Folks

I'm no historian and far from expert in this, but it seems to me that if
the south had been allowed to secede, the north would have quickly wiped
out all the laws forced down their throats to preserve slavery and return
escaped "slaves" to the south. How long could slavery have persisted if
those who wanted their freedom had to travel only to the closest northern
state instead of to Canada?  On a tv story about Lincoln's life that I
listened to the other night as I was reading e-mail, the point was made
that many Northerners were angered and offended by the federal laws that
went against their consciences in human rights. Much is said in the south
about the imposition of tariffs that offended wealthy southerners, but the
south so easily forgets the impositions they put on their northern
countrymen to keep those slaves in bondage. Think of the many people of
conscience who oppose abortion in these times .... Back in "that" time
there were people of conscience who opposed slavery. They were forbidden by
federal laws to exercise their conscience, and had to resort to disobeying
the unjust laws to their own peril.

Consider a comparison of the anti-abortionists of our times to the
anti-slavery and abolitionists of that time. Anti-abortionists are free by
law to choose not to abort, but anti-slavers were bound by law to return
slaves to cruel owners.

                                         Anne

At 01:22 PM 2/5/02 -0500, you wrote:
>I am hoping that someone can point me to any resources (websites, texts,
>articles) that postulate the theory that... had the war of secession not
>occurred and the southern states been allowed to secede OR had won the
>war... that the practice of slavery would have been (and perhaps already
>was on its way to being) phased out. I have not really heard too much about
>this argument, but the idea is intriguing. I would be interested in seeing
>the evidence that would be cited to support that kind of argument.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>David
>
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Anne Pemberton
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