Divided America: An alternate 19th Century
- Thread starter galveston bay
- Start date
more on this soon as I take a time out from Gorings Reich as further research is needed for that one
The Pacific Union
Formed in the fall of 1865, the Pacific Union is vast in territory but still small in population, with less than 2 million people by 1880, although immigrants continue to pour in from other nations of North America as well as from Europe.
In the convention that approved the articles of secession the constitution of the new republic was also hammered out. The one thing nearly everyone could agree on is that “States” were the whole problem that caused the Civil War and divided the nation of which they were previously a part. There would be no states in this Union. The former states of California, Nevada, and Oregon, as well as Washington, Idaho, and New Mexico (authors note: which includes Arizona at this point) would instead be a union of counties (settled areas) and districts (unsettled or frontier areas) and the districts would be formed into counties as population warrants.
The national government would consist of a National Assembly of 249 members (later increased to 351 when Hawaii is annexed in 1893 and populations increase throughout the Union) based on proportional representation, but each county would have at least one member. Districts would be run by Union government officials much like U.S. Territories are. This single chamber legislature would have powers identical to that of the United States Congress. The President would be elected from the population at large, with even those living in Districts having a vote. He would have similar powers to that of the United States President. However the Convention of 1865 rejects the notion of a Supreme Court, as many remember with varying degrees of disgust of its inadequacies. Instead there would be District Judges (appointed by the President and approved by Congress), County Judges (elected) and a national Court of Appeals, which would handle judicial oversight in regards to case law as well as making any rulings regarding Constitutional matters. This court would be appointed by the President and approved by the National Assembly.
The Constitution is ratified by popular vote in 1866, and along with are provisions that limit citizenship to Whites, Hispanics and Blacks who lived in the Union prior to 1866, and Indians (authors note: Native Americans) who show that they can be good citizens, a definition left purposefully ill definited. A White's only immigration policy is instituted, however a later law in 1874 amends the Constitution to allow Hispanics to come in as guest workers for up to 10 years, with reapplication for residence status every 10 years. Their children must apply for residence at age 21. Marriage between a Resident and Citizen does confer citizenship on the children of that marriage. Asians are not given this option except those who in 1875 are retroactively given the same status as Hispanic natives under the 1866 law while Blacks are not allowed to immigrate into the Pacific Union. When Hawaii joins the Union, citizenship is extended to the natives of that island group, as well as Asians already living there.
This “Whites Only” policy remains in force for the remainder of the 19th Century and would be justly criticized by future historians but was similar to that of Australia and Canada of that era. Indeed it was used as a model by Texarkana and Deseret. It does however make the Pacific Union a desirable destination for many fleeing the hard times in the Confederacy as well as those who do not find success in Texarkana. Bigamy is made illegal throughout the Union, which has a stifling effect on Mormon immigration. However, the Pacific Union is the first of the North American nations to allow women the vote, with that law passing in 1879 and soon after many Counties institute sharp rules on alcohol and prostitution.
The national capital is San Francisco, the location of a mint, as well as the center of military power in the Union and its long time economic heart. Gold and silver continue to flow out of Nevada and wealth of resources, particularly silver and to a lesser extent gold, ensure that the Union has a strong currency while tariffs on imported finished goods protects the small but rapidly growing industrial base. An agreement with the British Royal Navy for use of the Pacific Union's naval yard at Mare Island also brings in foreign currency, while the eventual connection by rail to the United States, Texarkana, British Columbia and Deseret further brings development.
By 1890, the last Apache raid ends with the capture of Geronimo and with it the Indian Wars in the Pacific Union are over. The various national borders force cooperation with neighboring nations, with the Nez Perce and the Apache taking particular advantage of borders until they are finally defeated and pacified. The purchase of Alaska from Russia during the Great War in 1898 completes the expansion of the Union, and brings further wealth with the discovery of gold later in the 1890s.
