With records sealed for years in the archives, it's not hard to understand why we may not have had all of these dots to connect. Who would have taken the time to go through old newspapers? Not so many volunteers for that I'd think. The New Orleans paper is probably one of the most interesting I've seen. Lot of the news is sort of different from the facts we were taught in school. It also paints a pretty picture of the mode of thought in that time.
We were taught that the Southern States decided to go on their own and it was over States Rights. BUT, the States Rights they were talking about was the ownership of slaves. No other real background was covered in the year before the war. John Brown's event was 'touched' on but not a lot. Most of the slave uprisings I've read about were in the Islands, like Martinique. If there were scattered events or even some caught before they carried out any plan, it was pretty much buried.
From what we are reading so far, I think there's another area to be researched. It could have had a much larger bearing on things and of course was hidden from public view because it wasn't pretty or part of the PC campaign going at that time. If there were more reports and they were made public, some of the Northen states may well have been less willing to participate in a war. They fell for The Undergroud RR' and Mrs Stowes little book. That's all they needed it seems.
Pam