Was the Civil War avoidable? If so, what could have prevented this tragedy from occurring?

Answer 1

No, I don't see that it was avoidable. It was more about about greed than anything else. How do you get rid of that?

I like this question. It makes me think. Thanks.

Answer 2

This is a great what-if question... I think the death of two presidents could have resulted in the avoidance of the Civil War.

The first was William Harrison... elected with Tyler under the Whig ticket. After Harrison died 30 days into the term, Tyler came to power and rejected the Whig policies. This had a few ramifications - first, the Whig/Democratic parties began to become split as North and South, creating more friction. Also, policies expanding slavery were enacted that probably would not have been enacted under Harrison.

The second and probably more critical was the death of Zachery Taylor. He was a Whig, but was also a former slave holder and from Virginia. He had wanted to contain slavery to the original slavery states and encouraged California to apply for statehood and not go through the territory process which would have opened up the question of slave/free for the state. He tickets off the southerners who treatened secede. He told them he would hang any of them who did and would gear back up in front of the army to crush any secession attempts. The fact that he was from Virginia, was a war hero, and stood up to the south would have made a secession attempt either impossible or very short. If such a stance was taken by a strong president instead of the endless compromises which occurred from the Missouri Compromise created and signed after Taylor's death, continuing through the policies of the other antebellum presidents, especially Fillmore and Buchanan, slavery could have stayed in check and not have been as big an issue with the north. Then, other social, foreign, and economic pressures would have, in theory, ended slavery (albeit much more slowly) much more peacefully than the civil war.

This is a lot of conjecture, but that is the nature of what-if history... :)

Answer 3

well because the main reason for the civil war was not slavery itself, it was from the actions of President Lincoln to preserve the Union. He wrote, " I would keep slavery to save the union, and abolish it to save the union." Obviously there was greater issue than just slavery. So...no it was not avoidable. It also had to do with capitalism, and industrialism. It was bound to happen sometime, and some violence had to occur to get the point accross.