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Originally Posted by August
a) So you agree then that the north and south were on a collision course before Lincoln was elected. Exactly my point.
b) Now why would the Confederacy, assuming they didn't soon fracture themselves as was likely, ever want to reunite with the North? A lot of southerners died fighting the civil war and I seriously doubt they'd be in any kind of mood to consider reuniting with the north for at least several generations. Meanwhile the rest of the continent would be free to go their own way. Some would go north, some south, and some would go independent. In every scenario I could think of they soon would be at each others throats.
c. When the US bought Alaska from the Czar (FYI about 50 years before the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia) it did indeed prevent a Soviet controlled Alaska in the latter part of the 20th century. That means Soviet tank and and infantry divisions on north American soil. Do you really think they'd be staying on their side of the border for very long with no natural barriers and no significant military opposition?
d. Worthless? The moon landings? We'll just have to agree to disagree there..
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a) I thought our difference of opinion was whether they could have avoided war. Yes I do agree they were on a collision course but that does not mean that war was unavoidable.
b) That is assuming there
was a war. Had the federal government not imposed tariffs on English goods (and I think some southern exports as well) the issue of states' rights would not have been a problem and there would have been no seccession. Of course, it may have happened again with some different issue, but I believe proper diplomatic response could avert war to any such crisis. Of course this is all speculation, no matter how reasoned it may be.
c) My bad. I didn't think before I used Soviet Union interchangeably with Russia.
Nonetheless, even if we didn't buy Alaska there is no reason to believe that the presence of Soviet tanks in Alaska would mean anything bad. Communist Cuba is only 90 miles from our borders, closer than Alaska. We had tanks, and allies on the Asian continent and in Europe. None of this precipitated a war with the Soviet Union.
d) Respect agreeing to disagree. I will cede that they were not worthless, just economically so. Not one dollar of gross income has ever been generated by exploitation of the moon.