Could the civil have been prevented? How/why?

Answer 1

The civil war, I gather you mean. Also, I'm guessing you mean the US civil war, not one of the many others in the world.

The answer is, I think, that it could probably have been delayed somewhat further, but sooner or later the regions were bound to duke it out. They had been spoiling for a fight literally since the creation of the union. The deadlocked election of Adams and Jefferson in 1800 could easily have turned into a north/south war, or the Hartford Convention of a few years later, or any number of controversies after that.

A better question would be, "why didn't the war happen long before it did?" How was it delayed as long as it was?

My answer to THAT form of the question was that three extraordinary statesmen kept patching things up -- Clay, Calhoun, Webster each put aside his own ambitions when necessary, and put aside regional interests as well, to make the compromises that had to be made to keep the union together for as long as the three of them all survived.

They all died in the early 1850s, and things rapidly went downhill after that. The next generation of leaders included Jeff Davis, Alexander Stephens, and Abraham Lincoln. They weren't up to the task of their three great predecessors.

Shorter answer: The civil war could have been delayed further, but not without capable leadership. And that leadership had died out.

Answer 2

If the Crittendon Compromise had been signed into law, the nation would have been divided along an east to west line. South of the line, slavery would have been permitted to continue. North of that line slavery would have been banned. The Industrial Revolution and its attendant Machine Age would have made the ownership and use of slaves as a means of production too expensive to continue and it would have fallen of its own weight by 1880 at the latest.
The economic death of slavery would have gone a long way to changing the minds of Northern legislators who had tried to punish the Southern States with their introduction of a burdensome tariff on hard goods bought by the Southern States from foreign sources instead of buying them from the Northern States. That tariff was a leading reason for the 13 states of the confederacy to carry out an act of secession from the Union.

Answer 3

Lincoln could have simply accepted the Secession, but this would have been out of character for him.
Let's assume that he did. Both the North and the South had their eyes on the West, and the South also wanted Cuba and Mexico. A war between them over these issues would probably have been inevitable.
The irony of it all is that slavery was a dying institution in the world, and it's unlikely to have survived in the South after 1880.

Answer 4

Remember, the war started because the southern states were afraid the north was wanting to abolish slavery, not because they tried to stop it, only the fear that they would.

I don't think the northern states were going to change back to allowing slavery, so you would always have the tension unless the south changed. In the south, they say nothing wrong with slavery, in fact they said blacks were happier with slavery.
I would have to say, it was always going to boil over to war, the Missouri compromise only ensured there would be an equal number of slave states and free states. So unless we would say that there would still be slavery today, their had to be a point that it came to war. Even equal rights lead to a lot of violence, can you imagine what it would have been like if there was still slavery at that point?

Answer 5

are you talking about the civil war? if so,the beginnings of it started at the times during the creation of america.once, people started building very huge plantations in the deep south,it was too late, as the south was getting very wealthy, but not interested in industry the way the northern states were.
the north and the south had their own personality as well.at least three presidents prior to abe lincoln dodged the issue of slavery over and over again as it was political suicide to touch.there are books in print, where abe lincoln knew deep down that he could be assasinated

Answer 6

okay u are asking that question wrong... its like saying.. could 911 have been avoided.. how/ why ???

No... read history... a war now is nothing compared to how it was before.. people thought differently and fought for what tehy wanted no treats ... no allies involved

Answer 7

i dont understaqnd the question