How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
True freedom had begun here and it would spread eventually over all the earth. But it had begun here. The fact of slavery upon this incredibly beautiful new clean earth was appalling, but more even than that was the horror of old Europe, the curse of nobility, which the South was transplanting to new soil. They were forming a new aristocracy, a new breed of glittering men, and Chamberlain had come to crush it. (1.2.119)
Slavery, obviously, is the opposite of freedom. Chamberlain sees that the Southern plantation owners are trying to use slavery to dominate the future of the country: they're trying to control the economy, setting up an aristocracy and using slave labor instead of paying freemen. This is bad for all the free workers in the North, since this would hurt their role in the economy. This was a big reason why people were motivated to fight for the Union.
Quote #2
He was no good with civilians. There was something about the mayors of towns that troubled him. They were too fat and they talked too much and they did not think twice of asking a man to die for them. Much of the east troubled Buford. A fat country. Too many people talked too much. The newspapers lied. But the women… Yes, the women. (1.3.49)
Buford would feel more at home out West. He's not a domesticated personality; like the Dixie Chicks, he needs "wide open spaces." How does this affect his attitude toward the war and its central issues?
Quote #3
Everywhere you go there's nothing but the same rock and dirt and houses and people and deer and birds. They give it all names, but I'm at home everywhere. Odd thing: unpatriotic. I was at home in England. I would be at home in the desert. In Afghanistan or far Typee. All mine, it all belongs to me. My world. (2.4.32)
Chamberlain feels like a "citizen of the universe." Unlike the Confederates, Chamberlain doesn't feel overly attached to a single place. He doesn't think of himself as fighting for "The North"—he's fighting for principles, for the equality of humanity.