One of the longest-standing debates among U.S. historians is, “Was the Civil War inevitable?” You can do a Google search and find varying opinions, of course. While it’s obviously more of a complex argument, the pro-inevitable side will give an elevator pitch something like, “slavery was such a moral abomination that it was just for the North to vanquish the South and remove the institution.” The anti-inevitable side will argue that if the North had just accepted the secession of the Southern states, slavery would have dissolved on its own – ultimately by economic competition by the more innovative and efficient market forces of the North, as well as growing moral realization among southern citizens.
The debate will certainly continue, and the goal here is not to hash out the strengths or flaws in the arguments.
Ultimately, for those of us who believe in peace, the issue of whether civil war could have been and can be avoided comes down to sovereignty – do people (individuals, groups, societies, nations, etc.) have the right to determine their own paths unfettered by outside influence or intervention?
Of course, my answer is a resounding “yes.”
If one believes that slavery is such an immoral practice that it’s worth going to war over, then it stands to reason that secession of the slave states had to be met with aggression. It would also stand to reason that we should immediately send troops into Libya to put down the slave trade happening there, correct?
However, Libya’s slave trade is extremely low on the priorities list of Americans (even at times we’re not dealing with a pandemic or a presidential election), if it hasn’t been completely forgotten about. For the United States, slavery isn’t an issue anymore – not “over there” and certainly not here.
So now that slavery is off the table completely, what’s left? If a state or states want to secede – if they finally realized that the union is not worth preserving for whatever reason (cultural, economic, etc.) – then why should any of the other states object?
On social media (especially over the past year), I often see people telling others to prepare for the civil war that’s coming. It’s not crazy to believe that it is coming given the obvious fissures that exist in the nation.
But given that so many people see another civil war as yet another inevitability, we have to ask why? If we’re so prescient to see that the conflict is coming, why is “preparing for it” the go-to response? We all prefer peace over violence, after all (and if that idea is objectionable to you, you might want to have yourself psychologically evaluated). Why wouldn’t our instinct, then, be to take the steps necessary so that we avoid war entirely?
And let’s face it, a conflict on this scale will not be fought on the battlefield. California and Alabama armies will not meet each other in combat. We do see videos almost daily of Antifa and Proud Boys/Trump supporters engaged in street brawls. But a real civil war at this time will more than likely be terrorist, mass-casualty activity akin to the Irish Republican Army’s guerilla tactics against the British.
Again, why go to that trouble? I would hope that anyone who believes that they have to prepare for a civil war would also realize that it’s preferable to avoid such a conflict. I’m not saying that private citizens shouldn’t arm themselves for any possible threat, but there should be an equal effort to avoid conflict by dissolving all the political bonds that chain together people who foresee a second American civil war.
Like before, such an outcome is not inevitable and is very much avoidable. Rather than calling people to arms, the emphasis should be on calling people to secede. This should be a major political issue in every state legislature – what steps do we need to take to secede from the union?
It will take time. Awareness needs to grow in order for the Overton Window to shift accordingly so that secession is seen as a good rather than a bad. But the conversations need to be had more frequently, and those of us who believe in peace need to engage more people in this conversation.
Frame it logically, rather than being hyperbolic or hysterical. Present the argument as one for peace rather than vitriol against those with whom you no longer want to share a society. On both sides, I believe the realization will come that it’s no longer worth the effort to fight – socially, politically, or culturally – with others who hold opposing values.
The resistance will be strong. The majority of people still hold the romantic vision of America as a giant melting pot and its government as a reflection of the will of the people. And let’s face it, it’s becoming more apparent that the 2020 election is seen as an opportunity to exact revenge on those who supported the Trump presidency… and this is why our cause is all the more important.
If living peacefully is still a desired state of existence, then the movement toward peaceful separation can only grow, and civil war will be very much avoidable.
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