The options he faced, however, were irreconcilable: the Founders could have Union or Emancipation but not both, at least not in their generation. And so they chose Union now, postponing Emancipation on the assumption—infrequently expressed—that the prospects for it would be better in a single strong state than in several weaker ones.72 It was a wager: whether with God or the Devil depended on your point of view.