The Pacific Union would be the second nation to create National Parks. The success of the creation of Yellowstone by the United States leads to the establishment of Yosemite and Grand Canyon National Parks in 1889 and many more would be created over time.
Formed in the fall of 1865, the Pacific Union is vast in territory but still small in population, with less than 2 million people by 1880, although immigrants continue to pour in from other nations of North America as well as from Europe.
In the convention that approved the articles of secession the constitution of the new republic was also hammered out. The one thing nearly everyone could agree on is that “States” were the whole problem that caused the Civil War and divided the nation of which they were previously a part. There would be no states in this Union. The former states of California, Nevada, and Oregon, as well as Washington, Idaho, and New Mexico (authors note: which includes Arizona at this point) would instead be a union of counties (settled areas) and districts (unsettled or frontier areas) and the districts would be formed into counties as population warrants.
The national government would consist of a National Assembly of 249 members (later increased to 351 when Hawaii is annexed in 1893 and populations increase throughout the Union) based on proportional representation, but each county would have at least one member. Districts would be run by Union government officials much like U.S. Territories are. This single chamber legislature would have powers identical to that of the United States Congress. The President would be elected from the population at large, with even those living in Districts having a vote. He would have similar powers to that of the United States President. However the Convention of 1865 rejects the notion of a Supreme Court, as many remember with varying degrees of disgust of its inadequacies. Instead there would be District Judges (appointed by the President and approved by Congress), County Judges (elected) and a national Court of Appeals, which would handle judicial oversight in regards to case law as well as making any rulings regarding Constitutional matters. This court would be appointed by the President and approved by the National Assembly.
The Constitution is ratified by popular vote in 1866, and along with are provisions that limit citizenship to Whites, Hispanics and Blacks who lived in the Union prior to 1866, and Indians (authors note: Native Americans) who show that they can be good citizens, a definition left purposefully ill definited. A White's only immigration policy is instituted, however a later law in 1874 amends the Constitution to allow Hispanics to come in as guest workers for up to 10 years, with reapplication for residence status every 10 years. Their children must apply for residence at age 21. Marriage between a Resident and Citizen does confer citizenship on the children of that marriage. Asians are not given this option except those who in 1875 are retroactively given the same status as Hispanic natives under the 1866 law while Blacks are not allowed to immigrate into the Pacific Union. When Hawaii joins the Union, citizenship is extended to the natives of that island group, as well as Asians already living there.
This “Whites Only” policy remains in force for the remainder of the 19th Century and would be justly criticized by future historians but was similar to that of Australia and Canada of that era. Indeed it was used as a model by Texarkana and Deseret. It does however make the Pacific Union a desirable destination for many fleeing the hard times in the Confederacy as well as those who do not find success in Texarkana. Bigamy is made illegal throughout the Union, which has a stifling effect on Mormon immigration. However, the Pacific Union is the first of the North American nations to allow women the vote, with that law passing in 1879 and soon after many Counties institute sharp rules on alcohol and prostitution.
The national capital is San Francisco, the location of a mint, as well as the center of military power in the Union and its long time economic heart. Gold and silver continue to flow out of Nevada and wealth of resources, particularly silver and to a lesser extent gold, ensure that the Union has a strong currency while tariffs on imported finished goods protects the small but rapidly growing industrial base. An agreement with the British Royal Navy for use of the Pacific Union's naval yard at Mare Island also brings in foreign currency, while the eventual connection by rail to the United States, Texarkana, British Columbia and Deseret further brings development.
By 1890, the last Apache raid ends with the capture of Geronimo and with it the Indian Wars in the Pacific Union are over. The various national borders force cooperation with neighboring nations, with the Nez Perce and the Apache taking particular advantage of borders until they are finally defeated and pacified. The purchase of Alaska from Russia during the Great War in 1898 completes the expansion of the Union, and brings further wealth with the discovery of gold later in the 1890s.
