Haley Campaign Press Release - Haley Comments on the Civil War in North Conway, N.H.

Haley: Yesterday I was asked, last night I was asked about the Civil War. And what I think of the Civil War, what was the cause of the Civil War. Of course the Civil War was about slavery. We know that. That's unquestioned, always the case. We know the Civil War was about slavery. But it was also more than that. It was about the freedoms of every individual. It was about the role of government. For 80 years, America had the decision and the moral question of whether slavery was a good thing and whether government, economically, culturally, any other reasons, had a role to play in that. By the grace of God, we did the right thing and slavery is no more. But the lessons of what that bigger issue with the Civil War are is that let's not forget what came out of that, which is government's role, individual liberties, freedom for every single person, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to do and be anything you want to be without anyone or government getting in your way—that should be the goal of what we always try and take away from that, right? Because we never want to return back to that place. But we always want to remember the lesson of what it means to be a free individual and that everyone deserves to be a free individual. So we stand by that. I say that as a southerner. I say that as a southern governor who removed the Confederate flag off the statehouse grounds. And I say that as a proud American of how far we have come.