[DoodleDawg]

Slavery was a dying institution at the inception of the War of Northern Aggression and would have died of natural causes.

Then it doesn't make a lot of sense for the south to launch a rebellion to protect an institution that was on death's door. Perhaps it was because none of the southern leadership of the time thought it was a dying institution?

[dfwgator]

Yep, if you read the rhetoric of the time, it’s clear they had no intention of ending slavery anytime soon. Even if slavery economically was going to run its’ course, I’m sure they also were thinking ahead to the consequences of having to deal with the freed slaves.

That’s the whole problem with slavery, it was a short-term economic gain, but it was going to create a burden that future generations were going to have to deal with, long after those who benefitted from slavery were long gone.