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- Feb 6, 2010
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Perhaps the most tragic thing about the Civil War is that it could have been avoided, and avoided in a way that would have accelerated slavery's demise.
The Crittenden Compromise would have banned slavery from 75% of the western territories, would have significantly improved the fugitive slave legal process in the slaves' favor, would have set up a sort of de facto compensated emancipation system for some/many runaway slaves, and would have given Southern slavery the same protection that Lincoln was willing to give it in the Corwin Amendment.
If the Republicans had at least allowed a nationwide referendum on the Crittenden Compromise, it would have won overwhelmingly and the momentum for compromise would have gained enormous steam.
Lincoln defenders fault Southern leaders for calling for secession "just because they lost an election." True, but they rarely consider the fact that Lincoln won with less than 40% of the vote. How do you suppose Northern leaders would have felt if Breckenridge had won with less than 40% of the vote?
RE: Perhaps the most tragic thing about the Civil War is that it could have been avoided, and avoided in a way that would have accelerated slavery's demise.
OK, I'll bite. Slavery was abolished at the end of 1865. What is the accelerated basis on which slavery would have ended that you're referring to?
I would point out that according to the Georgia secession declaration, slaves were worth $3 billion in 1860, and were the linchpin of southern wealth accumulation.
- Alan