re: How many poor dirt farmers owned slaves

quote:

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I'm confident you couldn't count to tariff.

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As for me, I'm hoping you can read at, say, the sixth-grade level. If so, the following, extracted from a speech by Alexander Stephens, Vice-President of the Confederacy, will begin educating you on the causes of the Civil War:

The new [Confederate] Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions—African slavery as it exists among us—the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the "rock upon which the old Union would split." He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with; but the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away... Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a Government built upon it—when the "storm came and the wind blew, it fell."

Our new [Confederate] Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.

For your benefit, I have highlighted the passages most essential to your instruction. If however, you still do not comprehend the meaning of Mr. Stephens words, I suggest you take this extract to a competent high school or middle school history teacher, who should be able to provide you with an accurate interpretation.

I make this last suggestion because:
• Your ignorance in this matter is complete.
• Presenting your ignorant views in a public forum enlightens the rest of us on only one point: your unsuitability to participate in the conversation.