Did War Abolish Slavery ? 205 



this theory fails to account for the fact that slavery- 

 has also been abolished in all other parts of the 

 world, e. g., in the colonies of the British Empire, 

 without war. If we ask why slavery has been 

 abolished in all other parts of the world, we find 

 that it was the result of the conviction that 

 slavery was economically and morally wrong. It 

 was the same force which was effective in the 

 United States. In the North this conviction was 

 reached early. Even at the beginning of the war, 

 a strong party in the South held the conviction 

 that slavery was economically and morally wrong. 

 The discussion went on during all the four 

 years of the Civil War, and General Lee is re- 

 ported to have said, just before his surrender, 

 that at least it was fortunate that the South 

 had become convinced that slavery should be 

 abolished. 



Another proof that it was intellectual conviction 

 and not physical force that abolished slavery is 

 found by comparing the results obtained in the 

 emancipation and the enfranchisement of the 

 negro. Both were supposed to have been accom- 

 plished by physical force. In so far as force 

 could accomplish the result it was done, and both 

 freedom and suffrage were guaranteed to the 

 negro by an amendment to the United States 

 Constitution. The negro retained his freedom, 

 but he did not retain his right of suffrage. Why? 

 Because the South was convinced that slavery was 

 economically and morally wrong, but it was not 



