re: Why did the Union not allow the Confederacy to secede without a war?

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They wanted that damn COTTON

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Imagine The Fed taxing and stealing money from States? Who knew…

I'm lucky to be here. My second great-grandfather was in the 18th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment under Forrest. By the end of the war, there were only a few officers and men remaining.

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The UK was a better trading partner for the southern states at that specific point in time. It was farther along in the industrial revolution and needed cotton for its textile industry.

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The podcast I listened to referenced this.

Slavery had been abolished in England in 1772, and across most of their empire by 1843.

So trade with the Confederacy with a moral dilemma for the British.

The civil war was about slavery similar to Iraq II was about terrorism/freedom.

Both labels garnered emotional and real support, but there were definitely ulterior and more concrete motives.

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Bloodthirsty savages

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The tales of devastation in the Mississippi Delta and of course in Georgia are appalling. In some cases, they'd give the woman of the house 45 minutes to remove their belongings before burning their homes. But Sherman understood that to defeat the South, it meant taking the war to its people. And he did with no mercy.

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Why did the Union not allow the Confederacy to secede without a war?

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The OG “Better Together” BS.

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Why did the Union not allow the Confederacy to secede without a war?

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It was Lincoln’s opportunity to centralize power. He knew they had the right to secede but did not want an economic enemy that close. He recognized it was not sustainable. So…centralize power and secure long term economic power.

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So trade with the Confederacy with a moral dilemma for the British.

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The British had a moral dilemma in the 1800s because they desired more favorable trade deals? I think all nations had flexible morals when it came to favorable trade deals back then. It’s not like there was a team of independent journalists that would catch a flight to a foreign land to investigate and write a moral hit piece.

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Another Civil War thread

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The War is like a ghost that still roams the South. As Shelby Foote said, Southerners have a unique identity in America in that we are the only Americans that are also a defeated people. I think the resentment and scar of that affair still lingers in our collective culture.

As a young boy growing up in the 60's, I can still hear my grandmother using the term "scallywag" when referring to Northerners. I have fond memories of going to Shiloh Military Park, and in the gift shop, every young boy made a choice. You either bought the grey or blue kepi.

I spent a lot of time studying it as a history major, and now my daughter teaches it as a college professor.

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Likewise for Sam Houston who firmly believed that the South had no chance of winning a civil war against the North.

In fact, Houston's prophetic warnings about what a war would actually look like, cost him his political career.

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Correct. You obviously know his quote, " I tell you that, while I believe with you in the doctrine of states rights, the North is determined to preserve this Union. They are not a fiery, impulsive people as you are, for they live in colder climates. But when they begin to move in a given direction, they move with the steady momentum and perseverance of a mighty avalanche; and what I fear is, they will overwhelm the South."