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Originally posted by BadgerJoe
And for those who have stated that slavery was on the way out, how do you figure that? Slaves had monetary and physical value, the owners weren't just going to give them away or let them go free. The south needed workers and do you think that slave owners were just going to wake up one day and say "Hey this slavery thing is evil, I'd better free mine".
Originally posted by napayshni57
I find this a strange statement coming from a man that turned down being in charge of the union army is the war was all about slavery.
"So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained." -- General Robert E. Lee
Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Originally posted by BadgerJoe
And for those who have stated that slavery was on the way out, how do you figure that? Slaves had monetary and physical value, the owners weren't just going to give them away or let them go free. The south needed workers and do you think that slave owners were just going to wake up one day and say "Hey this slavery thing is evil, I'd better free mine".
The rest of the globe was beginning to ban and abolish the slave trade. Many of the willing partners would have gone away.
The cost of owning a slave was increasing and the cost of production/harvest was decreasing due to the industrial revolution.
Perhaps a certain number would have been enslaved for sexual purposes or for extravagance as a novelty due to the ever increasing cost but if slavery was kept uncommon due to cost demands public opinion would have moved to abolish it altogether either through law or through local sanctions.
Slavers may not have accepted that it was "evil" but the natural state of man is free. No man or government can battle nature for too long.
Originally posted by Nosred
You might be surprised to know that one of countries most beloved presidents was indeed a war criminal. Abraham Lincoln attacked the confederate states without declaring war first, resulting in thousands of innocent civilian deaths.
Originally posted by Enigma Cypher
And for the record, the first abolitionist society was started in the South, and slaves in the South had a much, much better quality of life than slaves in the Caribbean did, for that matter slaves in the South had a much better quality of life than do many people today living in Africa.
[edit on 16-10-2009 by Enigma Cypher]