I have been reading about the Civil War and the brutal consequences America had to face from the war. So I read an article where one say that Civil War was absolutely necessary for the country to be the greatest superpower of the world today. However, some say that the problem of slavery could have been solved because it was declining over time, also because only a minority of white Southerners had slaves. So, I have been wondering if there could have been any way for the Civil War to be averted but still be united as a whole country. Any thoughts?
The scholarship largely agrees that the Civil War was inevitable. While it is true that only a small percentage of the Southern population owned slaves, the institution of slavery served as the foundation of the Southern economy, culture, politics, and social hierarchy. Even if you did not own slaves in the south, your position in society was defined by your relationship to the institution and those that practiced it.
The tensions rising between the North and South are well documented over the course of the 19th century leading up to 1860 and the election of Lincoln, and they are all based on the slavery issue. In summation, the North and South largely developed into two completely different regions and became incompatible on a number of levels, making the War itself an inevitable restart.
For a powerful image of the tenacity in which the south held onto slavery I routinely assign Charles Dew's Apostles of Disunion. This work showcases the process of secession and the role played by South Carolinian and other southern politicians in moving secession forward.