@ira_ash_: How slavery fueled the Southern economy, Lincoln's election sparked tensions, and secession ignited the Civil War. History explained. #USHistory #CivilWar #Slavery #AmericanHistory #HistoryFacts

Ben :

What is always left out is only the top 1% of the South owned 80% of the agricultural land, with an even more extreme income inequality. "The Economy" was entirely ruled by a corrupt Cartel similar to that of Mexico today. They grew their cash crop and monopolized and centralized their power and authority, using dystopian methods of control and oversight to prevent uprisings and revolts. This applied to both poor whites and slaves. They outlawed Abolition writings and books and literally hung anyone caught with the writings of abolitionists from the North, and burned every book they found. Back then, The Bill of Rights was interpreted by the Justices of the Supreme Court to only be a limiting factor on Federal government, NOT on State governments. Therefore States COULD restrict and control the printing press (free press meant printing press, aka mass dissemination of information), and they could control and mandate specific religions, and they did NOT need to provide due process, or anything else. They also engaged in election tampering, used paid "tough guys" with bats outside election sites to tell people how to vote and often beat people who didn't vote the way the ruling Plantation-owning ruling Cartel class wanted them to vote. The southern states during the Three-Fifths Compromise to Ratify the constitution was intentional to fluff up the Electoral College representation of Southern States and increase their influence and control over Federal government. They managed to use this influence and control to Pack the Courts, putting their own judges into the SCOTUS and force bans on conversation about Abolition inside the actual House of Congress. These are real events you can look into. Look at US Census data and voting data. The issue of this Southern Cartel ruling US politics was top on the minds of our Founding Fathers. They even threatened to secede from the Union many times after the Revolutionary war success, after the failed Confederation founding document, and throughout the Constitution negotiations. They threatened to form their own trade partnership with London and Napoleon as well, and really had no loyalty to the concept of America as we have now