Chapter 9, Slavery Must be Cleaned Out Summary and Analysis

Many Confederate soldiers thought the Union commitment to ending slavery was silly and abstract and few Union soldiers thought they were fighting for racial equality. But 30% of Union soldiers started the war advocating the end of slavery in their letters and Union soldiers were converted as the war continued. They often claimed that the "rebellion" was caused by slavery. Confederate experience hardened their commitment to slavery. Union soldiers stationed in the South found slavery abominable, and this was from soldiers with no abolitionist sentiment. The presence of slavery convinced many men. Although, some wanted to end slavery to weaken the Southern cause and economy, and many Union troops were glad to take the slaves and have them work for them. By 1862, antislavery morality and antislavery pragmatism had fused into a Union-wide...