<p>BCgoUSC has a good point. People give the (historical) South an undeserved reputation. Many people like to paint a picture of the evil slave-holding Confederates and kind northern Unionists, when in fact, both sides were equally racist. Northerners didn't hold slaves as prevelently as Southerners because infertile Northern soil made farming (and thus slave labor) impossible and unnecessary. When the Northerners began factories, they were jealous of the free labor slaves provided in the South, so they demanded the South free their slaves it to make the grounds fair--but at no point did they desire equal rights for blacks. Not to mention, to most Southerners, the Civil War was about their laid-back farming lifestyle and their desire to maintain it and prevent the industrialization of their homes. Both the North and the South treated blacks like **** and neither side favored the equality for minorities as a rule. In fact, most abolitionists were Southern women who hoped to win over the prevelent black community and form a cohesive union between women and blacks both hoping for greater equality.</p>