[ronmicle]

Just got through reading Donald Livington’s excellent article about Lincoln. In it, he mentions that

Jefferson Davis was an enlightened slave holder who said that once the Confederacy gained its independence, it would mean the end of slavery. The Confederate Cabinet agreed to abolish slavery within five years after the cessation of hostilities in exchange for recognition by Britain and France.

Is this true? Someone in the comment section asked for a citation and emailed Livingston. I’m hoping one of the professors here can help me out.

[Brion McClanahan]

Here you go:

Slavery and the Civil War Revisited

Also, here is a link to the material: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1915097?seq=1

[ronmicle]

Thanks Prof. McClanahan. So it seems that this fact along with Lincoln’s offer at the Hampton Roads Peace Conference (see my post here) clearly show that the war did not even remotely hinge on slavery. Just like how Lincoln wrote to Horace Greeley that he would preserve the Union regardless of slavery being legal or illegal, the South was adamant on independence regardless of slavery being legal or illegal

[Author]

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