American History

These led directly to Lincoln's election and Lincoln's election led directly to secession of seven states which seceded before Lincoln was inaugurated. The other Confederate states seceded after Fort Sumter. It is hard to see how Lincoln could have prevented Fort Sumter and even if he had been able to other events would likely have started a war sooner rather than later. In any event, Ron Paul is no historian as this exchange amply demonstrates. Lincoln would not have had the political support to bail out the slave owners. If Ron Paul thinks Lincoln had an "iron fist" how much of an iron fist would have been required for Lincoln to raise the money through taxes and then implement a slave buyout from slaveholders who had no desire to give up their slaves? Presumably the buyout would have had to be mandatory so force would have been necessary against any holdouts. This would have required the use of Federal troops - it is inconceivable that the Southern states would have cooperated. Finally, how does Ron Paul square a government buyout of slaveholders with his philosophy of limited government? It is easy to see why Paul would have opposed Lincoln on the transcontinental railroad and the college land grant act - a government buyout of slaveholders would have eclipsed the cost of those initiatives many times over and would have required an enormous government agency to implement the program.