this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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I don’t think the civil war was completely nonmaterial. The slaveholding south was genuinely scared of even the moderate abolitionism espoused by Lincoln who wanted western states to be free states. This would tip the scales in congress in favor of free states in time, allowing for the abolition of slavery by law. The slaveholding south saw their power eroding, which is why every compromise for new states was extremely contentious and why Kansas ended up in civil war in the lead up to the real civil war. So I don’t know how correct it is to say the south left for no reason, since Lincoln really did represent a threat to their interests (albeit an extremely moderate one)
I didn't mean to imply non material or without reason, but the reaction to Lincolns election was way out of proportion to the potential limits that were to be put on slavery. The idea that without infinite growth slavery would be abolished is very much a unchallenged assumption of the, very deranged, slave holders themselves. The infinitely more likely possible outcome is slavery.being in someway limited to one of the previous demarcation lines, and then it literally never being abolished. The north had to be dragged kicking and screaming to abolition, and then the quick abandonment of reconstruction shows even that acceptance wacw grudging.