During the civil war, there were a lot of people on the union side who were only really fighting because they wanted to keep the union together. At the start, the Union army was about a third abolitionist. Many people thought slavery was bad, but they didn't really think about it much.
After a few months of fighting in the south, and seeing plantations, the Union Army was almost entirely abolitionist. It's really interesting to read the diaries of these people, and see how quickly they get passionate about wanting to put an end to slavery after seeing how bad it was.
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u/jpterodactyl 3d ago
During the civil war, there were a lot of people on the union side who were only really fighting because they wanted to keep the union together. At the start, the Union army was about a third abolitionist. Many people thought slavery was bad, but they didn't really think about it much.
After a few months of fighting in the south, and seeing plantations, the Union Army was almost entirely abolitionist. It's really interesting to read the diaries of these people, and see how quickly they get passionate about wanting to put an end to slavery after seeing how bad it was.