-—Lincoln won after trailing after the first ballot & that didnt turn out too badly.
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It turned out HORRIBLY
States rights were basically abolished, and slavery was going to end soon enough
He created an unnecessary civil war.
Family’s were destroyed and America was almost destroyed.
The South was decimated financially.
And we are still feeling the effects of Lincolns decisions.
So, why do historians place him amongst the greatest presidents?
“...he created an unnecessary civil war”
I have always thought this and if I even tentatively brought this up in a discussion (I have always lived in New York, upstate, but a liberal northern state) I received aghast looks as though I was crazy!
I DO think the Civil War was unnecessary though! States rights would have been key: States were already starting to phase out and outlaw slavery one by one and over time; the very few states that would have still tried to hold out for slavery would have been ostracized, embarrassed, boycotted and peer and social pressure would have gotten rid of slavery within the next 20 years without a single drop of blood shed.
I am very convonced of this.