Good thread.

Makes me wonder. What would the world be like today if the south had won?

Good points made so far. I think I will amend my views a bit, esp. due to SailorSteve's post. Takeda, you made some good points as well but I don't feel you are really addressing my arguments.
In brief response to your last reply to me;

a) All I said was that the market is the ultimate determining force in the growth of industry. I cede that the American Civil War may have accelerated it but was not a prerequisite.

b) Your cotton gin counterpoint still does not address the fact that many other crops were grown in the south, nor the fact that the process remained labor-intensive. When I say mechanization would have made slave labor less desirable I mean that when machines become more efficient than expensive slaves, the economic desire to utilize them vanishes. Granted I am omitting possible cultural/racial motivations to maintain slavery, but I believe these would have vanished just as oppression to the Civil Rights Movement essentially did.

c) Going to have to disagree with the "slavery ending sooner was worth the most bloody war in American history" argument. Having never been a slave or owned one, my limited perspective encourages me to believe that a life lost is a greater sacrifice then a life enslaved. But, then again, that is a matter of personal opinion and impossible to resolve in debate.

Thanks for challenging my points and making me think a little though. I really do love to be questioned and/or proven wrong.