How would our country be different if the South had won the Civil War? A question worthy of observation.

Opinions

• My own opinion is that had the Confederacy gained its independence it would not have lasted long. Based as it was on the principle of secession I don't think it would have been long before the states fell to squabbling about something, quite possibly slavery, and various of them would have seceded to protect what they saw as their interests.
• Our country would have been different and better place to live than it is now. The war between the states was a war of states' rights vs. a strong federal government.
• Our country would have been more in line with what the founders had in mind had the South won. Our founding fathers never intended the intrusive and confiscatory system of big government that we have now. Laws, as they should, would be made at the local and state level and a weak federal system could not inflict itself on the people.
• 1. We would have no personal income tax, which in itself is unconstitutional. Most of the socialists that redistribute wealth would not have the money base to squander that they do now or experiment with social programs bought at the expense of someone else's labor. The federal government would be out of education, welfare, roads, construction and healthcare and all the other nonsense they claim as their domain. All of these would be done at the local level with the watchful eye of the local public.
  2. The founders were smarter than we realize. They knew that strong centralized government was not good for the people. The very reason the right to keep and bear arms is in the constitution is not to protect you from grizzly bears but to protect you from the government. They even advocate the overthrow of the government if it becomes oppressive. Of course our government schools would never teach that truth. As far as the army is concerned, the federal government could do that with money collected from tariffs, not personal income taxes. But alas, we did not win. The Lost Cause (State's Rights) was lost and now we have a form of democracy (mob rule) that little resembles the Republic that those Founders birthed so many years ago.

• If the south had won the civil war the country would be different no doubt about it, but first slavery needs to be addressed. Slavery would have still been abolished. First, it is cheaper to pay a man $1 a day and make him buy his own food and shelter rather than to support him fully. Second, groups of slaves would not be at your home where they might want to start a rebellion. The country would still have been divided and the South would still be a states' rights government and the north still a strong central government.

• "If the South would have won we'd had it made!" - Hank Williams Jr.. I agree, the South would have around 74 million people making it the thirteenth most populous nation on earth. The South would have more people than England and France, as well as many other countries. Also, the south is very different than the north in voting patterns, even with all of the native northerners down here. Surprisingly, the south would function very well in today's world. States' rights doesn't mean there is no Federal Government. States' rights means that no state can answer for another. The reason for a Federal Government in the Confederacy was to regulate post offices, money, an army, etc. not to control everyone like in England during the Revolutionary War. This is what the original Federal Government was supposed to be able to do, but Lincoln ended Constitutional Government.

• Slavery would have lasted longer but in the end, it wouldn't have lasted forever. Once the South emancipated the slaves I think that the southerners would have re-petitioned for admission into what was then a more prosperous and powerful North.

• I think that if the South had won, things would be decidedly different. Surely slavery would have eventually ended: farm machinery is less expensive, doesn't get sick, and doesn't run away. However, if black slaves had been repatriated (as was the wish of many), crime would not be the problem it is today, the welfare state as we know it would not exist today, and most importantly, southern nationals would not be subject to federal income tax, social security, and other ridiculous programs.

• If the South had won the Civil War, they would not have lasted long as a nation. Their dependence on slave labor and agriculture would render them "backwards." They would depend heavily on imports for technology before they would be forced to create their own. By then they would be so far behind that the country would probably collapse into a Communist/Fascist revolution, but never to gain enough strength to be able to fight the US. I wonder how long the US would sit before going to fight, most likely with a huge technological advantage, to bring the South back into the Union. Which may actually start a World War, since the great web of late 19th century Alliances would undoubtedly be thicker with yet another nation.

• I don't think it's really an issue of if the South had won, rather, the issue is - if the South had been recognized as a separate nation. General Lee had possession of a letter from the Southern government to be delivered to Lincoln the day after the destruction of the Federal army at Gettysburg. That letter's contents offered peace in exchange for recognition. If that so happened, a sound, more perfect, more constitutional government would have arisen from the southern states and along with that, I think a pact would have been formed by the two governments to come to each other's aid in times of conflict. The South wanted a peaceful recognition, but Washington bullied its will upon South Carolina and Virginia foremost. Too bad the South did not gain a victory in its endeavors. One cannot forget the men that died in the American Revolution, with the guts of the Continental Army right here in the south. Our war and victory over England was no different than what was tried during the Civil War. The Constitution grants strong state government, but the Lincoln administration (the Republicans) wanted states to answer to a more powerful Federal government, which was totally against what the Constitution guaranteed. Yes, if the south had succeeded, we would all have it made.

