Quote:Totally disagree. The power structure was set to maintain slavery in perpetuity. The only thing that changed it was war, cuz the powers that owned slaves were not going to give up that free labor without a fight.


I mean, come on. Think of it like a rational man. If a business endeavor can cut costs and increase profits by exploiting free/cheap labor, why would you let it go willingly? They wouldn't.


To deny that is to ignore the basic flaw of all men.

We overcame segregation, women's suffrage, child labor abuse and a whole host of other violations of civil liberties. I refuse to believe Slavery would never have ended without war, almost every other culture in the world ended it without war. Are we to believe we are the one exception?


Even removing the morality out of the equation look at it from a cost perspective. Owning slaves was not free nor inexpensive which is why such a small portion of the south owned slaves. The industrial revolution provided machines that did not need to be feed or housed to do the same labor. Slavery was destined to become an economic deficiency then the natural evolution away from it would have happened.

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