mysteries and motorcycles

Monday, May 03, 2010



The Civil War

I’ve been pondering this for some time and decided to make it a discussion topic on my blog. I’m sure that there are lots of different thoughts on the subject and I haven’t studied the events that led up to the war since I was in the tenth grade. These are just thoughts.

Could the American Civil War been avoided?

Seems to me that, prior to the conflict there had to have been plenty of people on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line with the vision to see that slavery was well on its way to extinction. Oh, there would be that core group of hardliners who would insist that agriculture couldn’t possibly survive without slaves but most of them would have known, deep down that it was only a matter of time. Plantation owners already had the responsibility of feeding, clothing, and housing slaves, would it be that big of a step to convert that responsibility to a wage?

The Union government might have held a series of talks with the Confederacy seeking an amicable solution to the problem. It would be up to the north to take the lead and offer workable solutions as well as action plans. Temporary government subsidies would be needed and then a massive educational program developed to prepare the slaves for entry into mainstream society. The slaves themselves would be necessary partners in the negotiations. If talks were to succeed, all voices would need equal footing.

Perhaps I’m oversimplifying the situation but, in retrospect all I’m doing is trying to address the primary cause of the war and state my opinion that it simply wasn’t a valid enough reason to justify the bloodshed that it caused. Anybody, even in 1861 who couldn’t see the end of slavery as an inevitability was simply in denial.

Arguments against such a policy would likely begin with the cost but the expense of this transition would certainly pale compared to the price of war.

I welcome a lively discussion.

Posted by The Unreal McCoy :: 7:34 PM :: 0 Comments:

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