My set of Lucas's came from Ohio - a northern state. Any that served, served on the wrong side.
Many people that fought and died did not understand the real reason for the war. They fought for their state. If their state was in the union that fought in blue. If their state was in the confederacy, they fought in grey.
The war was about state's rights against Federalism . That issue is more severe today than then.
The Federal Government is violating the Constitution on every hand. It strikes down state law. It presses to invalidate personal rights of free speech and assembly. It is stealing from the people and using that wealth to further empower itself.
If you believe that state and individual rights supercede Federal rights then you are a con-federate.
If you believe the rights of the Federal Government supercede those of states and individuals you are a Federalist .
The division is real and it impacts us daily. It is not about Race or Gender .
It's about Freedom .
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It is an unfortunate fact of history that the example case in defense of states rights and limited federal power was the issue of slavery.
So, in hindsight people see the CSA as standing on moral low ground and the union on moral high ground.
The truth is that there were two issues muddled together. On the slavery issue the union was on the moral high ground. On the issue of Constitutionally provided states rights the CSA was on the moral high ground.
Because the south lost the war all Americans lost including the freed slaves.
The priorities in the founding of our country were
1. Individual rights
2. States rights
3. Federal protection of Americans rights and against attack by foreign powers
As a result of the south losing the war those priorities became:
1. Federal power to tax, regulate, and incriminate individuals and states
2. State powers limited by the Federal government except to tax, regulate and incriminate individuals.
3. Individuals became free only as long as they pay taxes, submit to regulation and stay within the boundaries of federal and state defined political correctness.