House posed to apologize for Slavery, Jim Crow

[estesbob]

The north made the war about slavery because it was a guaranteed way to keep other countries from allying with the South(as most other countries had already outlawed it themselves)

A quote from Lincoln

Doesn’t sound like he was all about the freeing of slaves there. Note also, that the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves only in the rebel states, which is ironic for a couple of reasons
he had no power over those states, they had their own national government
he made slaves in the south more persons that slaves in the north
most of the north would not have been against freeing all slaves, showing that his move was merely political

What the Proclamation did, was make the South look bad in the eyes of the world they were now “breaking the law”, as they were still considered by the world as part of the US, something Lincoln desperately needed to keep that way. It also gave the slaves in the south a newfound reason to fight against their masters and other southerners, it was now for their freedom.

You may argue that the civil war started over slavery, and it did, but that was just the proverbially straw that broke the camel’s back. Kind of like how the Attack on Pearl Harbor caused us to enter WWII, but Pearl Harbor was clearly not the cause of WWII. Nor did was it the real cause we entered, or else we would have stayed out of Europe. They had nothing to do with us. We entered WWII because our allies were losing. Pearl Harbor was used to gain support for a war that was not otherwise important to people

One only has to read the articles of secession issued by the rebellious states to see that they seceded over slavery. They prclaimed it loudly and proudly when they seceded but adopted the “lost cause” myth after the war.

Lincoln freed the only slaves he could with the emancipation proclomation . The only way to end all slavery was a constitutional amendment. Lincoln emanciapted the slaves in the rebellious states under the theory that they were “contrabands” of war-that is they were engaged(unwillingly) in helping the rebellions cause and thus could be freed the same way Union Troops could seize goods being used to help with the rebellion. The name stuck-Blacks fighting for the union were often called "contrabands.

You are correct that the other purpose of the proclomation was to make the war about slavery. After the Proclomation the chance that Britain or any european power would recognize the xouth and join the war oin their side ended.

[a_priori]

Confederate Vice President Alexander Hamilton Stevens said before the war:

“Our government is founded upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man. That slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. This, our new government, is the first in the history of the world based upon this great physical, philosophical and moral truth”

Jefferson Davis in his message to the Confederate Congress in late April 1861 said:

“The labor of African slaves was and is indispensable to the South’s economic development. With interests of such overwhelming magnitude imperiled, the people of the Southern States were driven by the conduct of the North to the adoption of some course of action to avert the danger with which they were openly menaced.”

The Mississippi State Convention said before the war:

“A blow at slavery is a blow at civilization. We have no choice but submission to the mandates of abolition or dissolution of the Union.”

It is obvious that slavery caused secession. It is also obvious that the North cared more about restoring the Union. But I would still argue that the North had, in a relative sense, the slightly higher moral ground. Running for bunker…

An apology is warranted but not reparations.