This is nonsense, except in the most pedantic interpretation (in which "cause" means "any event without which the war would not have happened"). Which I guess makes it an appropriate comment for a QI discussion thread.
You can see that it's nonsense without having to know anything about the US Civil War it. Politics is not a childish game of "dare": a disagreement about whether states can secede cannot cause that secession. Once the first state secedes, of course then the disagreement becomes operative and leads to war. But the disagreement did not cause the secession.
no subject
Date: 2008-02-03 01:45 pm (UTC)You can see that it's nonsense without having to know anything about the US Civil War it. Politics is not a childish game of "dare": a disagreement about whether states can secede cannot cause that secession. Once the first state secedes, of course then the disagreement becomes operative and leads to war. But the disagreement did not cause the secession.