You raised a really interesting question, and it is one I will probably keep thinking about: should the Union have just let the Confederacy secede? On one hand, the North had major advantages. It had more industry, more money, more transportation networks, and a stronger economic base. The Confederacy may have eventually collapsed on its own because its economy was so dependent on slavery and plantation agriculture.
But the problem is that “eventually” may not have been fast enough. If the Confederacy had survived even for a while, slavery could have continued much longer, and the United States might have had a slaveholding nation right next door. That would have created a completely different future for Black people (Me) in America.
I also think about Haiti in this conversation. If enslaved people had been left with no other path to freedom, the South may have faced a much larger rebellion or revolution. The Civil War was horrific, but slavery itself was already a war against Black people.
I wish Reconstruction had been protected and allowed to succeed. After Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson’s leadership helped weaken Reconstruction, and the country abandoned many of the promises made to formerly enslaved people. In some ways, it feels like America is still trying to deal with the unfinished business of Reconstruction in 2026.
Since we're trading States etc... How am I gonna make this into a podcast today?
-K