Kelly: "The lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War."

[VOX]

31. The American Civil War: "Rich man's war, poor man's fight."

Two points of interest on this subject:
-In spite of their "states rights" posturing, the Confederate States of America enacted the first military conscription in early 1862. The Confederacy also enacted the "Twenty Negro Law," which specifically exempted from military service one white man for every twenty slaves owned on a Confederate or a Confederate plantation, or for two or more plantations within five miles of each other that collectively had twenty or more slaves. In other words, if you were a wealthy plantation owner, you and possibly your sons would NOT have to serve in the military.

-Obviously, slavery was the cheapest of cheap labor at the time. The wealthy planter class, the "One Percenters" of their day, figured that, with Lincoln's election, they were about to lose their "property" (slaves), and thus secession was inevitable. But they saddled poor whites (most of whom did NOT own slaves) with the prospect of death or being maimed on the battlefield. This created a morale issue among Confederate soldiers, and contributed to the old adage, "a rich man's war, but a poor man's fight."