this post was submitted on 18 Aug 2023
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Confidently Incorrect

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When people are way too smug about their wrong answer.

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[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 35 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

It's, I think, sort of true that the Civil War wasn't always going to necessarily mean the end of slavery if the north won.

It started as a war to keep the union together, and initially a lot of people in the north thought that it would end quickly and that the states would return to the union and give up their rebellion.

However, as time went on and the losses started to pile up, it became clear to Lincoln and the other northern leaders that a war with this much bloodshed must end the slavery debate for good. That is why Lincoln ultimately wrote and delivered the Emancipation Proclamation.

But it's a point that's splitting a lot of hairs and very nuanced, because the Civil War started when pro-slavery states seceded from the union because they were afraid that a president elected without consent from any of the southern states might move to eliminate slavery...so summarily, the Civil War was definitely about slavery from beginning to end.

TL;DR: The Civil War was about slavery.

[–] SnowdropDelusion@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’ve found this quote from Lincoln to be illustrative.

“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; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.”

I also find the fact that the Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves living in border States, but only States that seceded to corroborate this.

That being said, Lincoln had long been know to oppose slavery and supported its abolition.

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