Did slavery bring it about?
Poll reveals fundamental disagreement
as to real cause of America’s Civil War

Was the role of slavery the primary reason for the Civil War?

According to a McClatchy-Marist Poll, Americans still fundamentally disagree about that and what should be taught to the nation’s schoolchildren.

Some 54 percent of respondents think slavery was the main reason for the Civil War. A sizable minority, 41 percent, do not think slavery was the main reason, the national survey found.

Echoing that divide, they also are split over what to teach children. A majority, 54 percent, believe schools should teach that slavery was the main reason for the war; 38 percent think they should not teach that.

How Americans view this, particularly in the wake of bipartisan movements to take down Confederate flags after a mass murder inside a historically black church in South Carolina, underscores how much these basic opinions of slavery and race still split the country.

Faced with questions about the role of slavery, Americans don’t just divide overall. They view it differently based on where they live, what political party they like and, of course, their race.

In each geographic region but the South, poll respondents say slavery was the main reason for the war:

• By a large percentage, respondents in the West say slavery was the main reason, 67-27 percent.

• In the Midwest, 56-39 percent say slavery was the main reason.

• In the Northeast, 50-43 percent say slavery was the main reason.

But the response changes for Southerners, who say slavery wasn’t the main reason for the Civil War, 49-45 percent.

People of different party affiliations also responded differently to the question.

Democrats by 62-33 percent say slavery was the main reason for the war. Independents nearly reflected the national average, 53-43 percent. Republicans were more divided, 49-45 percent, that slavery was the main reason.

And a majority of tea party supporters do not think slavery was the main reason for the Civil War. Of those who said they support the tea party movement, 52 percent said slavery was not the main reason for the Civil War and 43 percent said it was.

Retired teacher Tom Laney, 63, of Odessa, Texas, is among those who say slavery was not the main reason for the Civil War. Laney is a tea party supporter.

“Slavery was a reality, both in the North and the South. But states’ rights, the right to secede, was the reason for the Civil War,” Laney said. “And the North’s reason was really economic. They couldn’t afford to lose the Southern states.”

Schools should not teach students that slavery was the reason for the war, Laney said. He said teaching the war that way is “a falsehood.”

“Rewriting of history is all too common nowadays in our school history textbooks and I’m totally opposed,” he said.

Those who wish to take down Confederate symbols like flags and statues say those symbols are tied to slavery, or a defense of slavery, said Theresa Runstedtler, an associate history professor at American University in Washington.

She said those who celebrate the Confederacy say they are respecting their heritage, not advocating for hate or racism.

The survey of 1,249 adults was conducted July 22-28 by The Marist Poll sponsored and funded in partnership with McClatchy. Adults, 18 years of age and older, living in the continental United States were interviewed in English or Spanish by telephone using live interviewers. Landline telephone numbers randomly were selected based upon a list of telephone exchanges from throughout the nation from ASDE Survey Sampler, Inc.