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Obviously the pen is preferable. But in the U.S. impossible.

O spare me! In America the pen is always possible in terms of one half of the country not killing 1/4 of each other, especially in 1850. The anti-war protests in the North were HUGE! They involved riots and the murder of children! Booth himself was a northern!

You want to end this massive institution in the United States. An institution the Founders struggled over but ultimately gave their blessing too just a generation earlier! Come on!!!!!

O spare me! In America the pen is always possible in terms of one half of the country not killing 1/4 of each other, especially in 1850.

As Lincoln said in his Second Inaugural, "While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, urgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came."

The anti-war protests in the North were HUGE! They involved riots and the murder of children!

Anti war sentiment in the south took the form of whole counties and parts of states opposing the rule from Richmond. Makes draft riots pale by comparison.

Booth himself was a northern!

Having spent a fair amount of time in Richmond, Booth considered himself Southern. He was also born and raised in Maryland.

Hey, fellow FReepers.

I just want to say something totally out of left field here regarding this subject, the subject of the Civil War or the War between the States - whatever you prefer.

We can't begin to comprehend that war. I just clicked off Fox News that had two black guys suing Michael Richards (yes, a racist idiot) for screaming racial epithets at them last week. They want monetary compensation. By monetary I mean measure in six figures for them and their lawyer.

We're not here because of the Civil War. I truly believe in America and Americans. The Americans that were sucking oxygen in 1860 were predominantly good people for their time. The Americans (if there still is an America) in 2360 living on this soil may look back and say "OMG...they ate other animals!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Hindsight is 20/20 folks and I'm not judging Lincoln from my standpoint, but from his own time.

It is clear, CLEAR, by every bit of documentation available to us that Lincoln was out of touch (that's a euphemism) with this country, including urbane, cityfolk of the north. The war was so unpopular that only around 5% of those conscripted even bothered serving. This was American brother against brother folks.

Anyway, I just want to point out that however passionately we devote this topic, it can never equal the utterly sublime (READ: overwhelmingly non-human) event that took place.

This was without a doubt the most avoidable war in the history of this country. It just went the polar opposite of that.