I've heard that for instance, in the 1800s, the American rabbis
in the South were pro-slavery, and the American rabbis in the
North opposed to it. But what were the views towards America of
the more-famous "Acharonim", rabbis from (in this case) the
1700s and 1800s, who are famous for their writings? Did, say,
the Noda Bihuda or Vilna Gaon comment (as an aside in any of
their writings?) on the American Revolution? Did R' Hirsch, the
Netziv, Malbim, the Rebbe Maharash, Ben Ish Chai , or other
great rabbinic thinkers of the 1800s (pick your flavor of
Orthodoxy) comment on American slavery and/or the Civil War? (As
Dostoevsky did, lehavdil?) Was the development of the United
States of America really "on the map" of these rabbis? I realize
that censorship may have been an issue in some cases, too.