You know, that's an easy trap to fall into and a very alluring one. Obviously, since my ancestors were on the winning side (including the one that died a horrible death in Andersonville Prison), it's an easy assumption to say that it bettered the United States and the world. I'd argue though that the exact same outcome or possibly better could have resulted had armed conflict been avoided at that time. Let's just say that through some reshaping of our borders or laws through negotiation or compromise, the South had been able to garner some degree of autonomy and been able to keep their slaves. They had a major problem brewing by doing so. Their slave population was growing faster than the whites and would have eventually overwhelmed the slave owners. It's very possible armed uprisings would have occurred that could have resulted in an empowerment of the black population and a natural end to slavery. The North, without the huge depletion of manpower and resources they had to pour into the war could have created or entered into the industrial revolution much earlier. Who knows what tremendous innovators or natural leaders never had a chance to test their talents when they were cut down in the prime of life in those bloody battles.

A great deal of lawlessness in the booming West was attributed directly to this vast bunch of young killers unleashed at the end of the war. Hard to say what changes there might have been had the migration west taken a more natural and peaceful road. Abraham Lincoln would probably not have been assassinated and it would mean that the whole succession of Presidents and politicans would have been vastly different.

I'm not saying any of those things would have come true or that things would have been any better without the Civil War. I'm as enamoured with its history as much as anyone. My point is simply that there are no guarantees, no matter who wins or loses in battle, that coming years will go better or worse for humanity. All one can guarantee is that there will be change and death. To try to quantify it or justify it is simply a crapshoot in the very long run.

Art