What if the slaves were not freed?

Answer 1

This is an extremely difficult question to answer. Three main possibilities exist:

1. The Union breaks up into two or three parts (North and Confederacy, or North, South and West). If the slaves were not freed, much of the point of continuing the Civil War would have been lost. The Union would have not formed badly needed divisions from newly emancipated slaves.

2. North and South go their separate ways, but since the Confederate States become one of the few countries still allowing slavery, European liberal nations place economic pressure on them to end slavery. After some years, probably a generation or more, the South finally gives up slavery as uneconomical.

3. The North and South agree to work together to revise the Constitution to specify when and where slavery can exist. They remain together as a loose nation with very strong state's rights. Eventually, economic and social pressure, together with the advent of mechanized farming, make slavery entirely unnecessary and unprofitable.