i am not of the opinion that the war between the states was necessary. slavery was already on the way out in most western countries prior to secession. even with a successful secession, the south would have had a hard time maintaining any type of independent status for very long. an empire older than the us by half a millenia was brought to its knees by major european powers over slavery. the same would have happened to the south eventually. all those dead and what did we get out of it? well, we are all living in it.
United States