DBWI: Civil Rights Day in the CSA

Jake Vektor

Banned
Well, today is the 100th anniversary of the day the Confederate States of America passed the Civil Rights Amendment, formally abolishing slavery and giving blacks equal rights in Confederate society.
The first question that comes to mind is whether the first part of the law-the abolition of slavery-was really necessary. The practice of slavery had been declining since the late 1870s. It is ironic that the practice which the CSA had fought for its independence to maintain would fade away so quietly.
OOC-I know you may see traces of my wild 'n' wacky "The Rise of the South" CSA-wank, but don't worry. In a bid to make it a little more realistic. I scaled back the CSA's territorial expansion (no Confederate Alaska, but there's still a Confederate Cuba), and had the South's old, embedded-in-the-South's-blood-according-to-Yankees racism go on for a little while longer. Other posters are allowed to speculate about events in the world outside the CSA.
 

David S Poepoe

Banned
The abolition of slavery was more than just a formality at the Second Constitutional Convention in Baton Rouge in 1890. Its decline had been noted over the preceding 30 years it was the corner of the Radical Party's drive to modernize the country. The abolition was recognized by the lifting of various high tariffs that Britain, France, the United States and most of Europe had on Southron exports. Its positive effects were felt almost immediately. The extension of the franchise to both blacks and women was another triumph of the Radicals in 1905. Industrialization and the franchise were certainly the major themes thru out the 1890s and 1920s, a period dominated by the Radical Party.

The agricultural interests had been shattered by the demise of cotton domestically and the collapse of the market internationally. While Democrats and their supporters did retain political power on the state level the thoughts of many, as reflected in newspapers across the nation, turned to reaching goals that would benefit both their states and nation.

Heck, the nation prospered fairly well under the likes of President Benjamin O. Davis and later Martin L. King. The United States didn't elect its first black President until last year.
 

ColeMercury

David S Poepoe said:
Heck, the nation prospered fairly well under the likes of President Benjamin O. Davis and later Martin L. King. The United States didn't elect its first black President until last year.
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Well, the CSA does have a much bigger black percentage of the population than the USA...
 

President Sam Houston

LorienTheYounger said:
Well, the CSA does have a much bigger black percentage of the population than the USA...
Click to expand...

However, the CSA's black population at the time of the Civil Rightas Amendment was a much smaller percentage than it had been in 1860, when slavery was perceived to be at its zenith. In fact, when cotton prices collapsed in the early 1870s because of the flood of cheaper cotton from India and Egypt, most large plantation owners in the CSA lost everything. Many just freed their slaves since there was no market in which they could be sold. Others made secret deals with Brazilians and smuggled their slaves down to South America. Those plantation owners who weathered the initial depression, were dealt another blow when the boll weevil decimated crops in the 1890s.

By then, 60% of all slaves in the CSA had either been emanicipated by their owners, or illigally smuggled down to South America. And without citizenship, equal rights, property rights, and with the constant threats of violence, etc. from whites in the CSA, emanicipated slaves and their families emigrated enmasse to the United States, with some going to Mexico, or Europe, and even a few immigrated to Africa. So while blacks made up approximately 40% of the population of the CSA at its founding (with certain areas in the deep south having more than 60% of its population be slaves in 1860), by 1910, the overall black population in the CSA had fallen to less than 20%.

In fact, historians have pointed to this dramatic shift in demographics as one of the primary reasons for the passage of the Civil Rights Amendment itself. With most areas of the CSA containing only a small minority of blacks, whites no longer feared losing their political and economic power.
 

Jake Vektor

Banned
Although it took blacks a long time to gain equal rights in the CSA, it might have taken even longer had the Confederacy lost its struggle for independence. The Radical Republicans in the North had plans to punish the CSA in the event that the South lost. Many believe that the Republicans’ plans would have intensified racism among Southern whites, prolonging segregation long after the end of the war once native Southerners got back into office. What do you think about that idea?
 

glenn67

Jake Vektor said:
Although it took blacks a long time to gain equal rights in the CSA, it might have taken even longer had the Confederacy lost its struggle for independence. The Radical Republicans in the North had plans to punish the CSA in the event that the South lost. Many believe that the Republicans’ plans would have intensified racism among Southern whites, prolonging segregation long after the end of the war once native Southerners got back into office. What do you think about that idea?
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I shudder at the thought.

