Given that slavery was hard-baked into the Confederate constitution, it's hard to see the end to slavery for a long time had the states been allowed to secede. The Confederate constitution enshrined slavery and made no provisions for its eventual elimination, instead only placed obstacles to its abolition.
It was hard baked into the US Constitution as well, just not so obviously so. Look up Article IV, Section 2.
Confederate constitution enshrined slavery and made no provisions for its eventual elimination, instead only placed obstacles to its abolition.
And a strong effort was made by Lincoln and the Republicans to enrshrine it more strongly in our constitution through the passage of the Corwin Amendment.
It has become convenient to hammer the Southern states because of slavery, but the Northern states were no better morally. They recognized legal slavery, and made an effort to make slavery even more strongly protected by the US Constitution.
The only thing the Southern states had to do to keep slavery permanently is to stay in the Union.