My ancestors were in the Union Army during the civil war. However, as a serious student of history, my sympathies would have been with the south. Slavery is a repulsive institution but that would not have been the reason for me to sign up to fight for the Confederacy.
It would have been the issue of states' rights. That was a hotly debated issue ever since the Articles of Confederation were drafted then set aside for a Constitution that is now used for toilet paper by crooked politicians that regard us gun owners as more than poo-flinging-knuckle-dragging primates.
"If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union."
- Abraham Lincoln, August 22, 1862