The U.S. Civil War Didn’t Need to Happen

At left we see why Lincoln would have done well to let the Confederacy cede from the Union.  He could have simply written a letter to Robert E. Lee stating:

Keep your slaves and your land…for now. Wait until you experience the effects of near-zero industrial and military technology development and the civilized world’s refusal to trade with you barbarians.  By the end of the 19th Century, a stiff breeze will blow you away. Maybe some future U.S. president will invade you with a troop of Boy Scouts with slingshots, or maybe a handful of banditos will ride up from Mexico.