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28nov2022 t1_j5mi9xo wrote

What? That's a curious theory, why would states fight to defend something that's unprofitable?

I guess it's plausible. The south lagged behind in industrialization. Slave owners maybe became too reliant on their slaves and plantations and so did not develop other industries. As well as paying for slave's needs 24 hours a day for unwilling work, versus paying workers 8 hours a day for good work.

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Nanaki_TV t1_j5mjy9r wrote

The US was not the only country to have slaves and was one of the few to use violence to end it. It’s complicated and politics of today have muddied the conversations around why the Civil War was fought. It wasn’t merely state’s rights, it wasn’t just slavery. But slavery could have ended with market forces realizing that their laborers were more productive and happy with a fair wage.

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