The South vs. the South book review The purpose of this book is to tell us what happened in the Civil War era. The theme of the book is teaching about slavery. Also, talk about how slaves were treated. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 and ended on May 9, 1865. Abraham Lincoln thought slavery was wrong and worked hard to free the slaves. The author mainly talks about the slaves and the fact that they were mistreated or persecuted. The slaves tried to escape, to live freely. The owners wouldn't have been a problem, they were the slave patrols because they would capture the slaves and sell them or kill them. Owners used slaves to help operate the cotton gin and to work the fields picking cotton. “On the eve of the Civil War, when slaves made up only 12.7 percent of its population, the Southern Border produced almost none of the South's cotton, sugar, and rice.” (Freehling p19) “Supposedly, only blacks could do so-called Negro work under the brutal Southern sun.” (Freehling p21) Once the Civil War was over, he was getting closer to freeing the slaves. The book is first and foremost about a...