What would have happened if we freed the slaves before the civil war?

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My educated guess is thus:

Assuming many other factors are the same (meaning Ft. Sumter, all the states seceding, etc...)

Those southern states further north did not rely as heavily on slave labor so they would not have been impacted as much economically or in any other way. South Carolina, Alabama and a few other big cotton states would have been affected most.

Here is the first effect. Approximately 3 million black former slaves would simultaneously (or progressively) be released into southern society owning little or no property, with little or no money, with few skills in general except basic farm labor or child rearing. The north would not have welcomed them on any level in general and in many states they would have been forbidden to either enter or stay.

So you essentially would have a refugee crisis as big as any in history thrust upon almost an entire race with no place to go. Lincoln said that if you put them all in Liberia in 1 day, most would be dead within 10 days. I think many would starve, many might turn to thieving to provide for themselves or family and that can only lead to bad things as you can imagine when there are 3 million of them running around doing that. Outright release and freedom would have been a very bad thing.

What would have been a better (almost necessary) plan would be to do it in short phases and then create a provision for each slave and owner to have some choices, which included remaining on the land, continuing to work to pay for their land and then becoming owners of a portion of the land. This is one of the few ways to avoid the refugee crisis killing them all. It would have benefited most slaves to continuing working as they had been until they had some better plan and the means to do it. This also allows the slave owner to come to terms with the changes and make plans of his own.

History shows us that many of the slaves would probably have stayed right where they were and probably continued working just like they had been, except now it would be without the technical bonds of slavery and more pay would be forthcoming. However, most would probably just barter their labor for the same benefits they had been receiving or perhaps just a small amount of pay or sharecropping, etc...

As a result of the slaves being freed, Europe almost certainly would have recognized the south early on, the war would have been halted and the South would be an independent nation. Whether that happened or not might be quite irrelevent as the Emancipation Proclamation would obviously have never occurred, as it would be moot. Without the Emancipation Proclamation, what excuse would Lincoln use to counter opposition to the war? By the time of the Emancipation Northern Morale was at one of the lowest points of the war. Antietam was hardly a great victory for the north.

Throughout the war, propoganda kept northern morale from completely bottoming out, but just barely. Fighting to free the slaves, though not really true, was an important plank in Lincolns reasons to continue the war. Losing that plank as a reason to continue might very well have completely doomed his reelection and public support. As it was, the North was not interested in fighting to free the slaves and very few whites would do such a thing, since they were far more racist and prejudice than southerners were towards blacks.

General James Longstreet said after the war, that they should have freed the slaves before firing on Ft. Sumter. Of course, such a thing was easier said than done. Still... in 1864 Jefferson Davis sent an envoy to England to offer just that in exchange for official recognition. Unfortunately, the war was already too far gone at that point and the offer was declined, but it was obviously well thought out by Davis.

Another possible result of freeing the slaves would be to put them into the field as soldiers more than they already had been. The south would have likely won with another 100,000 or so men since they darn near won on the limited man-power they did have and still beat the yankee's in most engagements....Show more

Remember the civil war started because certain states within our union wanted to secede. Lincoln as president was obligated to keep the union together. The slave trade was to end in 1808 according to the founding fathers they were hoping slavery would die out. But by the year 1860 there were 4 million slaves in the U.S. After 1808 we could no longer ship slaves into the states but we could still sell slaves from one state to another. The founding fathers were very careful not to mention slavery in the constitution. Everyone was aware of the situation. I believe that if the slaves were freed before the civil war the economy of the south would have suffered the same fate because the southern way of life depended so heavily on the slave. They prepared the soil for planting, planted crops and sowed the crops after harvest, they were cooks, drivers and errand runners for the white plantation owners. Black women also nursed white infants so the white women did not have to bother. The slave children were often given as gifts to the white children. The other question is that the release of slaves before the war will impact all states since every state had slaves. The north would have managed better because their way of life did not depend so heavy on slaves. The north was about to enter the industrial age. The north had more factories than the south. The north was starting to depend more on machinery and inventions like the cotton gin. The other part of the question is that black men would have entered the service quicker. The northern armies would have enlisted this great reserve of men quicker. The only question I have now would the black man fight a war that kept a union together that enslave his entire people?...Show more

Yes. Okay, I might identical to to factor out that liberating the slaves didn't finish the conflict. The Union victories over the Confederacy resulted in the finishing of the conflict. Freeing the slaves with no trouble had not anything to due with the defeat of the Confederate States of America and the finishing of the conflict. The Emancipation Proclamation freed simplest the ones within the Confederacy and didn't even grow to be enforceable till the Union took manage of the south. Furthermore, states that didn't insurgent and didn't input the Confederacy weren't affected. Also, slavery was once now not formally outlawed by means of legislation till the thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which was once ratified on January 31, 1865, too overdue to have any affect at the conflict. The Confederacy had virtually already misplaced, with their capitulation taking situation earlier than even part of the yr 1865 had transpired. So in end, liberating the slaves didn't affect the conflict in this kind of technique to honestly maintain it from finishing. In truth the primary query might even indicate that if the slaves weren't freed then the conflict might nonetheless be occurring correct now, just about one hundred fifty years later. As to the moment query, if now not on the finish of the conflict then a yr or 2 later....Show more