AHC: Indiana in the CSA

I have no clue how this POD can be done, but with a POD between 1776 and 1860, have Indiana secede from the United States and join the Confederacy.
 
Very difficult. You'd have to avoid the civil war being about slavery, which is next to impossible, or at least add another major factor in there.

Now, a small part of Indiana, near Kentucky, is plausible enough with some minor changes to the early expansion of slavery and Kentucky's political climate. They could secede from Indiana and join Kentucky. In that scenario, it would be likely that southern Illinois would secede as well.
 
Very difficult. You'd have to avoid the civil war being about slavery, which is next to impossible, or at least add another major factor in there.

Now, a small part of Indiana, near Kentucky, is plausible enough with some minor changes to the early expansion of slavery and Kentucky's political climate. They could secede from Indiana and join Kentucky. In that scenario, it would be likely that southern Illinois would secede as well.

Good Ole Illiana! Now will the capital be Cairo or Evansville?
 
Best way to do this...have Illinois and Indiana's border run east to west instead of North to south. Immigration by way of New England would dominate Illinois to the north, while immigrants from the South would populate Indiana. This Indiana would have very close economic and cultural ties to Kentucky. But the real problems lie in the fact that slavery wasn't very economical north of the Ohio and in OTL even the slave state of KY did not secede so it even less likely that this IN would choose to secede. No matter how one looks at it economic realities will over take the situation and the states of the Old Northwest will become more closely tied to the Northeast as trade and industry increases.

Two other possibilities are that KY and IN jointly declare their neutrality upon southern secession and have some real clout in the region. This would produce a bizarre situation where two states (perhaps even joined by counties in western VA and eastern TN) have the power to enforce their neutrality and affect the course of the Civil War.

Less likely is that Tecumsa's Indian nation fairs much better and Indiana in a form similar to OTL state is set aside as an Indian nation and US protectorate with its status guarunteed by a treaty with GB. Once the Civil War begins this "Indiana" declares its neutrality or even secedes. (As a minor aside, this US may need to acquire New Brunswick or Nova Scotia as compensation and to make sure that political power moves in favor of the North so as to spark Southern secession.)

Benjamin
 
Indiana and Ohio are the key states for moving rail traffic from west to east. Indiana would be garrisoned a la Maryland before the Union would allow it to fall to the CSA. You might get a few southern counties to break off if it looked like the war would end quickly just as Little Egypt might have seceeded from Illinois might the war have gone differently, but the whole state?

Now you could have a raid on Indianapolis if Louisville were captured and a weak shadow government might try to sue for peace but they would have zero recognition and just likely be hung as traitors.
 
Somewhere I read that when Wm. H. Harrison became Indiana's 1st territorial governor he proposed that slavery be permitted/sanctioned.
 
I originally thought of Little Egypt being a state, but in my Confederate Wank I decided to have them conquer Indiana. They have the luckiest military streak ever and annex Indiana. As well as "liberating" Missouri and Kentucky.
 
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