The various declarations of secession, the Cornerstone Speech, etc made it clear that slavery was the main driving point for the Confederate leadership's decision to secede. Combined with the Confederate Conscription Act which made eligible men who owned 20 or more slaves exempt, why did the common non-slave owning Southerner buy into the Confederate cause? From hindsight, it looks like non-wealthy Southerners were fighting on behalf of wealthy Southerners will no real benefit to themselves.