Could the american civil war have been prevented?
sure. while the slavery was not an issue until late in the war, it did create a lot of bad feelings. Offering freedom and full citizenship to the slaves was not on the books (especially to the northeners- after all it was the northeners who insisted on segregated military units) but a law stating “every man born on US soil is born free” could have been passed- and slavery would have gradually ended (especially as this coincided with the mechanisation of the previously labour intensive farm jobs) the main thing to avoid would be the attempt to impose taxes on the south- and favour the northern industries.
