Actually, most of the people fighting in the Confederate War had no ideal what they were fighting for. Many families had sons fighting for different sides. The Southern people didn't like the North telling them what to do. The confederate people were treated like dogs after the war. Texans were treated the worst. I visited the Vicksburg Battleground and there is a plaque there that states that President Lincoln would not allow any Confederate Soldiers to be buried in the cemeteries there. They were all buried in mass unmarked graves outside of town. The one that really confuses me is why do we have racial riots in the Northern states, the ones that fought to free the slaves? I'm from Michigan and I remember the Detroit riots very well. Detroit has never recovered from them.