Slavery was a lot of things in America; it was a source of money and production for some, for others it was a terrible evil, but everyone's opinion on slavery was slightly different. Slavery was a necessity for most plantation owners in the 19th century. Soon, many Northerners became aware of the cruelty of slave ownership and rebelled against the practice. After the Civil War broke out in 1861, soldiers had differing opinions about why they were fighting. The differences in motivations lead to the question: Was the Civil War a war to end slavery? The similarities and differences between Frederick Douglass's abolitionist option and the common soldier showed us that although Northerners and slaves believed the war was underway, most of the disagreement came from the slave owners of the South. They thought Douglass was crazy for wanting to abolish slavery and bring about total equality because it would cripple their income. These were the kind of men who, like Douglass and most Northerners, were waging a war against slavery. Although most men in the South owned and depended on slavery, they had different motivations for fighting in the war. Jim Kepler, a Confederate soldier, said, “Damn fool…He still thinks it's slavery” p.66. Many ordinary people, including Frederick Douglass, believed that the Civil War was being fought over whether or not to abolish slavery. Some fought for this cause, but other Southern soldiers fought for a different cause. George Pickett, Major General of the Confederate Army, said, “I think my club analogy was the best. I mean, it's like we all joined a gentlemen's club, and then the club members started prying into our private lives, and then we stood up and quit, and then they told us that we had no right to resign." page 66 George Pickett gave this analogy describing the U.S. government to show the true reason why many Confederate soldiers were fighting in the war. Some Southern states believed that the U.S. government was intervening too much in their affairs and so they tried to gain their independence The Civil War was not a war to end slavery, but it was a war for the South to gain independence from the United States Jim. Kepler said: “You must tell them, and make it clear to them, that what we are fighting for is our freedom from the domination of what to us is a foreign government. we want and that is the aim of this war. We created this country in the first place with strong state governments for just this reason, to avoid central tyranny. » p. 65 Many thought it was the North and African Americans who were fighting for freedom, which it was, but the South was fighting for more than just maintaining slavery, they were fighting for their independence. Even though England could not support the Confederates, due to the issue of slavery, many English people traveled to America to show their support. Fremantle was one of the English witnesses to the Battle of Gettysburg. He said: “But it doesn’t matter. The experiment doesn't work. Give them fifty years, and all this egalitarian rot will be gone. Here, they have the same love of the land and tradition, of good form, of breeding, in their horses, in their women. Of course, slavery is a