COURTLAND—What caused the Civil War?

Some might say it came down to the issue of slavery, others would say it came down to a states’ rights issue.

Franklin native Waite Rawls, president and chief executive officer of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, says it is a mixture of both.

Rawls will discuss the differences between the issues that led to secession and the issues that led to war during a presentation titled “What Caused It” to the Southampton County Historical Society at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, in the county’s administration building in Courtland.

“I will try to get people to understand that the upper South was different from the lower South,” Rawls said.

Rawls has been a frequent visitor of the local historical society and will fit in nicely with the organizations sesquicentennial, or 150 year anniversary of “the recent unpleasantness” or Civil War, said organization president Lynda Updike.

“He always draws a big crowd,” she said. “When he came before, we had standing room only.”

Updike said the presentation, which will be held during a quarterly meeting, would also focus on why Virginia joined the Deep South in secession four months late in addition to why the secession happened at all.

“We’re excited to hear from him,” Updike said.