Status as a Cause of the United States Civil War

At the eve of the Civil War, ownership of slaves and thus of wealth was highly concentrated. Only 25% of white southern families owned slaves, and the majority of slave holders, 55%, owned only one to five slaves. Large planters held the bulk of slave wealth. These were only about 46,000 individuals constituting a mere 3.03% of southern society (Huston (2003, p.37). Most of the South’s soldiers were non-slave holders. Why was the South willing to fight? I argue that the war was made more likely by the conflicting cultures and in particular by the role of slavery in contributing to status in southern status