Innovation in America: What It Could Have Meant

The numbers at left re-enforce my belief that Lincoln should have accepted the secession of the Confederacy in 1861, telling them:

So long.  Sorry your slaves will have to suffer, but it won’t be long until you, a pariah nation, simply implodes from things like lack of innovation and trading partners.  By 1870, a few small gangs of Mexican banditos will come across the border and blow you fools to bits.