[quote]Big Banana wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Big Banana wrote:
[quote]orion wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
The real reason Lincoln stopped the south from seceding was purely financial. The Union stood to lose a lot of tax revenue if the south seceded. It was never about ending slavery but rather about retaining power in Washington.
Every person or group of persons should have the right to secede from any level of government that they wish.[/quote]
Well, I would believe you except for one thing: not once in any speech Lincoln ever made or in any letter he ever wrote did he ever say that he went to war for financial reasons. You’re simply projecting your own suspicions onto him with this assumption.[/quote]
He did however repeatedly and specifically state that he did not care about slavery, one way or the other.
[/quote]
Not correct, he abhorred slavery but he put preserving the union above his desire to end slavery.
Slavery was THE core issue of the Civil War. The southern states succeeded because they knew the end of slavery was coming and they would be at a huge economic disadvantage without slavery.
The legality of secession and Lincoln’s response are debatable but the facts are not. [/quote]
Actually, Orion is correct, somewhat. Lincoln did say that he would just as soon preserve slavery if it meant preserving the Union. He also at one point advocated a separation of the races. But these things that he said disregard the timeline in which he said them. Most of the language he used tha supports Orion’s argument was between 1858 and 1861-62. By 1862, Lincoln had come to understand that the only way to realize his primary goal (preserving the Union) would be to end slavery. He abhorred slavery once he came to this realization because he understood that the institution of slavery was THE issue keeping the nation divided. [/quote]
He is incorrect. Before the election Lincoln wrote and spoke of ending slavery. He thought it was an atrocity. Yes he wanted to separate the races and he thought bringing African slaves over was a horrible mistake.
He did not want to emancipate the slaves directly because it would have destroyed the Union.
He wanted to block slavery from the Territories and isolate it in the South. He hoped it could end within 20 years without war.
His first priority was keeping the country together but don’t let anyone tell you he did not care about slavery.
[/quote]
You’re right, he certainly did care about ending slavery. I think we’re quibbling over semantics here. My point is that he did say at one point that he would just as soon preserve it if to do so would preserve the Union.
I think I’m going to bump this thread because it seems that I’m simply repeating myself over and over again. The really good shit starts around the second or third page.