The Great Civil War Debate 1999

Directed by Erik Hollander

Pat Swindall moderated this debate between two Presbyterian ministers on the morality of the Union and the Confederacy. They examined the causes of the war and debated which side was more morally responsible for the death and destruction which resulted from the war. Reverend Peter Marshall, Jr argued that the Union was correct for trying to end slavery and preserve the United States. Reverend Steve Wilkins argued that the Confederacy was improperly invaded because southern states had the right to leave the Union and that the South was ready to gradually end slavery before radical abolitionism engendered such fierce opposition.