The "Cornerstone Speech"
by Alexander Stephens is the usual bludgeon of choice. Stephens, a
Georgian who had served in Congress, was the new vice president of the
CSA in the spring of 1861, and in this speech he explained the new
Confederate constitution and the prospects of the new nation, as he saw
them, to an audience in Savannah. Here is how one commentator
cherry-picks the usual cherries from it:
Stephens's post-war writings downplayed the importance of slavery in the
sectional conflict, and they formed much of the foundation of the first
generation of defense of the Southern nation -- the so-called "Lost
Cause" view of the war. That reasonably can be dismissed as a convenient
revisionism.
Answer: The correct answer is : Because I wanted to mention evidence that the Civil War was about slavery, also to present diverse perspectives of Native Americans and their relationship with whites. Slavery was the main issue of the United States government. Stephens' speech was called the cornerstone because it describes the great reality of white supremacy and black inferiority on which secession and confederation are based.
