Chattel slavery was one of the spiritual whitewashed tombs (both North and South) that lurked in the scene. America would have done exceeding well to have abolished it from the start... but didn’t.
In this sense, chattel slavery was the 1 ton elephant in the living room. The South needed it in order even to have a hope of going it alone. The North allowed it for expediency. The bible urged masters to “give up threatening” which would have turned chattel slavery into a voluntary domestic servant employment affair, but somehow the “slave preachers” kept missing that part.
On the North side, it would have been possible to wait out the Confederacy to give in. It never had a viable plan, even with the slaves. A brutal war wasn’t necessary.
“On the North side, it would have been possible to wait out the Confederacy to give in. It never had a viable plan, even with the slaves. A brutal war wasn’t necessary.”
Morticians for the past 150 years disagree.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wars-drive-advances-how-t_b_668827
Actually, a brutal war was inevitable.
If you read the articles of secession, its clear that it was about slavery, but more specifically it was about the western states. They had an offer on the table that they could keep their slaves in the states where it was already legal, but Lincoln drew the line at allowing it to spread into the western states.
The south's position was that, over the years, as the west was settled and incorporated into the union, they would eventually be outvoted and slavery would die as an institution and a way of life. The idea of letting slavery die a natural death was a non-starter from their point of view.
The war was about who controls the western territories. A war between US and CSA was coming either way, and the south made it crystal clear its reasoning.
It is true that the rank and file did not fight for slavery, they fought out of loyalty to their state. The leadership, though, were quite clear what they were about.