Re: [OPE] Marx on the U.S. Civil War

Jerry,

Marx's argument was also in the same letter and consistent with his
overall understanding of the U.S. Civil War. It was NOT an argument
about inevitability but rather a materialist one:

"The South would or could conclude peace only on condition that it
gained possession of the *border slave states*. In that case, California
would also fall to it, the North-West would follow suit and the entire
Federation, with the exception, perhaps, of the *New England states*,
would again form one country, this time under the *acknowledged
supremacy of the slaveholders*. It would be the reconstruction of the
*United States* on the basis demanded by the South. But that is
impossible and won't happen.

"The North, for its part, can conclude peace only if the *Confederacy*
is restricted to the old slave states, and then only to those bounded by
the Mississippi *River* and the *Atlantic*. In which case the
*Confederacy* would soon come to a happy end. In the intervening period,
ceasefires, etc., on the basis of a status quo could at most occasion
pauses in the course of the war."

Paul

=====
(V23) HIDDEN HISTORY OF 9-11, Seven Stories Press, 2nd ed. softcover
(V24) TRANSITIONS IN LATIN AMERICA (V25) WHY CAPITALISM SURVIVES CRISES
(V26) THE NATIONAL QUESTION AND THE QUESTION OF CRISIS
====> Research in Political Economy, Emerald Group, Bingley, UK
====> P.Zarembka, ed., www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?issn=0161-7230
====> or www.buffalo.edu/~zarembka
.

On 2/1/2011 8:43 PM, GERALD LEVY wrote:
> [Marx to Engels:]
>
>> It strikes me
>> that you allow yourself to be influenced by the military aspect of
>> things a little too much." (Sept 10, 1862)
>>
>
>
> It strikes me that Marx may have been influenced by a concept of
> historical inevitability a little too much.
>
> Engels was correct to think that the outcome of the Civil War was,
> at that time, uncertain.
>
> In solidarity, Jerry
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>
>

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Received on Tue Feb 1 21:27:52 2011