The Club Nobody Could Afford
The non-slaveholding Confederate soldier who marched off to die at Antietam was not protecting his economic interest. He was protecting a club he couldn't afford to join, on behalf of people who could, having been convinced that the club was synonymous with his identity, his sovereignty, and his way of life. This is not stupidity. This is what successful ideological capture looks like from the inside.
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deep dive
#Civil War#American history+8 more