I come from a Deep Southern family, and at least one of my ancestors

I had an ancestor who served in the Union Army from East TN. More interestingly though some of my ancestors were southern unionists from West TN. The particular counties my ancestors were from had high amounts of unionists despite West TN being mostly Confederate. I'm almost done reading a book about my great-great-great grandfather and great-great uncle's Union regiment from West TN. It's a really wild story and adds a dynamic I didn't know about from the war. It'd make a great movie.

>>131022714
Do you think the Southern Unionism was morally justifiable? What is the proper unit of self-determination?

>>131022972
The common theme of my ancestors were they were all poor white farmers with no slaves who had grandfathers as Revolutionary War heroes and some with fathers who served in 1812. I imagine perhaps with a deep connection to the union and seeing the Confederate war effort as being mostly for rich plantation owners they felt nothing for the secessionist cause. Was it morally justifiable? I guess depends on how you view the war. They definitely thought it was. Personally I think the states had the right to secede just like my ancestors had the right to believe the state was better off with the union than without. Tennessee was definitely one of the most divided southern states so the family stories are interesting.