American History Hit: "What Caused the Civil War? | Slavery"

Host: Don Wildman (History Hit)
Guest: Professor Chandra Manning (Georgetown University, author of What This Cruel War Was Over)
Date: September 4, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode launches a series exploring the origins of the American Civil War, focusing on the central and contentious role of slavery. Host Don Wildman and guest historian Dr. Chandra Manning delve into the lived experience of the enslaved, the institution’s economic power, cultural and psychological impacts, and the increasing sectional, political, and religious divides that propelled the nation toward war. The discussion draws heavily on Dr. Manning’s research into Civil War soldiers’ letters, providing firsthand insight into what both Union and Confederate soldiers believed they were fighting for.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Daily Reality and Complexity of Slavery (03:10–13:15)

• Growth and Economic Power:
  • By 1860, 4 million people were enslaved in the US, making up 40% of the Southern population ([03:10]).
  • Slavery was not only central to Southern wealth but also powered the rise of the US as an economic powerhouse.
    • "There is no way to separate the United States rise as an economic superpower from the institution of slavery." — Dr. Manning (06:24)
• Variety of Experience Yet Common Hardship:
  • Most enslavers owned just a few individuals, but most enslaved people lived on large plantations ([08:39]).
  • All enslaved people suffered material deprivation (poor nutrition, high death rates, lower life expectancy) and lived under the constant threat or experience of violence ([09:48]); “to completely subject them to your will [requires] violence or the threat of violence.”
• Psychological Impact:
  • Don Wildman reflects on the immense psychological toll:
    • "It's the psychological and emotional aspect... you are born into this and you will never be otherwise." (06:05)
• Free Black Communities:
  • Thriving but constantly under threat in places like Baltimore and Charleston, with the constant risk of kidnapping or family separation ([11:08]).
  • These communities were major sources of resilience and cultural vibrancy:
    • "People kept their spirit, and yet people kept their will, and yet they kept the desire to resist and fight the institution." — Dr. Manning (11:46)
• Resistance and Family:
  • The myth that enslaved people were resigned is debunked; enslaved people were always the first abolitionists ([13:18]).
  • The horror of family separation via sale was a key tool of social control:
    • "The ever present threat of losing one's family helps explain a lot about why don't we see more uprisings." (13:59)

2. Political Expansion and Sectional Division (16:17–27:22)

• Slavery’s Expansion West:
  • The Louisiana Purchase (1803) created possibilities for slavery’s westward expansion, changing perceptions about its future ([17:39]).
  • The Missouri Crisis (1819–1820) marked the first clear geographic political split, leading to the Missouri Compromise:
    • "That's the moment at which what was a more geographically diffuse issue becomes a geographically divisive issue." — Dr. Manning (24:12)
• Rise of Pro-Slavery Ideology:
  • Post-Missouri Compromise, the South began articulating slavery as a "positive good" (27:18):
    • "That slavery is not just a necessary evil... but actually a positive good. Economically, to the enslaved, and to non-slaveholding whites."

3. The Second Great Awakening and Religious Division (28:48–35:27)

• Religion Hardened Divides:
  • The Second Great Awakening fostered divergent interpretations of Christianity North and South ([29:50]):
    • Southerners: Biblical literalism reinforced slavery as part of God's social order.
    • Northerners: Reform movements (abolitionism, temperance, women's rights) grew from the idea of perfectibility.
  • Resulting splits in national religious denominations (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian) mirrored the sectional split ([34:33]).
  • Memorable quote:
    • "Now we've added religion into the slavery issue. We've made it geographical... but now there is an added dose of religion, of morality. It's a lot harder to compromise... if what you think you're compromising over is as essential as the will and word of God." — Dr. Manning (32:50)
• Southern View of Abolition:
  • Abolitionism seen not just as undermining slavery, but as tearing apart the whole social order ([35:27]):
    • "If we start questioning one role, well, we've just thrown everything into question. So abolitionism is more... abolitionism is talking about questioning the very foundation of social order." — Dr. Manning

4. Northern and Southern Political Power Struggle (37:00–46:51)

• Northern Racism and the Shift toward Anti-Slavery Politics:

  • White Northerners' opposition to slavery often grew more out of reaction to Southern pro-slavery “aggressiveness” and threats to their own civil liberties than support for racial equality ([37:17]).
  • Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a turning point; white Northerners resented being forced to support slavery ([42:51]):
    • "It makes direct demands of individual white Northerners... Now this feels like a tremendous overreach... into their own civil liberties." — Dr. Manning
  • Northern states respond with personal liberty laws, leading to dramatic confrontations over the enforcement of fugitive slave laws.

