I believe the South & North would have worked out their differences, and slavery would have ended peacefully, though later on. With so many hotheads (not unlike you) in the South of 1861, the only way that North and South would have worked out their differences peacefully is if slavery had remained legal in perpetuity and expanded into any new states and territories. That was a condition set forth by none other than Jeff Davis in his Inaugural address. In fact Davis and his ilk would have insisted on the rigid application of the Fugitive Slave Laws as a nonnegotiable price for staying in the Union. So when would slavery have ended? How many more generations would have toiled under the lash? Maybe that's your problem. You have some fantasy that if the evil Lincoln had not prevailed, you might have had your own plantation. Sitting on your veranda, sipping your mint julep, and visiting the slaves' quarters at night to find a comely wench. On the other hand, since you don't sound like a highborn member of the aristocracy, maybe you would have had to content yourself with the job as an overseer. Maybe you'd have preferred that, to handle the bull-whip. Not as much fun as assassination, I'll grant, nor as rewarding as being the "massa", but you probably could have gotten into it. I like this citation from the Mississippi Declaration of Secession. It says it all, "Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery - the greatest material interest of the world". Do you really think that men with that warped an attitude were interested in a "peaceful solution"? Like you, my pugnacious Reb, they were spoiling for a fight, as you well know.
And you are certifiable.
My ancestor, (the one who spent 2 years in Prison Camp)
inherited 50 slaves in 1861. He freed them everyone, including his personal servant, who insisted on remaining.
The same servant that took a bullet for him at Gettysburg.
I suggest you read the Texas Secession Documents. There are other problems listed than slavery. And I don't care what you think about assassination. In time of war it is justifiable. Your God, Lincoln ordered a raid on Richmond, to assassinate Jeff Davis and his cabinet. (But that would have been OK, since he was a "Reb" right?)
We assassinated Yamamoto in WWII, and that is DOCUMENTED. So don't start your little attack about conspiracy theories. What about Castro? (Also documented) It is a well known and documented fact that the CIA tried to have him killed. And the only one that deserves a whipping is YOU. I and my family have always believed slavery was wrong, but it was up to the SOUTH to tackle the problem. Instead, Northern interlopers stuck their nose in business that was not theirs. Now, go ahead and see what other cute little ad hominem attack you can throw this way, and continue to prove your ignorance and lack of manners