The Pacific Union would be the second nation to create National Parks. The success of the creation of Yellowstone by the United States leads to the establishment of Yosemite and Grand Canyon National Parks in 1889 and many more would be created over time.
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authors note: if you think the Union is being ahistorically racist, you should look at the Japanese and Chinese Exclusion Acts (for starters) while the notion of guest workers comes from the need for workers for the citrus groves (already a thing in the late 1870s) and pressure from the Hispanics in New Mexico, Arizona and California (of our timeline). Generally speaking, "Asian" in the context of the Pacific Union is East Asian, as the immigrants from Central, South, and West Asia look superficially 'white" in many cases, or superficially "black" in others. At least as defined by 19th Century bigotry. They are also not coming to the Union very often.
"Whites Only" immigration has an extensive history
"Whites Only" immigration has an extensive history
Also remember that Oregon made it illegal for African-American people, free or slave, to enter the territory.
I am planning to take a long look at Europe soon once I finish the American nations
Hello there, this TL seems interesting.....how far will you take it?
Some truth here. That said though, it may not necessarily wise to rely *too* much on real world history: just FYI, I'd like to point out that there are quite a few things about OTL American history that could have turned out rather differently had just one or two more or less things happened(for example, there's really nothing in the historical record that really explains the Chinese Exclusion Act being able to survive until 1943, other than pure happenstance).
(Edit: That said, though, I'll gladly say that, from the look of things now, you're actually doing a fairly decent job keeping things plausible here. Please keep up the great work!)
Oh, and here's another good example of what I was talking about: Oregon's black exclusion law managed to stumble on until 1926 and yet, prior to that, it was almost defeated not once, but twice-particularly in 1905 when only a very small difference could have swung things the other way around.
Some truth here. That said though, it may not necessarily wise to rely *too* much on real world history: just FYI, I'd like to point out that there are quite a few things about OTL American history that could have turned out rather differently had just one or two more or less things happened(for example, there's really nothing in the historical record that really explains the Chinese Exclusion Act being able to survive until 1943, other than pure happenstance).
(Edit: That said, though, I'll gladly say that, from the look of things now, you're actually doing a fairly decent job keeping things plausible here. Please keep up the great work!)
Oh, and here's another good example of what I was talking about: Oregon's black exclusion law managed to stumble on until 1926 and yet, prior to that, it was almost defeated not once, but twice-particularly in 1905 when only a very small difference could have swung things the other way around.
true enough on both counts, but as of the 1870s this is still real enough
not sure how far I will take it... at least into the early 20th Century
took some time to find a flag and name for the republic formed from Louisiana and Mississippi, because using either of those names routinely as descriptors is a lot of trouble
thus it will be "Freedonia" (and yes I like the Marx brothers) which has a history in the United States as a suggested name going back to 1803 (and Freedonian is easier to routinely spell than Mississippian or Louisianan)
using the Black Liberation flag, which wasn't designed until 1920 in response to a song, but it fits the back story of this country and simply assuming it gets designed early ... and as its a flag of rebellion in this timeline, the fist is reasonable
thus it will be "Freedonia" (and yes I like the Marx brothers) which has a history in the United States as a suggested name going back to 1803 (and Freedonian is easier to routinely spell than Mississippian or Louisianan)
using the Black Liberation flag, which wasn't designed until 1920 in response to a song, but it fits the back story of this country and simply assuming it gets designed early ... and as its a flag of rebellion in this timeline, the fist is reasonable
The Republic of Freedonia
Created in 1865 from a mass rebellion from White Unionists and Black former slaves and freedmen, this nation has arisen from the ashes and blood of the American Civil War. It consists of the former states of Mississippi and Louisiana and has located its capital at the New Brownsville (formerly Vicksburg) named after John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame. This site was picked as the most defensible site on the Mississippi River that was also the least prone to flooding, a primary consideration that ruled out New Orleans, while Baton Rouge and Jackson the former state capitals were considered too tainted by slavery. Just over 4 million people live in Freedonia, including over 3 million former slaves and freedman, as well as the Cajuns who decided that their home mattered more who ran governments they had little interest in anyway, as well as a large number of Whites who chose to stay or moved here (mostly abolitionists and businessmen seeking opportunities).