• If the South had won the Civil War this land would be very different today. We would not have to worry about the things we do now.

• If the South had won in the 1860s, there would have undoubtedly been a "reconquista" of sorts on the part of the Union to regain the lands lost. Also, the Confederate government, in trying to manage the war, came to overstep its confederate powers. Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Congress began curtailing states' rights to maintain the war effort. As such, even if granted independence the Confederacy would have collapsed.

• I'm reading several novels on the Civil War including The Killer Angels which gives Robert E Lee's idea on the future of the Confederacy as well as Longstreet's. I think if the South had won at Gettysburg, England would have come to the South's aid as revealed in a letter from England to the CSA. in fact not only would England give aid, they would take over operations and rout the Union in the West finishing off the North. It was planned for Davis to give the Queen control over the Confederacy, treating it as a privileged colony. I am a devout southerner but I think we would not be as happy if the South had won. Slavery would have been abolished as soon as England took over. The South in the beginning of the Civil War issued an emancipation but the US government overshadowed it with its own. Also in 1860 the CSA issued a decree that said all slave holders had to give their slaves the option of being deported and this could have been carried out by law.

• If the South had won and become independent, even if both economies did not collapse and we did manage to survive, we would still have been involved in World War 2, and we would have lost. As it is we were stretched thin during the war and we would all be speaking German now or we would all be dead. It is quite possible that we might not have made it through World War 1. I think we are actually quite fortunate that things worked out as they did.

• Above is completely inaccurate. Had we not entered the First World War due to a weakened economy, or not been able to tip the scales in the allies' favor, the Germans most likely would have fought to an eventual stalemate with the allied powers, or achieved a small margin of victory. Without the harsh reparations the Germans were meant to pay according to the treaty of Versailles, there would have never been the power vacuum in Germany that allowed the rise of Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party, and the Third Reich, thusly preventing a European theater during WW2. This would leave only the Japanese as a foe during that engagement, which we handily defeated with about 10% of our military. Secondly, had we not entered WW2 and all the other events held true, less our involvement, the Russians would have defeated Hitler all on their own, it simply would have taken more time.

• If the South had won the civil war the idea of a representative democratic republic, which was in its infancy in the mid nineteenth century, would have been discredited. This form of government can only be sustained if the minority abides by the decision of the majority. The progress to this form of government in Europe would probably have halted leaving the world even more susceptible to totalitarian rule.

• The South would probably, in time, have developed into a society similar to apartheid South Africa.

• I think it depends on whether the North would ever have really let go of the South, even after the war. The South would never prosper with the North harrying them to rejoin the Union, but the South was really always its own country, so I think it would have succeeded. Slavery probably would have ended just as quickly if the South had won, seeing as how it took 100 years after the Civil War for it to kick in anyway; besides, many slaves in the South were freed during the Civil War, and the rest would have followed. But the idea of winning wars after the Civil War is troubling, and would depend on whether the Union and the Confederacy forgave each other before the later wars started. The Northerners and Southerners compromised anyway, or we would have failed as a country altogether.

• The United States would have been divided in two, the Southern states would have held on to slavery for a little longer, but world outrage would have forced them to eventually abolish it.

• They would probably be hostile to each other still. But eventually they would have started trading with each other and become like what the U.S. is today: two countries that are allies or peaceful with each other (e.g. U.S. and Canada). Plus for awhile or forever the south would have had slaves. An alternate way would be that the U.S. and the Confederacy will still be fighting it out in different wars. To see the possibilities, try reading one of Harry Turtledove's books.

• Bush would have been president of the Confederacy instead of the US.

• Obama wouldn't be our president right now.