Last week marked the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. There are many who think we should not remember the war.

At the centennial celebration, I was 11 years old. I really didn’t care. I never thought about having a great-great-grandfather, much less that he fought in that war.

I do now. I wrote a book about it. Now, I care a great deal.

The war has reached through the years and has drawn me in. It is part of who I am, my connection to history. Today I, like so many who fought at the time, ask why? Why did we fight a war among ourselves? I think I have a perspective; that of a foot soldier.

The enmity between the North and South is rooted in the history of the American colonies. Even then, the cities of the North looked down on the sprawling farming enterprises of the slow speaking, laid back South. At the Continental Congress and other gatherings, there was often a northern versus southern vote.

Slavery was an issue. It too dates back to before the birth of the nation. Massachusetts was the first slave-holding state, and the first to emancipate slaves in 1780, but the hard-fought question in that state wouldn't come to a head for the nation for another 60 years. Slavery was the political cause du jour during that time. Half the nation opposed it, half the nation approved of it.

It is said that if you want to know why an event happens, follow the money trail. The slave question represented big money. The economy of cotton was labor intensive. A cheap and abundant work force was necessary. Owning the labor force was the most economical solution, so slavery became a southern institution. Was slavery then the main reason for war? I contend it was not.

The vast majority of those who fought on the side of the South, the slavery side, did not own slaves or know anyone who did. What were they fighting for? If they didn’t own slaves, why fight to make the rich richer? There was another reason. They were patriots.

The South was tired of having their way of life falling to question and ridicule and were tired of the ruling tyranny of the north. The taxes were unfair and for the South, things were ripe for rebellion.

Many say that the South tore the fabric of the nation. That is true, but they were also upholding the principles the nation was founded on, that if you don't like your government, change it. If you can’t, tradition held that rebellion was justified.

My great-great-grandfather along with thousands of others went to war thinking the North needed their nose bloodied and would let the seceded states go. Both sides thought after one great battle it would be over. If slavery had been the only issue, that might have been the case, but for the war to go on for five years, there had to be more than money at stake.

Love of home and a way of life kept the boys of the south on the field against overwhelming odds. They believed in their allegiance to their new nation and its cause. They believed in freedom. In the journals of Evans Atwood, he not once mentions slavery, but he does use the word “freedom” many times.

I am thankful our nation survived. I love this country and put my feet on foreign soil in its service, and I have not forgotten how expensive freedom is. If you have, there were more than 600,000 Americans killed in the Civil War who would like to remind you of the high cost. Don’t dishonor the sacrifice offered on both sides. Remember this war. Every one who fought and died knows it was worth it.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human interest columns offer a unique perspective. He may be contacted, and his other works viewed at: www.starchasers.us, or david@starchasers.us.