what if the south had won the civil war?

Question

i need a one page paper on what if the south had won the civil war. and i can't come up with anything.can someone help ?

Answer 1

We could have only hope and pray. Take a look at "Guns of the South" by Turtledove, that is pretty close to the way things would have been. Slavery had already been looked at to be abolished, at the same time so had methods on how to deal with corrupt Republicans. Slavery was not the reason for the war regardless of what our history books reflect or what is being taught us the American Civil War was over States Right. Think about this the South prior to the war, during and afterwards a time when the “N” word was used openly a time when whatever the reason(s) for the war could have been anything and everything. What did it matter to a group who thought they would win; who later thought they were winning claim then and since the War was over “States Rights”. If it were over slavery Lincoln offered to allow the South to keep their slaves if only they would come back into the Union.

With the election of Lincoln the Southern States felt they had no choice and took drastic action and secede from the Union. If not over Slavery then why did the South take these steps? In 1860, Southern agrarians were at heel to the nation's bankers and industrialists. That just got worse with the election of the Republican Lincoln, bringing back into power the party favoring the wealthy supply side, as it still does. Then as now central to that, party's interest was keeping down the cost of manufacture. Today labor is the big cost, so today they move the plants offshore and leave US workers to their fate. Back before the US labor movement existed the big cost was raw materials, and the GOP was just as unprincipled toward its Southern suppliers as it is today toward labor.
Thanks to modern graveyard science and surviving records, researchers know that in 1760, 100 years before the War Between the States, Charleston, South Carolina, had the largest population of slaves and we say proudly the second largest slave population was in New York City.

One of the main quarrels was about taxes paid on goods brought into this country from foreign countries. This tax was called a tariff. Southerners felt these tariffs were unfair and aimed toward them because they imported a wider variety of goods than most Northern people. Taxes were also placed on many Southern goods that were shipped to foreign countries, an expense that was not always applied to Northern goods of equal value. An awkward economic structure allowed states and private transportation companies to do this, which also affected Southern banks that found themselves paying higher interest rates on loans made with banks in the North. As industry in the North expanded, it looked towards southern markets, rich with cash from the lucrative agricultural business, to buy the North's manufactured goods. The situation grew worse after several "panics", including one in 1857 that affected more Northern banks than Southern. Southern financiers found themselves burdened with high payments just to save Northern banks that had suffered financial losses through poor investment. However, it was often cheaper for the South to purchase the goods abroad. In order to "protect" the northern industries Jackson slapped a tariff on many of the imported goods that could be manufactured in the North. When South Carolina passed the Ordinance of Nullification in November 1832, refusing to collect the tariff and threatening to withdraw from the Union, Jackson ordered federal troops to Charleston. A secession crisis was averted when Congress revised the Tariff of Abominations in February 1833. The Panic of 1837 and the ensuing depression began to gnaw like a hungry animal on the flesh of the American system. The disparity between northern and southern economies was exacerbated. Before and after the depression the economy of the South prospered. Southern cotton sold abroad totaled 57% of all American exports before the war. The Panic of 1857 devastated the North and left the South virtually untouched. The clash of a wealthy, agricultural South and a poorer, industrial North was intensified by abolitionists who were not above using class struggle to further their cause.
In the years before the Civil War the political power in the Federal government, centered in Washington, D.C., was changing. Northern and mid-western states were becoming more and more powerful as the populations increased. Southern states lost political power because the population did not increase as rapidly. As one portion of the nation grew larger than another, people began to talk of the nation as sections. This was called sectionalism. Just as the original thirteen colonies fought for their independence almost 100 years earlier, the Southern states felt a growing need for freedom from the central Federal authority in Washington. Southerners believed that state laws carried more weight than Federal laws, and they should abide by the state regulations first. This issue was called State's Rights and became a very warm topic in congress. If true why then isn’t this being reflected in our history books? One of the South’s greatest general, a gentleman recognized and respected by his enemies General Patrick Cleburne stated early in the war. “Surrender means that the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy, that our youths will be taught by Northern school teachers; learn from Northern school books THEIR version of the war”.

On December 20, 1860, a secession convention met in South Carolina and adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the Union. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas quickly followed suit. Jefferson Davis was chosen as the President for a six-year term of office. The Constitution by which the permanent government of the Confederate States of America was formed was reported by the committee and adopted by the Provisional Congress on 11th of March, 1861. it was ratified without delay. The remaining States Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee reluctantly seceded and joined the Confederacy. Many States and all the South’s leaders hoped and prayed to be allowed to peacefully leave the Union. This was reflected in numerous ways but one of the most prominent was that the South did not raise an Army least it be viewed a hostile act.

This set the stage for the saddest event in American history. In a conflict that used new weapons of war at least 600,000 Americans would lose their lives. In the South two of every three were directly affected by the War. A moment the political correct, schools and now even our Churches would have us forget.

