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Everyone automatically assumes that it's a good thing that the United States (Union/North) defeated the rebels (Confederacy/South), but are things better off than they would of been? Needless to say, slavery is bad, but slavery wasn't truly the issue behind the civil war to begin with. The primary issue is one would be hard-pressed (or just plain stupid) to disagree with the South over. And that issue is the one of states' rights.
Constitutionally and morally the South had every right to secede from the Union and the states are meant to be more powerful than the federal government. If the South had won the Civil War, then I think that things may have been better off in the long run. While in the short run it would have had obvious negligible effects such as the continuation of slavery and the fact that our country would be divided in two. The South had effectively no chance of ever annexing the North, due to the North's infrastructure and there was a heavy anti-war sentiment going on in the North as it was towards the end, so a peace treaty would have likely been signed.
In the long run we would no doubt eventually reunite as a country and if the South had not done so already, slavery would have ended as part of the reunification. We would then still have states' rights and many of the problems we wouldn't have many of the problems we face today. What are your thoughts on the topic at hand? And what do you think would have happened if the South won the Civil War?
1. The civil war was first and foremost about slavery. I am so tired of this southern propaganda that it wasn't. I honestly did not believe that people still thought this until i came on C-D. Anyone who studied the war will tell you it was almost entirely based on slavery. any other reason for the war that you list just circles back to being about slavery.
States rights? yea the state's right to decide whether or not slavery is legal
preservation of economic system... yea you mean the one that was based on slavery.
there were other problems for sure but they were all for the most part based on the issue of slavery and any issue that wasn't was minor.
2. the states are in no way shape or form meant to be "more powerful" than the federal government. it amazes me how little people understand our constitution. we once had a system that greatly favored states rights to a strong central government... it was called the articles of confederation. It governed us until 1789 and was an absolute failure and nearly led to the end of the united states of america. so we fixed it by writing and then eventually adopting the constitution which was basically created to make the federal government in this country stronger.
finally. if the south had won the war i honestly think america would be better off. the south was once where all the money was because of the cash crops but by the time of the civil war the northern industry had become more important.
the south is basically a financial drain on this country today. without the south the United States would be a much stronger union with much more progressive ideals. the only loss would of course be texas which today is a worldwide economic powerhouse. but things would have been very different for texas if they remained in the confederacy. being forced to support the other states would be a huge drain on them and i doubt they would be nearly as important globally if they had developed in the confederacy as opposed to the united states of America. Of course i think texas would have realized this though and likely would have become it's own independent nation and I imagine it'd be fairly prosperous. the rest of the south would be a mess. i can't imagine how they'd stick together. i could see some of the states doing well... but so much is based on what they have today and it's really easy to see them not having that in this alternate reality. i don't think the confederacy would be a third world country but it wouldn't have very bright prospects...
The civil war was not about states rights, it was about slavery. Plain and simple.
i hate to burst your bubble but
“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not to either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause.” - Abraham Lincoln
“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not to either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause.” - Abraham Lincoln
i hate to burst your bubble but the civil war was about slavery.
you can cherry pick some quotes to back most arguments. doesn't change reality.
i hate to burst your bubble but the civil war was about slavery.
you can cherry pick some quotes to back most arguments. doesn't change reality.
try reading an actual book and learning
keep telling your self that if it makes you feel better, lincoln didnt give a damn about slaves and he believed whites were superior in every way. he actually planned to send them back to africa. so its YOU who needs to learn something.
And that proves what? Nothing. It proves that someone else has another opinion and nothing else. But, please continue to believe in those fairytales. They must make you warm and fuzzy inside.
The civil war was about slavery. You can scream and yell at me electronically, but the fact of the matter is that the civil war was about slavery. Anything else like states rights is just revisionist history. I'm not going to revisit this thread since you cannot seem to see the facts for what they are.
But the fact of the matter is that the civil war was about slavery.
You can close your mind to facts as much as you want, but that does not change the facts.
Personally, I don't think you could possibly accept the fact the fact that such a horrible institution as slavery was supported and defended by the confederate states.
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