http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

The link that we are looking at is the Wikipedia article on the American Civil war.  The Wikipedia article first lists the Abolitionist Movement as a major cause of the South’s secession.  Along with that, the official story often deems President Lincoln as heroic because of his efforts to save the Union.  First of all, you may know that the Civil War wasn’t at all started or even fought to end slavery. In fact, during the war, Lincoln said in an 1862 letter to the New York Daily Tribune editor Horace Greeley, “My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery.”  Also, it is important to view the Civil War from the side of the South.  Some historians believe that the South seceded not because of the anti-slavery ambitions of the North, but because of “Tariffs of Abominations.”  These tariffs were passed by congress soon after Lincoln was elected in an attempt to protect northern industry.  From the point of view of the Southerners, their secession was quite similar to the secession of America from the British Empire.  Unfair taxes by the Crown lead to the American Revolutionary War.  King George III, the ruler of England during the Revolutionary War, is often held in negative light by current Americans.  From this point of view, it is not hard to consider Abraham Lincoln as very tyrannical and an unfavorable president, instead of heroic.