You have individual losing their jobs for playing a recording of a minority speaking in an accent, there is not a group in the United States that you can say or joke about say the Southerner. The last true minority!

Take the time to read period papers blacks suing whites; whites being arrested for mistreating blacks; blacks learning skills and knowing how to read. No, I am not advocating slavery it is just if there is a story you can bet the truth lies in the middle.

God Bless You and Our Southern People.

Answer 2

There have been a number of excellent speculative histories based upon this premise.

The author MacKinlay Kantor wrote a book, "If The South Had Won The Civil War," which was published in 1960.

More recently, Harry Turtledove has published several series of novels, called the The Southern Victory or Timeline-191 series, detailing the fighting of both World Wars on the American continent, rather than the European continent, as a result of the South winning the Civil War.

The most tragic outcome of the South winning the Civil War would have been the prolonging and probable extension of chattel slavery. I don't have a professional background in history, but I am reasonably sure that slavery would have been prolonged well into the late 19th and possibly into the 20th century.

This last idea was explored in the film "CSA: The Confederate States of America", by Kevin Willmott, in which slavery has persisted into the present day.

Answer 3

The North wanted to dictate the Southern states. That's why the war was fought. Because if Northern Agression ( No it did not start because if slavery :(.) Now, let's say that Stonewall Jackson was not shot and Robert E. Lee with help from Jackson and J.E.D. won the battle of Gettysburg, then marched toward Washington D.C. If that happened, The U.S.A would surrender to the C.S.A. making then 2 separated countries. Of course, the North would be much more powerful speaking in every term since the only thing CSA have is cotton. Either USA would conquer CSA again or Mexico will take back its territories.

Answer 4

The sentiments of the south were to be left alone. See if you can find Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His Letters, Papers, and Speeches, essentially and autobiography originally published by the University of Michigan.

Check out William E. Dodd's Jefferson Davis (Kessinger Publishing, 2004). On page 107 there is a piece of Davis' speech to defend slavery in 1848, in part saying, "If slavery is a sin, it is not yours. It does not rest on your action for its origin, on your consent for its existence." He notes that the Spanish and Dutch brought slavery to the Americas long before there was a United States.

Edward Alfred Pollard wrote one on the Life of Jefferson Davis, but I don't have details at the moment. Still it is another name to search your library for. There are things in the writings of and about the Confederacy's president that will tell of the direction of the Confederacy. From what I read, they just wanted to be left to themselves to carry on has they have long done. Good luck.

Answer 5

During the Civil War, the "South" had different currency from the "North" called the Confederate Dollar. You can actually buy replicas of this on eBay. Once the war was over and the "South" was no longer strong, the Confederate Dollar was worthless. You could write a paper on the concept of what it would be like to have to carry around two different types of currency to spend in the United States. And also for a "demo" you could purchase a Confederate Dollar off eBay to show to the class.

Answer 6

At the time of the civil war the south was on shaky ground with only 3% of the population having any wealth and the rest barely getting by, The major source of income was cotton and they had no industry, without slaves, no industry and dependent on one crop, the south would have collapsed economical

Answer 7

They would have won their right to be a separate nation. The North however would never go for this. Therefore I think the Civil War would have eventually gone on until the South lost.

Answer 8

the south would have turned into another 3rd world country.
the south was already feeling the effects of poverty before the war..slavery was not on the decline...cuba was the next target for the south for turning it into another slave state..as was spreading slavery with every new territory opening up in the west...you cannot build a country,or a society on oppression...it corupts all around it... harry turtledove is fiction and takes into account almost no facts of the era he writes about...periodocals and diaries of the day give a better idea of life in the south..had i lived in that day i would have fought for the south not on convictions but for the same reason that robert e lee did.i furhter think the south would have eventualy broke apart further as each state decided they would want to be their own country and rule themselves...i further believe the south would have to ,as time went on , fight this battle over and over..bringing more destruction on itself...had they one initially...i think eastern europe is a good idea of what the south would look like in modern day terms...wars.dictators...

Answer 9

FIrst, Mexico would probably have attacked the Confederacy and taken back Texas, NM and Arizona. They always felt they were taken from them under duress (at gunpoint, first at San Jacinto then again in Montezuma.)

California territory might have revolted to form a seperate, free nation also.

WW1 might have gone to the Germans also, since a weaker US entry late in that war (or even a non-entry) might not have been able to stop their final offensive in France in 1918. Then of course, WWII would never have been fought.

Answer 10

We would have lost our independence, state by state.

Britain didn't give Canada the independence it has until 1869. France moved into Mexico during our Civil War and put the Emperor Maximilian on the throne. If the US had broken up they would have moved in to pick off the states one by one and recolonize them. That's why Lincoln pleaded "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Answer 11

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