[tylerdurden]

[ QUOTE ]
Obviously it was not the only reason, but it was sufficient. And yes it was worth it to end the practice of men enslaving other men and the children of those slaves.

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Was it *required*? Was there *no other way*? You're ignoring the question - why was the US different? Why would it not have ended peacefully, as it did everywhere else?

Would it be worth 600,000 lives (and the 12 years of economic savagery that followed) if slavery would have ended peacefully in, say, 5 years? 10? Do you think there would still be slavery in the south today if Lincoln had not acted?