Anaxagoras
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How might the economy of the North developed in a Confederate Victory TL? Would it have evolved more or less as it did IOTL or would it have different? If the latter, how so?
Northern Economy in a Confederate Victory TL?
- Thread starter Anaxagoras
- Start date
More industrialized early on, and IMO possibly a good bit healthier than OTL USA due to the north supporting (I presume) centralized banking and somewhat more regulation to protect the industry.
Max Sinister
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Gurps AE Dixie suggests that they will have better railroads, since thy have to be ready for another war. And Chicago may be smaller, because they don't get the Texan beef.
Anaxagoras
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Why wouldn't Chicago get Texas beef? Unpleasantness over the war notwithstanding, there would obviously still be trade between North and South.
Max Sinister
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But there may be new customs, and wouldn't there be a problem if the cowboys have to cross a national border with their cows?
Dirk_Pitt
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At first this might be true but eventually this would change when the old bitterness died away. A possible free trade agreement might be signed. This might be facilitated by a possible southern abolishion of slavery. Lee might have done it. He was certainly popular enough and wasn't exactly a fan of slavery(just prior to the civil war, I believe in 1857, he gained slaves in the will of his father-in-law and almost immediately freed them). The only reason why he went confederate was that Virginia went confederate so he most likely felt no real loyalty to the Confederate cause. That could lead to him, assuming he gains the presidency, trying to build ties to the United States, like with a free trade agreement.
Of course it all hinges on his battlefield successes equalling success in politics. But with men like Washington and Houston(president of the Republic of Texas) its not all that far-fetched.
Of course it all hinges on his battlefield successes equalling success in politics. But with men like Washington and Houston(president of the Republic of Texas) its not all that far-fetched.
yeah like it has in real life, there are still southern apologists who think the south was right and it is often called "The War of Northern Aggression" Seem to remember they fired first at Fort Sumpter
I expect more immigrants too, and a bigger US Arms industry. End product may be a USA that looks like a bigger version of the Kaiser's Germany.
Ehh, I get the impression that these folks are rare. There are neo-nazi groups in Germany but none of them have a great deal of influence.
I'll be pedantic here. This is unlilkely because of the times. Free trade agreements (FTAs) are a product of the late 20th century, and are very paperwork intensive for exporters to achieve those benefits. There are alternatives of course.
They could form a customs union which establishes a free trade area without all that documentation because there is a common external tariff. The German zollverein was a contemporary example, and this would be more in line with what 19th century people would think of when they hear "free trade agreement". This is unlikely because it would require the Confederates to confirm to Union tariffs, which was always a sore sticking point.
Another possibility is that the Union and Confederates simply give each other preferential duty treatment. This is problematic because the Union wouldn't want a scenario where Europeans avoid Union tariffs by shipping first to the Confederacy who then move them to the Union under their prefential tariff. Of course, the Union might just limit those preferential tariffs to the kind of commodities the Confederacy produces that the Union wants, but excluding any manufactured goods that would compete with Union industry.
The cattle drive would go to Kansas City where the cows would be loaded onto cattle cars.
Reggie Bartlett
Banned
While they would have to get the cattle to Kansas City, there is going to be that pesky international border just north of Tulsa.