[JohnnyBibs]

I am sure the "Nations" ills would have occurred in the North without Lincoln. An independent South would have been spared the socialism and downward spiral.

The so-called "independent South", as you call it, began as an oppressed country already in a downward spiral.

The Confederacy was created by the same kind of people who regained control in the U.S. after Reconstruction and began ruining the U.S.A.; Democrats!

It is ridiculous to blame any of what happened after Reconstruction on Abraham Lincoln!

[central_va]

The so-called "independent South", as you call it, began as an oppressed country already in a downward spiral.

Take away, from the USA, the South in the 19th century and by the end of the 20th century the USA would be a totally socialist, if not communist country. An independent South would be a conservative country, to argue otherwise is to declare your historic incompetence.