[djreece]

That was the belief at the time of the Revolution -- that slavery was a dying institution. But economic forces and developments had brought about a resurgence of slavery, thus leading to the conflict.

Putting up with slavery for even one day in the United States is what was not worth it.

Slavery is still practiced in some parts of the world. If half of the United States had continued to embrace it by becoming a confederacy, there is no telling where we would be today in terms of slavery's acceptance in the civilized world. It is also likely that the North would have been economically ruined and then taken over by the South, and slavery may have continued to this day.

[libertarianben]

The South never wanted to take over the North. Where did you get that? The South wanted to be its own nation. This was not a Civil War, a civil war is a war between parties seeking to take over one government. This was the second american revolution, war between the states, war of rebellion or the war of northern aggression are much better titles. Choose whatever you like. Why wasn't a war fought before 1861 to end slavery if the north hated slavery so much?

[TexConfederate1861]

Well, I have to respectfully disagree. If it was YOUR property that was being lost, your way of life, your economic disaster, if YOU were a slaveowning Southerner, you might have felt differently about the situation.

The Confederate Constitution prohibited the importation of slaves, so I believe it would have died out. The war wasn't over slavery anyhow, as much as other factors.