Would the US be better off if the south won the civil war?

Question

Would this country be better? We would not have the hillbilies, in office like thurmond who keep destroying our country.

Answer 1

YES!!! The country would be more AMERICAN than what it is today!!!

Answer 2

Who can say? Maybe the two parts would have rejoined in a few decades, and maybe war would erupt between the North and South every generation, as happens in a series of alternate history books by my favorite author, Harry Turtledove. These are extreme positions, and the reality would most likely fall somewhere in between.

By the way, in case you missed it in previous answers, Strom Thurmond has been dead for over two years now.

Neddie: Since you still seem to live under the fantasy that Bush "stole" the 2000 election, I submit the following argument:

Imagine yourself as a journalist working for a mainstream media outlet. Go ahead, pick one. ABC, NBC, CBS, the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Time magazine, Newsweek, any one you like. Got one? OK, let's rewind history a bit, to the point where Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announces that she's certifying Bush as the winner of the state, ballots are being recounted again, and your employer sends you down there to check it out for yourself. If you discovered that Gore had actually won the popular vote in Florida, you'd make sure everyone knew it, wouldn't you? Such a story would certainly be front-page news across the country, wouldn't it? But no story ever appeared. Why? Because after all the recounts, Bush STILL won, even when the media looked for themselves. So no, the election wasn't "stolen" from you. Get over it already.

Apologies to the rest of you for the preceding paragraph, as it's off topic.

Answer 3

I do not know how we could possibly know what direction the country would have taken. It has been all over the board now.
If you mean Thurmond Strom - 1- he has been dead since 2003 2- he was black not a hillbilly 3- how is our country destroyed.

A hillbilly is an unsophisticated person - rarely is the President referred to as a hillbilly. Our current President attended Yale & Harvard not a hang out for hillbillies.

Our country could inprove but anything can inprove. On this 4th of July, I think our nation is the best in the world. I am happy &
grateful to be an American.

Answer 4

The south wanted a loose confederacy of states like the gov't under the old Articles of Confederation, and that simply wouldn't work.

BTW, that particular war has been over for about 140 years, and Strom Thurmond is dead.

Answer 5

No it would not. My family fought for the South and as a Civil War Historian, I certainly gravitate towards sympathy for the Southern Cause, which is quite a bit more complicated than depicted in most textbooks or by Ken Burns.

The US is a stronger nation as a result of the Civil War and certainly the Federal Government gained the vast majority of its power over the states as a result of this conflict. It took another 100 years for Black Americans to realize the rights for which so many Americans gave their lives.

As a Southerner I recognize that it was in the nation's best interest that the Union be preserved and that the abomination of slavery be done away with. That said, I challenge people to do more research on the reason why Southerners took up arms. Read their diaries, their journals, etc. You will be surprised.

My young son once asked me who the Confederate Soldiers were. I told him they were Americans. He replied "How can that be, they got beat."

I myself as a child in Tennessee public schools grew up with the notion that Southerners were the bad guys. And then I became an adult and studied the war in great depth. And it is not as black and white as people would have you believe.

Confederate General Patrick Cleburne in a speech to the men of his famous division weeks prior to his death, said --


"If the south should lose, it means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy. That our youth will be trained by Northern school teachers, will be impressed by all of the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors and our maimed veterans as fit subjects for derision."
- Patrick Cleburne


As we celebrate our Nation's birthday today, let us not forget the contributions of all Americans to the creation of this most incredible country.

Answer 6

The north had more industry and the south had more culture. I think it worked out for the best for everyone. Just because you talk with a southern accent and live south of the mason Dixon that does not constitute being called a hillbilly.

Answer 7

lol, ever been around the South? It isn't over, the Civil War is still going on in some places.

And no, I don't think it would be better.

Answer 8

Would we be better off with slavery and each state going it's own way? I think not. We are a country only when the states stick together.

Answer 9

Strom Thurmond died in 2003...

Answer 10

ya'll would think so.

But I would not. I just got back from the Lincoln Memorial. I have been there many times, but have never been to the Jefferson Davis Memorial (If there is one).

Answer 11

We should have let them secede. They would have gone bankrupt when their society based on slavery and cotton went down. Then they would have begged to return to the Union.