General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How long would slavery had lasted if the South decided NOT to secede? [View all]JPZenger
(6,819 posts)About 10 years ago, there was a funny independent movie about that topic - what if the Confederacy had continued as a separate country?
To try to avert the War, Lincoln offered to support a Constitutional amendment that would prevent the Federal government from interfering with slavery within the states where slavery already existed.
If Lincoln had been more timid, he would have immediately moved US troops from Fort Sumter, before it was attacked. That might have provided time for a negotiated settlement.
If there had not been a 4 way race for President, it is possible that Lincoln would not have been elected.
I think slavery would have eventually died out for economic reasons, but it would have taken much longer.
In DC, the Federal Government actually paid each slave owner to free their slaves. There was a system of appraisals based upon the age and health of each slave.