If the latter day defenders of Confederate secession are to be believed, the watchmaker should have inscribed a message about tariffs instead. But the overriding issue sparking the conflict was the fate of slavery and even an immigrant watchmaker knew it.
You didn’t read the article did you?
You didn’t read the article, did you?
Feeling silly yet?
But the hidden message didn’t mention slavery.
In fact, what he did write hardly seems worth the trouble.
You ought to read the whole article (balky links notwithstanding). The real inscription did not even mention slavery or refer to slavery at all. The real inscription is written in the last part of the article.
Read the story, he didn’t mention slavery in his inscription, so your statement is wrong.