The government is democratic, with voting rights for all adult men and women regardless of race beginning at age 21. The government at the local level is the Parish, with Judges elected by the local population who service as county executives as well as county council who serve as a local legislative body. The Judges and their councils select Assembly representatives, one per Parish, who serve in the National Assembly, a unicameral body that serves as the national legislative body. The Parish also has Justices of the Peace who handle judicial duties, and the Parish also has law enforcement and administrative functions. There is also a national President, who serves a single ten year term and is elected by the voters in a national election. The President also appoints District judges as well as a Supreme Court (based on the US model) who are approved by the National Assembly.
Economically the economy is still agricultural. The plantations were seized by their former workforce, and formed into communities. The former plantation houses were made into a combination of school, infirmary, and community headquarters and meeting place, while the former slaves were allocated garden plots of at least an acre in size for small families, larger plots for larger families while the former cotton fields are still worked in common by gang labor. However the cotton is transported to the Parish agricultural agents who assist in its transportation and sale at the ports and the profits, less transportation and other fees goes to the communities who give it back to the workers in a shares system based on hours worked and productivity (better workers get more). Many farms formerly held by Whites were abandoned during the war and those are given out to those who can show after ten years that they can make them productive. In addition to cotton, there is also rice and corn exports.
The government makes its money form import duties, a tax on cotton exports, and port fees as well as a lease paid by the United States government for its naval base at New Orleans and its fortifications near the entrance of the Mississippi River. The government and people of Freedonia continues conscription, with women and men taken into service at age 18 for a three year terms, with the fit men sent to infantry, artillery and pioneer units, and women and unfit men assigned to support roles including manning the Freedonian Sanitary Commission hospitals and infirmaries or the schools operated by the national government. There is also continued and considerable financial help and a significant number of volunteers who come from the United States from Abolition societies and not a small number of similar individuals from the British Empire. By the middle 1880s the nation is not rich but has managed to climb out of the desperate poverty at the end of the war. The Freedonian Dollar is a greenback, as the nation as little in terms of gold and silver reserves but foreign currency to buy cotton and other exports flows in and this gives the nation money to buy imports with.
Freedonia has close ties with the United States, and a good relationship with the British government and surprisingly good relations with Texarkana as well as the governments of Liberia and Ethiopia in Africa. It has only unofficial ties with the Confederacy, mostly as border Parishes in Freedonia and border counties in the Confederacy have taken steps to ensure that illegal activity (such as robbery) does not use each others territory as a safe zone.
New Orleans has become host to a variety of nationalist groups seeking to end foreign domination of Central America and the Spanish and French Caribbean. The French and Mexican governments are becoming increasingly irritated by this as the 1880s come to an end.
The heavy influence of preachers from both the Black community and those from Abolition Societies, as well as the Catholic Church (in former Louisiana at least) has made the nation overwhelmingly Christian, but Voodoo has considerable popularity in some parts of the country, particularly former Louisiana.
Created in 1865 from a mass rebellion from White Unionists and Black former slaves and freedmen, this nation has arisen from the ashes and blood of the American Civil War. It consists of the former states of Mississippi and Louisiana and has located its capital at the New Brownsville (formerly Vicksburg) named after John Brown of Harper's Ferry fame. This site was picked as the most defensible site on the Mississippi River that was also the least prone to flooding, a primary consideration that ruled out New Orleans, while Baton Rouge and Jackson the former state capitals were considered too tainted by slavery. Just over 4 million people live in Freedonia, including over 3 million former slaves and freedman, as well as the Cajuns who decided that their home mattered more who ran governments they had little interest in anyway, as well as a large number of Whites who chose to stay or moved here (mostly abolitionists and businessmen seeking opportunities).
