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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1361 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 20, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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My idea would be to avoid the Civil War altogether by transforming slavery into technically not-slavery: emanicpate the slaves, but make them owe enough money to the former masters that it would take them 25 years of effectively zero disposable income to repay it. Let Northern abolitionists purchase this debt if they want to prove their virtue.

The civil war was fought over the political power of the planter class, which expected a veto over the republic's policies before the war. 'Slavery' is a reasonable enough term for that, but that kind of emancipation wouldn't address the real cause.

This would almost certainly not have avoided the war, as Lincoln was determined to keep the nation together. It might have taken the wind out of the sails of some of the Radical Republicans and made the CSA more popular in Europe, but Lincoln had a plenty good casus belli already.

Oh, I meant avoiding the war by avoiding the secession.

Ah gotcha.

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