J.S. Mill, a Guerra Civil Americana e a escravidão

The outbreak of the American Civil War created important divisions on the other side of the Atlantic. The majority of the English public opinion supported the Confederates, a fact that J.S.Mill received with indignation. Since its beginning, Mill believed that slavery was the main reason for the conflict and understood that the outcome of this war would determine, for good or evil, the destiny of this (odious) institution in America. Thus, in the first years of the war, he strenuously tried to alter the opinion of his fellow citizens, which he believed dishonored the name of England. In the last years of the conflict, after the English abandoned their initial position and when the victory of the Union was a matter of time, his attention turned to what should be done after the conflict was over. His main concern was guaranteeing that slavery would be effectively extinguished, not only in the letter of the law. This paper intends to analyze the writings of Mill during the decade of 1860 concerning the American Civil War, the slave system, and the condition of the Black in America. This material consists of essays, newspaper articles, and a significant number of private letters he exchanged with English and American correspondents on these subjects. Although this material is fragmentary and heterogeneous, it sheds light on some interesting aspects of his thought. It reveals, for instance, not only the importance that the issue of slavery had for him but also the complex views he had of this phenomenon and how to eliminate it, that involved philosophical, economic, sociological, political, and above all, moral aspects.