• Uncle Tom's Cabin's Influence:

  • The novel’s mass popularity spread awareness and shifted sympathies in the North ([45:18]).

• The “States’ Rights” Myth (46:32):

  • Dr. Manning points out that the modern “states’ rights” explanation for the war was a post-war (Lost Cause) phenomenon, not widely cited by the Confederacy at the time ([46:51]):
    • "It's quite rare for them... to talk about state rights. It is much more common for them to talk about southern rights and they mean... promotion and protection of slavery."

5. Soldiers’ Motivations and Understanding of the War (49:30–61:07)

• What Confederate Soldiers Fought For:

  • Manning’s research into soldiers’ letters reveals that, contrary to expectation, Confederate soldiers overwhelmingly saw the defense of slavery as central ([50:15]):
    • "They were consistent in their understanding that we got to this fix because the north threatens slavery. And that is an existential threat to me and my loved ones, even if I don't own slaves." — Dr. Manning (52:36)
  • The threat was understood viscerally—as the collapse of social order, racial violence, and even divine punishment.
  • Example: A Texas soldier writes to his wife that he cannot come home because, "If we were to lie supine and allow ourselves to be ravaged by the abolitionists," society itself would fall ([54:36]).

• Class Tensions:

  • Non-slaveholding Confederates sometimes complained about the sacrifice demanded of them compared to slaveholders, acknowledging the system’s unfairness—even as they fought for it ([56:10]).

• Union Soldiers’ Evolving Motivation:

  • Initially, northern soldiers enlisted to preserve the Union, not explicitly to end slavery ([57:35]).
    • "In 1861... there’s this outrage that... [the South] would endanger the best government on God’s footstool... But the thing is that they’re not stupid. They understand that the reason this Union is imperiled is the issue of slavery." — Dr. Manning
  • As the war progressed, and Union soldiers witnessed slavery firsthand, many came to see emancipation as necessary both morally and for victory—even if racial egalitarianism was not widely adopted ([59:12]).
    • "We don't win a war without God on our side. And God's not going to bless an evil." (59:46)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On slavery’s centrality:

  • "There is no way to separate the United States rise as an economic superpower from the institution of slavery." — Manning ([06:24])

• On resistance and family separation:

  • "The ever present threat of losing one’s family helps explain a lot about why don’t we see more uprisings... if we look just at the Upper South... one out of every three marriages... was broken by sale.” — Manning ([13:59])

• On expansion and sectionalism:

  • "That’s the moment at which what was a more geographically diffuse issue becomes a geographically divisive issue." — Manning ([24:12])

• On the cultural impact of abolition:

  • "Abolitionism is talking about questioning the very foundation of social order." — Manning ([35:50])

• On the roots of the ‘states’ rights’ argument:

  • "The state rights explanation of the war is actually a post war phenomenon, not an antebellum phenomenon." — Manning ([46:51])

• On Confederate soldiers’ beliefs:

  • "They were consistent in their understanding that we got to this fix because the north threatens slavery. And that is an existential threat to me and my loved ones, even if I don't own slaves." — Manning ([52:36])

• On Union soldiers’ evolving motivations:

  • “Whether they care about the welfare of slaves or not, they don't want the Union imperiled. And so they want to get rid of what's imperiling the Union. And that's their initial [reason].” — Manning ([57:45])
  • "We don't win a war without God on our side. And God's not gonna bless an evil. And so... there’s a very clear connection... between saving that union and the only way you can do it is to get rid of this... moral stain." — Manning ([59:46])

Important Timestamps by Topic

• Everyday life & expanded overview of slavery: 03:10–13:15
• Free black communities & resistance: 11:08–13:18
• Political expansion, sectionalism, and Missouri Compromise: 16:17–27:22
• Second Great Awakening & religion: 28:48–35:27
• Northern/Southern power dynamics, Fugitive Slave Act: 37:00–46:51
• Soldiers’ motivations and Civil War lived experience: 49:30–61:07

Summary

This episode powerfully demonstrates that slavery was not only the root cause of the Civil War but the linchpin of American economic, political, social, and religious life. Dr. Manning punctures many persistent myths: that most Southern whites did not care about slavery, that the war was about “states’ rights,” or that Northern opposition was based on racial egalitarianism. Instead, both elite and common Southerners understood abolition as an existential threat to their way of life, and Northern opposition to slavery grew as much from a desire to defend civil liberties and the Union itself as from antislavery sentiment.

By grounding the conversation in the letters of ordinary soldiers—men who fought, suffered, and tried to make sense of the war—this episode asks listeners not only to confront the centrality of race and slavery to American identity, but also to see how sectional, religious, and political fractures developed over time.

For the best understanding of America’s greatest conflict, this conversation is essential listening.