Reply #20: NO! [View All]

[BillZBubb]

Lincoln did the absolutely correct thing. It was vital to the United States that unhindered access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi be maintained. It was vital to the United States to maintain sovereignty over the western territories.

An independent Confederacy would have been a continued nuisance to the United States. There would have been a lot of border issues about fugitive slaves. There would have been property disputes. Loyal (to the United States) Southerners would have punished while the traitors would have been rewarded.

Lincoln's major problem was he wanted to be too nice to the defeated South. Sherman had the right idea.