the public about the primary cause of the Civil War, but more (48%) say that the war was mainly about states' rights than say it was mainly about slavery (38%). Another 9% volunteer that it was about both equally.

Young people are more likely than older Americans to say that the war's main cause was states' rights – 60% of those younger than 30 express this view, the highest percentage of any age group. Those 65 and older are the only age group in which more say that slavery, rather than states' rights, was the main cause of the Civil War (by 50% to 34%). While 48% of whites view states' rights was the war's main cause, so too do 39% of African Americans.

[derspiess]

  Timmah Rage.

[Valmy]

Nobody gives a fuck about the Civil War anymore Tim.  Nobody noticed during the 150th, even for things like Gettysburg.

[jimmy olsen]

Nobody gives a fuck about the Civil War anymore Tim.  Nobody noticed during the 150th, even for things like Gettysburg.

Thankfully the majority disagree with you.

More than half of Americans (56%) say the Civil War is still relevant, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted March 30-April 3 among 1,507 adults. Nearly four-in-ten (39%) say the Civil War is important historically but has little current relevance.

Of course the majority opinion on the matter is immaterial to the truth, which is that the Civil War profoundly affects America to this day.

[Valmy]

Thankfully the majority disagree with you.

Thankfully my ass.  That war needs to get to the museum where it belongs.

And 56% is a pretty small percentage for an event that as recently as the 80s was practically a national obsession.  I am so glad it is starting to fade.

[Phillip V]

A simple reading of the Confederate constitution, their state constitutions and the words of the Confederate founding fathers themselves prove that root cause of the war was slavery.

Read for the 48%

[garbon]

Thankfully the majority disagree with you.

Thankfully my ass.  That war needs to get to the museum where it belongs.

And 56% is a pretty small percentage for an event that as recently as the 80s was practically a national obsession.  I am so glad it is starting to fade.

[Eddie Teach]

It was a war over state's rights to leave the country.

[Ideologue]

It was a contest between two different kinds of evil and the more tolerable kind of evil won.  USA!

[Scipio]

It was a war over the right of white people in southern states to own black people, as guaranteed by their states. So, in a sense, it was over state's rights (a meaningless phrase).

[KRonn]

As a veteran of the Civil War myself, I sure hope that people still find the war relevant!

[jimmy olsen]

Languish truly is dead if a thread about the cause of the ACW gets just ten replies!

[Caliga]

The ACW has been done to death around here.

[Ed Anger]

The ACW has been done to death around here.

Now the ECW, not so much. I Montrose and Prince Rupert.

[Caliga]

I'd like to talk about the Spanish Civil War some more, personally.

The Spanish Civil War was neither civil, nor a war.  DISCUSS.