divisive issue, freeing the slaves, that would put them in office. They remained in power after that almost a 100 years.
I recognize that the emancipation was and is considered to be a liberal move. Yet there were other approaches to emancipation that could have freed the slaves without causing the most devastating catastrophe in American History.
In 1850, the Republicans counted on two high probability outcomes of summarily freeing the slaves, (1) the South would secede, leading to the inevitable Civil War and (2) the North would win the war. Both sides lost heavily in terms of lives and financial.
It is my personal opinion that the Republican politicians of the 1850's were mainly concerned about achieving political ascend ency by
supporting the righteous cause of freeing the slaves. (Which truly was a righteous cause that had to be accomplished.)
In that sense, I feel that their desire for political power dictated their strategies more than the desire to accomplish the solution of the slave issue that was best for the slaves and other Americans.
There is no doubt that slavery was a terrible practice and mistake made by those who owned slaves. But, legally speaking, what they did wasn't illegal, therefore there was no legal basis to criminalize what they had done. The Federal Government could have passed a law that prohibited the further acquisition of slaves and mandated that existing slave were to be freed within ten or fifteen years. Further, the slaves owners should have been offered at least a partial reimbursement for the original cost of purchasing the slaves.
If the measured phasing out of slavery was still so objectionable to the slave owners, that they preferred to go to war over it, then so be it. They could elect to fight it out like barbarians. The fact that they felt that the seceding states could actually win an all out war with the Federal Government is clear testament to the extent of their delusions. I have read several news articles in Southern newspapers of the 1860's stating that the Civil War would be over in a few months.
For years, Republicans have enjoyed their "heroic role" in electing Lincoln and freeing the slaves. I believe that the Republicans recognized a sure fire means winning power and they played it to the hilt. For them, it was wildly successful. For everyone else, it was an unnecessarily extreme strategy to emancipate the slaves.
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