To address a previous thread, the election of Pennsylvania Governor Reggie Jackson as the first black President of the USA was history making. There must have been a record crowd in Philadelphia that witnessed Jackson taking the oath of office.

Not to mention the photograph of CSA Vice President Harold Ford Jr. shaking President Jackson's hand after Jackson completed his inaugural speech (should win a Pulitzer Prize).
 

ColeMercury

President Sam Houston said:
However, the CSA's black population at the time of the Civil Rightas Amendment was a much smaller percentage than it had been in 1860, when slavery was perceived to be at its zenith. In fact, when cotton prices collapsed in the early 1870s because of the flood of cheaper cotton from India and Egypt, most large plantation owners in the CSA lost everything. Many just freed their slaves since there was no market in which they could be sold. Others made secret deals with Brazilians and smuggled their slaves down to South America. Those plantation owners who weathered the initial depression, were dealt another blow when the boll weevil decimated crops in the 1890s.

By then, 60% of all slaves in the CSA had either been emanicipated by their owners, or illigally smuggled down to South America. And without citizenship, equal rights, property rights, and with the constant threats of violence, etc. from whites in the CSA, emanicipated slaves and their families emigrated enmasse to the United States, with some going to Mexico, or Europe, and even a few immigrated to Africa. So while blacks made up approximately 40% of the population of the CSA at its founding (with certain areas in the deep south having more than 60% of its population be slaves in 1860), by 1910, the overall black population in the CSA had fallen to less than 20%.

In fact, historians have pointed to this dramatic shift in demographics as one of the primary reasons for the passage of the Civil Rights Amendment itself. With most areas of the CSA containing only a small minority of blacks, whites no longer feared losing their political and economic power.
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Oh, I didn't know that. That makes quite a bit of sense, actually. The point still stands, though -- I looked up some census stats and the black population percentage of the USA has been in single digits at least since the beginning of the 20th century.
 

Jake Vektor

Banned
LorienTheYounger said:
Oh, I didn't know that. That makes quite a bit of sense, actually. The point still stands, though -- I looked up some census stats and the black population percentage of the USA has been in single digits at least since the beginning of the 20th century.
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Ah, yes. With the living standards and opportunities of Confederate blacks increasing, many black emigres in the North returned to their southern homes. That, combined with a declining black birth rate in the US, drove the black population down to its current records.
BTW, I hear former CSA president Jimmy Carter is paying a visit to Venezuelan socialist dictator Hugo Chavez. It's no surprise, given Carter's coddling of socialist dictators around the world during his presidency from 1975 to 1981. That, combined with the economic slump and the energy crisis brought on by Carter's economic policies, causes many to view Carter as the CSA's worst president. It's mind-boggling that someone like Carter would succeed a great man like Martin Luther King Jr, who inspired blacks to strive for individual achievement and helped advance race relations during his term from 1969 to 1975. Good thing we elected Jesse Helms in the 1980 presidential election. Helms was able to fix the damage Carter did by promoting free enterprise, social individualism, and Christian values. Helms made a perfect ideological partner for US president Ronald Reagan.
 
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Jake Vektor

Banned
*bump*

OOC: I'm still waiting for Nikephoros to come on here and declare this ASB and spam us with his "All.About.Slavery" rant.:rolleyes:
 

wormyguy

Banned
Jake Vektor said:
OOC: I'm still waiting for Nikephoros to come on here and declare this ASB and spam us with his "All.About.Slavery" rant.:rolleyes:
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I know that you're banned now, but this is just plain bizarre. I mean, Nikephoros is further to the right than I am. He's one of the most right-wing regulars here.
 
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