In a message dated 9/20/99 11:44:13 AM, [email protected] writes: << Another contributing factor to the the War Between the States was States Rights. The federal government was trying to dictate to the southern states on matters that should have been state issues and not federal issues. I am not real well versed on all of the factors leading up to the War but I do know that it was not just exclusively about slavery. >> So true !!! that is still going on with BIG BROTHER still trying to govern. I have been a New Yorker all my life but I am sympathetic to the "states rights" issue. I guess it's because I come from a Missouri background.:-) Eileen