{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260418T162306Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684512239?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"1684512239","authors":["Samuel W. Mitcham Jr.","Samuel W. Mitcham"],"book_id":"9781684512232","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/it-wasn-t-about-slavery-1684512239","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781684512232.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","description":"The Great Lie of the Civil War If you think the Civil War was fought to end slavery, you’ve been duped. In fact, as distinguished military historian Samuel Mitcham argues in his provocative new book, It Wasn’t About Slavery , no political party advocated freeing the slaves in the presidential election of 1860. The Republican Party platform opposed the expansion of slavery to the western states, but it did not embrace abolition. The real cause of the war was a dispute over money and self-determination. Before the Civil War, the South financed most of the federal government—because the federal government was funded by tariffs, which were paid disproportionately by the agricultural South that imported manufactured goods. Yet, most federal government spending and subsidies benefited the North. The South wanted a more limited federal government and lower tariffs—the ideals of Thomas Jefferson—and when the South could not get that, it opted for independence. Lincoln was unprepared when the Southern states seceded, and force was the only way to bring them—and their tariff money—back. That was the real cause of the war. A well-documented and compelling read by a master historian, It Wasn’t About Slavery will change the way you think about Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the cause and legacy of America’s momentous Civil War.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781684512232","publication_date":"20210216","publisher":"Skyhorse Publishing","slug":"it-wasn-t-about-slavery","subtitle":"Exposing the Great Lie of the Civil War","title":"It Wasn't About Slavery"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS036050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil War Era","score":0.7686,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027250","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil Wars","score":0.725,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"19th-Century America","score":0.7158,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS036050","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil War Era","score":0.7686,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS027250","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Civil Wars","score":0.725,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"19th-Century America","score":0.7158,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS036050","confidence_band":"high","label":"Civil War Era","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC054000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Slavery Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Civil War Era","score":0.7686,"slug":"civil-war-era"},{"label":"Civil Wars","score":0.725,"slug":"civil-wars"},{"label":"19th-Century America","score":0.7158,"slug":"19th-century-america"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Civil War Era","Good for fans of History","Good for readers who enjoy Civil War Era and Civil Wars."],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his027250-military-civil-wars-see-also-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877","title":"Military Civil Wars ( See Also United States Civil War (1850 1877 Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his027250-military-civil-wars-see-also-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877"},{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-his036050-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877","title":"United States Civil War (1850 1877) Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-his036050-united-states-civil-war-period-1850-1877"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Jon Grinspan"],"book_id":"9781639730643","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781639730643.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":20.0438,"title":"Wide Awake","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781639730643"},{"authors":["S. 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Gwynne","Robert Petkoff","Simon & Schuster Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9781501116230","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781501116230.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":19.9486,"title":"Hymns of the Republic","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781501116230"},{"authors":["Scott Ellsworth"],"book_id":"9780593475614","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593475614.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":17.4921,"title":"Midnight on the Potomac","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593475614"},{"authors":["George Templeton Strong","Geoff Wisner"],"book_id":"9781598538250","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781598538250.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":17.4442,"title":"George Templeton Strong: Civil War Diaries (LOA #396)","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781598538250"},{"authors":["Cokie Roberts"],"book_id":"9780062002761","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062002761.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":17.4029,"title":"Capital Dames","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062002761"},{"authors":["Fergus M. Bordewich","Landon Woodson","Random House Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780593310823","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780593310823.jpg?v=20260418T162306Z%3A2026-04-19T10%3A16%3A55Z","score":17.1768,"title":"Klan War","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780593310823"},{"authors":["H. W. 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