Sure, the North was a growing industrial economy at the time. It wasn't yet the industrial powerhouse it would become after the war, though.
Most people at the time weren't aware of the significance that Northern industrial capabilities would have in the war. If they were -- if Northern industrial predominance was perceived as being so significant militarily -- why'd the slaveowners want to go to war with the more developed North so much?
But crushing the South and wanting its money are two different things. If the "Yankees" could foresee that they'd win the war, how come they didn't foresee just how destructive the war would be? Or was all that destruction part of the plan?
Lincoln was losing when he came up with the means to split the south in the Emancipation Proclamation. I note again that it DID NOT APPLY to the SLAVE OWNERS in the NORTH!
The Emancipation Proclamation influenced Britain and France to stay out of the war and inspired many Northerners, but how did it split the South? Capital letters aside, the Emancipation Proclamation could only be issued as a military measure. The government had no authority to free slaves from loyal citizens. That is why it only applied to areas in rebellion. But it was a sign that slavery was on the way out and most likely wouldn't be tolerated after the war.
Lincoln underestimated the determination of a people to eject invaders from their homeland. He badly underestimated the force which would be necessary to impose his will on those five million people.
Hitler had the same sort of problem with the Poles.
There was a good chance it would end that way but the south had no choice because they were an AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY and the north was an INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY in expansion.
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The Agricultural economy of the south depended on the slave labor. Slaves were the wealth of the south, the property, more so than the lands or buildings of the southern citizens.Consider that there were almost as many slaves in many states as there were whites. Consider that in the north, slave holding blacks as well as whites were immune from the threat of loss.
But crushing the South and wanting its money are two different things. If the “Yankees” could foresee that they’d win the war, how come they didn’t foresee just how destructive the war would be? Or was all that destruction part of the plan?
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The destruction took place in the south ....deliberately! Sherman cut a swathe of destruction that could still be seen in my youth. “Reconstruction” finished the job and the carpetbaggers and their cronies were simply a forerunner of what we are experiencing today with BIG government. The “Civil War” was anything but civil. Today’s State’s Rights are practically nonexistent. All thanks to the low life lawyer Lincoln.
The Emancipation Proclamation influenced Britain and France to stay out of the war and inspired many Northerners, but how did it split the South? Capital letters aside, the Emancipation Proclamation could only be issued as a military measure. The government had no authority to free slaves from loyal citizens. That is why it only applied to areas in rebellion. But it was a sign that slavery was on the way out and most likely wouldn’t be tolerated after the war.
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As previously mentioned, there were almost as many blacks as whites in the south. The emancipation proclamation DIVIDED the south by color as was Lincoln’s intention. It is rarely mentioned that high numbers of blacks fought for the south. High numbers of blacks protected their former owners during and after the war. These are facts the Yankees never accept. If all slave owners...the contention of Yankees.....were so horrible, why was such love and loyalty exhibited by so many blacks for their former “owners.” It is also never mentioned that many slave owners lost fortunes, and some went bankrupt because they protected, fed, clothed and housed their slaves long after the slave’s usefulness was finished. Look at the James River plantations as an example.
Your capital letters snarky remark is ignorant. It is well established that capital or bold letters in a word or phrase, as well as italics, are the accepted means of emphasis in writing.
Destroying the economy of an enemy is the key to its destruction. That is a fact that has been known since the beginning of “civilization.” Lincoln’s destruction of the south was deliberate and intended and was in direct violation of the rights of the states to secede. The slaves were the foundation of the south’s economy. By splitting the south he succeeded where his generals failed.
I repeat, the South had the right to secede and had no choice but to do so. We pay the price today for the north’s victory.