NationStates Jolt Archive

As always, no flaming

No, of course not.

Well if I was president their wouldn't have been any reason for them to secede.

Don’t know if there was any choice … don’t know if “let” was the right description

Meaning maybe you could convince them to stay … or at least not do the things that caused them to secede … but if they wanted to … how would they have been stopped (besides the war?)

but if they wanted to … how would they have been stopped (besides the war?)

That's what I mean. Would you have resorted to a long, tragic, bloody civil war to forcibly re-unite the nation, or allow the Southern states to secede peacefully and leave them be?

DAMN i accidentally voted yes
*marked as an idiot forever*

an independant south would have been a nightmare. we would have fought over everything until the end of time

consider a couple:

return of "property" -- no northerner would ever again be forced to return an escaped slave. how many thousands of slaves worth how many millions of dollars would have to be "lost" before the south started a fight over it?


who gets the various territories? -- there would be no more "slave state/free state" split. there would be bloodshed that would make kansas and missouri look like picnics

Well, by the way the constitution was written, they had every right to secede, they believed they could form a better government. Even so, however, I would've tried everything to keep them in the Union, because all in all, I think it would've been better (and it probably was a good decision to reject the South's secession.)

I would have had the government buy all the slaves, then set them free, and let the ex-slaves decide if they wanted to stay here, go to Canada, return to Africa, etc. But I would have definitely allowed the states to secede.

That's what I mean. Would you have resorted to a long, tragic, bloody civil war to forcibly re-unite the nation, or allow the Southern states to secede peacefully and leave them be?

Ahhh I didn’t understand … I thought more in the terms of “preventing” them rather then the after the fact rejoining them.

I might have been a bit leaner and given everyone more time to work things out … eventually we may have seen more eye to eye on some things and it would have been much easier and less bloody

The general feeling I would have had as Lincoln would have been:

"The South wants to succeed so it can be free of ME as a president? They are willing to go THAT far to try and have their states rights?"

"We'll smash the sons of dogs in war. Kill those wussy little wimps, strangle them at sea and blast their chicken behinds into the next millenia while we overrun their country with superior numbers, guns, supplies and international support."

"RARR!"

States rights is such garbage in my opinion.

-Fury

I would have had the government buy all the slaves, then set them free, and let the ex-slaves decide if they wanted to stay here, go to Canada, return to Africa, etc. But I would have definitely allowed the states to secede.


That's a great thought, but impractical, the government wouldn't have enough money to do that, and if they did, the slaveowners would just charge more, to make more off it.


But really, no one can be sure of why they seceded, too many differing answers, and schools teach it wrong. I learned in school that the south seceded and the whole civil war was fought because the North wanted to free the slaves. And it wasn't even a California school... :P

The real reason the war was fought was to forcibly unite all the states and centralize the government.

Of course. The states entered into a voluntary contract, i.e. the Constitution. They can remove themselves from the contract at any time.

Of course. The states entered into a voluntary contract, i.e. the Constitution. They can remove themselves from the contract at any time.

I feel the same way.

Of course. The states entered into a voluntary contract, i.e. the Constitution. They can remove themselves from the contract at any time.


It wasn't until I was out of school when I learned that little thing. Which is why I say they had a right to do what they did, but I still would've fought it... but only if I knew the way the world would turn out if they were kept in...

They wouldn't of seceding cause I would of ensured there rights to hold slaves by making slavery a state matter and not a federal matter. So only states would be allowed to ban or allow slavery and not the federal government.