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- Aug 25, 2012
Even if Lincoln had want to I am not sure there was any comprise he could have offered the Southern states to keep them from leaving the Union. I will go as far as saying that even if Lincoln had lost the election any long term compromise acceptable to the South would have been acceptable to the North. At best all we could hope for was a 20-30 year delay in the start of the Civil War.
The South feared losing its political power and the South feared losing its slaves. Even if a pro slavery president would have been elected in 1860, could the same be expected in the 1880 election? The North was growing stronger politically and in the long term its political power would have grown to a point where it threatened the political power of the Southern states. I just can not see the South dominating the United States political scene for more than another 20 years or so no matter what compromise was made.
Much the same can be said about slavery. I can think of several compromises that would keep slavery legal until the 1950, even to the 1970s or beyond, but I can not come up with any compromise that could keep slavery a major player in America politics much past 1900. By 1920-1940 slavery would have became a quaint little social custom practiced in a few states. Even if still technically legal by the 1960s slavery would not have been anything like it was in 1860.
Can anyone come up with a compromise on slavery that would have keep slavery truly viable past the 1920s? Even a plan to keep slavery viable until 1920? The only plans I can think of to keep slavery intact past 1970 sound too much like science fiction to me.
The South feared losing its political power and the South feared losing its slaves. Even if a pro slavery president would have been elected in 1860, could the same be expected in the 1880 election? The North was growing stronger politically and in the long term its political power would have grown to a point where it threatened the political power of the Southern states. I just can not see the South dominating the United States political scene for more than another 20 years or so no matter what compromise was made.
Much the same can be said about slavery. I can think of several compromises that would keep slavery legal until the 1950, even to the 1970s or beyond, but I can not come up with any compromise that could keep slavery a major player in America politics much past 1900. By 1920-1940 slavery would have became a quaint little social custom practiced in a few states. Even if still technically legal by the 1960s slavery would not have been anything like it was in 1860.
Can anyone come up with a compromise on slavery that would have keep slavery truly viable past the 1920s? Even a plan to keep slavery viable until 1920? The only plans I can think of to keep slavery intact past 1970 sound too much like science fiction to me.
Bringing the