The government is democratic, with voting rights for all adult men and women regardless of race beginning at age 21. The government at the local level is the Parish, with Judges elected by the local population who service as county executives as well as county council who serve as a local legislative body. The Judges and their councils select Assembly representatives, one per Parish, who serve in the National Assembly, a unicameral body that serves as the national legislative body. The Parish also has Justices of the Peace who handle judicial duties, and the Parish also has law enforcement and administrative functions. There is also a national President, who serves a single ten year term and is elected by the voters in a national election. The President also appoints District judges as well as a Supreme Court (based on the US model) who are approved by the National Assembly.
Economically the economy is still agricultural. The plantations were seized by their former workforce, and formed into communities. The former plantation houses were made into a combination of school, infirmary, and community headquarters and meeting place, while the former slaves were allocated garden plots of at least an acre in size for small families, larger plots for larger families while the former cotton fields are still worked in common by gang labor. However the cotton is transported to the Parish agricultural agents who assist in its transportation and sale at the ports and the profits, less transportation and other fees goes to the communities who give it back to the workers in a shares system based on hours worked and productivity (better workers get more). Many farms formerly held by Whites were abandoned during the war and those are given out to those who can show after ten years that they can make them productive. In addition to cotton, there is also rice and corn exports.
The government makes its money form import duties, a tax on cotton exports, and port fees as well as a lease paid by the United States government for its naval base at New Orleans and its fortifications near the entrance of the Mississippi River. The government and people of Freedonia continues conscription, with women and men taken into service at age 18 for a three year terms, with the fit men sent to infantry, artillery and pioneer units, and women and unfit men assigned to support roles including manning the Freedonian Sanitary Commission hospitals and infirmaries or the schools operated by the national government. There is also continued and considerable financial help and a significant number of volunteers who come from the United States from Abolition societies and not a small number of similar individuals from the British Empire. By the middle 1880s the nation is not rich but has managed to climb out of the desperate poverty at the end of the war. The Freedonian Dollar is a greenback, as the nation as little in terms of gold and silver reserves but foreign currency to buy cotton and other exports flows in and this gives the nation money to buy imports with.
Freedonia has close ties with the United States, and a good relationship with the British government and surprisingly good relations with Texarkana as well as the governments of Liberia and Ethiopia in Africa. It has only unofficial ties with the Confederacy, mostly as border Parishes in Freedonia and border counties in the Confederacy have taken steps to ensure that illegal activity (such as robbery) does not use each others territory as a safe zone.
New Orleans has become host to a variety of nationalist groups seeking to end foreign domination of Central America and the Spanish and French Caribbean. The French and Mexican governments are becoming increasingly irritated by this as the 1880s come to an end.
The heavy influence of preachers from both the Black community and those from Abolition Societies, as well as the Catholic Church (in former Louisiana at least) has made the nation overwhelmingly Christian, but Voodoo has considerable popularity in some parts of the country, particularly former Louisiana.
authors note: think of communities as combination of a collective farm and the La Grange movement and you have the right idea. The pioneer corps spends most of its time building levees, an important function on the mighty Mississippi as well as seawalls for coastal communities. The community farms will have some implications elsewhere in the world, including on such men as Karl Marx. The origin is mainly biblical, inspired by early Christian communities as the one common book nearly everyone has access to is the Bible plus some influence from some communities that arose during the Second Great Awakening decades before.
The Freedonian Sanitary commission is a direct outgrowth of the US Sanitary Commission from the Civil War. Conscription of course is to keep the Confederacy from getting ideas, plus someone has to build those levees.
The Freedonian Sanitary commission is a direct outgrowth of the US Sanitary Commission from the Civil War. Conscription of course is to keep the Confederacy from getting ideas, plus someone has to build those levees.
