Marx claims the London press portrayed the conflict centered on tariff and trade rather than slavery because of the actions taken by the United States. Had the North simply wanted to remove slavery from themselves, they could have separated themselves from the South and get rid of slavery entirely in the North. Instead, the North is lusty for sovereignty and wants to have protectionist system throughout the United States rather than a free trade system. Also, according to the London press, the North wishes to maintain Union above all else since the South was steadily but surely seceding. Those were the main reasons of the Civil War, not the issues on slavery.
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