What was the Civil War all about?

This is a question frequently asked of Civil War living historians and reenactors. And even these people often discuss it around the campfires in the evenings, when the spectators are safely home. Fortunately for us, several of the southern states left a record of why they tried, for four bloody years, to separate themselves from the Union. These records are the Declarations of Secession passed by those states.

So read, and learn what the Civil War (or the War Between the States) was all about...

Declarations Of Secessions

Florida - Georgia - Mississippi - South Carolina - Texas

But probably the best overall source of original materials - letters, journals, etc. - that details why these men in Blue and Grey fought and died, is contained in James McPherson's 1997 book - Causes & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War (ISBN: 0195090233). Some of the letters contained in this book will make your heart swell and your eyes water, others will make you wonder how Americans could believe such things.

For additional readings on this subject, see:

Origins of the Civil War
on the Wikipedia site

and

Don't Know Much About the Civil War:
Everything You Need to Know About America's Greatest Conflict but Never Learned
by Kenneth C. Davis.

Or you might want to read what Alexander Stephens, the Vice-President of the Confederate States of America, told a southern audience on March 21, 1861.

An abridged version of his speech is available at: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/corner-stone-speech-excerpt/.

His complete speech and introductory remarks as reported in the Savannah Republican, is also available at http://civilwarcauses.org/corner.htm.

Battle of Olustee home page
http://battleofolustee.org/