But slavery was abolished. So it wasn't just propaganda. Is slavery such an incidental to you that you don't mind if it is or is not abolished?
Joseph asks:
'Do you think that abolitionism was any kind of a major factor in the Union's decision to go to war? Why?'
That would surely be the obvious conclusion. If you are appealing to some kind of common sense or viewpoint you should spell it out, because it is not common to me. Is it really the general view in America that abolition played no part in the Union's war aims? I find that hard to believe.
Maybe you think I am being naive. I think you are being too cynical, or conspiratorial. Two systems were opposed, one slave-driven, the other based on free labour. That is not a struggle I think it is right to equivocate over.
The South was not an oppressed colony, but the centre of reaction in the U.S..