The Little-by-little Emancipator

This kind of political POD actually could be profoundly destabilizing in the Confederacy, particularly if the Union tries to play up the more Unionist elements who have no investment in slavery anyway to use this as a means akin to the 10% policy to worm into the Confederacy's political system from within. It would be a Xanatos Gambit at its finest as the CSA, no matter what it does here, benefits Lincoln. If it as per OTL expands the war in scale and horror then its leadership looks bloody-minded and deluded just as it did after repeatedly refusing Union peace overtures. If it reacts as it did IOTL to dissidents who see this as a means for a peace with honor, it shows its claims to any legitimacy other than the sword to be completely and utterly bunk. If it reacts to this with a Black and the Grey response then the CSA may survive but it will be so different from OTL that only the name of the state and its initials would be the same.

This, if it had happened, would have been a true political masterstroke.

Oh come on. Everyone already knew secession and the war were because of slavery. Compensated Emancipation in a few border states isn't really going to change anything. Unionists residing in the Confederacy will still be persecuted, OTL the Confederate leadership already looks bloody-minded and delusional, and prior to the war they had already repeatedly refused all peace offers. Anything this POD brings to the table is just a matter of small degrees. Perhaps it would curtail a few Confederate apologists in the post war era, but that's doubtful.

Sure it would be a feather in Lincoln's cap but its not a masterstroke.

Benjamin
 
Oh come on. Everyone already knew secession and the war were because of slavery. Compensated Emancipation in a few border states isn't really going to change anything. Unionists residing in the Confederacy will still be persecuted, OTL the Confederate leadership already looks bloody-minded and delusional, and prior to the war they had already repeatedly refused all peace offers. Anything this POD brings to the table is just a matter of small degrees. Perhaps it would curtail a few Confederate apologists in the post war era, but that's doubtful.

Sure it would be a feather in Lincoln's cap but its not a masterstroke.

Benjamin

Actually in the context of the Confederacy's destabilization it really is one. It offers a means to further spread US destabilization of Confederate states by using this as the carrot to the stick of the Emancipation Proclamation. The masterstroke effect is in the limited options the Confederate government has, and nothing says necessarily that what it'd begin striking ta would be real. Here the CS planter class is faced with the overt choice of USCT emancipating themselves by the barrel of a gun or a legal, compensated-for emancipation.......and which they'd choose is an interesting question.
 
Actually in the context of the Confederacy's destabilization it really is one. It offers a means to further spread US destabilization of Confederate states by using this as the carrot to the stick of the Emancipation Proclamation. The masterstroke effect is in the limited options the Confederate government has, and nothing says necessarily that what it'd begin striking ta would be real. Here the CS planter class is faced with the overt choice of USCT emancipating themselves by the barrel of a gun or a legal, compensated-for emancipation.......and which they'd choose is an interesting question.

If this had occurred in late 1860 I might agree, but it doesn't. By November 1861 the die is already cast. The majority of the slave states have already left, have formed a government and are fighting a war for independence. This is a war to retain slavery. The actions of a few border slave states will not change the course much. The leadership of the slave states already had too much invested in their attempt at independence, which had the sole purpose of preventing this very thing from becoming a national policy.

Benjamin
 
If this had occurred in late 1860 I might agree, but it doesn't. By November 1861 the die is already cast. The majority of the slave states have already left, have formed a government and are fighting a war for independence. This is a war to retain slavery. The actions of a few border slave states will not change the course much. The leadership of the slave states already had too much invested in their attempt at independence, which had the sole purpose of preventing this very thing from becoming a national policy.

Benjamin

The leaders, yes. The issue gets fuzzy when we consider actions of slaveowners in Confederate states like trading cotton for US greenbacks even when this was clearly undermining CS profits and financial stability. With that as a precedent, and the obvious reality that it's 300,000 armed slaves and involuntary ruin or a misguided delusion they can control the kind of freedom slaves want........
 
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