[Hardastarboard]

One comment I read once that I thought made sense was that say what you will of whether Lincoln was justified in making war on the South, the real issue is that he felt he had to make war. In other words, his real failure was in not ending slavery with diplomacy. The author of the article I read mentioned that several other contemporary countries, including Britain, our Mother country, had stopped slavery without going to war over it.

[rockrr]

What diplomacy was left available to him when several states were already in open rebellion?

[presidio9]

The author of the article I read mentioned that several other contemporary countries, including Britain, our Mother country, had stopped slavery without going to war over it.

On the contrary, slavery was one of the reasons we found ourselves fighting a second war of secession with our own mother country in 1812. Our history books tell us that James Madison was annoyed that the Brits were seizing our vessels and impressing our sailors into His Majesty's Navy, right? Ever hear of the Slave Trade Act 1807?

[Non-Sequitur]

In other words, his real failure was in not ending slavery with diplomacy.

That's like saying the U.S. was at fault for not settling the fallout from the Pearl Harbor attack by diplomacy. The confederacy chose war. Lincoln fought the war that they forced on him.

[Cheburashka]

...his real failure was in not ending slavery with diplomacy.

---

The Confederates fired on American soldiers in an American fort built with Federal funds on land voluntarily ceded to the United States government by the State of South Carolina. The Confederates started the war, and they certainly left no room for diplomatic negotiations concerning the ending of slavery or anything else.

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

The author of the article I read mentioned that several other contemporary countries, including Britain, our Mother country, had stopped slavery without going to war over it.

Britain was a monarchy in which the distant colonies that held slaves didn't have effective veto power over the entire government.