Jim Webb's ancestors were officers in the [[Confederate]] army. <ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10994.html , POLITICO Webb's rebel roots: An affinity for Confederacy, June 10, 2008</ref> He maintains that "Most Southern soldiers viewed the driving issue to be sovereignty rather than slavery." He said "Love of the Union was palpably stronger in the South ". That doesn't make sense to the majority of people. Many detractors consider his statement sovereignty to continue slavery.
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Jim Webb's ancestors were officers in the [[Confederate]] army. <ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0608/10994.html , POLITICO Webb's rebel roots: An affinity for Confederacy, June 10, 2008</ref> Webb has voiced sympathy for the notion of state sovereignty as it was understood in the early 1860s, and seemed to suggest that states were justified in trying to secede. He maintains that "Most Southern soldiers viewed the driving issue to be sovereignty rather than slavery." Nevertheless the great majority of black voters in Virginia voted for Webb over Allen, who had an even worse reputation regarding the legacy of slavery.