The Confederate States of America
The Confederate States consists of the states of Maryland (the eastern shore including Baltimore and Washington DC after 1875), Virginia (minus West Virginia lost during the war), North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The Confederate Constitution of 1861 remains in effect (amended with the end of slavery), and the Confederacy is essentially the same government type as the United States. The Confederacy stubbornly retains the flag it adopted in late 1865, in spite of the loss of some of the states represented on it (or which were never in the Confederacy to begin with) which during the war was the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, its most successful combat force.
The Confederacy has gained its independence from the United States but little else by the end of the long civil war. Four states have left to create their own destinies, while three other states that were supposed to be in the Confederacy when it was formed are either fully or partially in the United States. The institution of slavery, the preservation of which was the whole point of the American Civil War to begin with, is done. Killed by the civil war that followed the War Between the States and while not the bloody horror of Haiti that was the generational fear in the South, it still has resulted in economic catastrophe and for many families, personal disaster.
As of 1871, the Constitution of the Confederacy has been modified to end slavery which resulted in some economic help from France and Great Britain, help that was desperately needed. The destruction of slavery by war and revolt and forced ejection has cost the Confederacy nearly 45% of its prewar wealth, nearly $1.5 Billion 1860 US dollars (authors note: $100 1860 dollars is $2700 US dollars in 2014). Foreign aid only provided $100 Million in recompense, while debts owed by the individual states and the national government from the war are staggering as well. The great plantations are full of empty fields and there is a tremendous labor shortage.
Over the 1870s smaller farms which grew cotton as a cash crop manage to weather the disaster, while the large plantations switch to grain, horse breeding, and cattle and limited share cropping to survive and gradually by supplying the European armies in Central America and the Caribbean the economy has recovered from a total disaster to merely struggling by 1880. As money becomes available, the larger plantations manage to obtain mechanical reapers that are commonplace in the United States, while cotton prices are sufficiently high to make cotton exports an important money maker. The Confederacy refuses to trade with the United States (which has no affect on them, as the US is buying its cotton from Freedonia and Texas who have no such scruples) and are completely dependent on British and French demand, which luckily for the Confederacy remains high.
One thing that does help the Confederacy is the export of arms and ammunition from its government created arms industry that came about during the war which with the ending of the blockade is able to obtain the raw materials needed to produce modern weapons for the Mexican Imperial Army. It also enables the Confederacy to arm the mercenary regiments that first see service in Mexico in 1871 and whose performance leads to contracts with the Mexican and French government not only in the Caribbean and in Central America, but also in French colonial efforts in Africa. By the 1880s nearly 40,000 Confederates are serving in mercenary cavalry and infantry regiments overseas and in Latin America and those soldiers are sending home vitally needed foreign currency home, while the Confederate government and private contracting businesses are making money supporting and licensing them. None of them however are serving in North America north of Mexico.
Another boon for the Confederacy is the development of a domestic garment industry which initially supports the military industry but later on by the 1880s is exporting clothing overseas. Labor is cheap, and migration of the poor from Appalachia to find jobs in the garment industry leads to the growth of cities like Mobile, Charleston and Jacksonville. While barely a blip compared to the garment districts in New York City and London, they are still vital for the 6 million living in the Confederacy at the start of the 1890s.
The South however is still ruled primarily by the same class that ruled it in 1860 as they had the most land and benefited the most from the cash injections from France and Britain and thus could make the needed capital investments to benefit from the recovery that followed.
The Confederacy remains firmly dominated by the rich planters just as it has for centuries even after the shocks and disasters of the Civil War and after. Only the rich and well to do can afford government service, which pays nominally, and this keeps many out of office who must support their families. The embittered culture is also resistant to “Yankee ideas” and even more resistant to anything smacking of what their Black neighbors are doing. This holds reform in any meaningful sense firmly at bay. Indeed by the early 1890s the people of Tennessee are growing increasingly hostile to the domination of the rich planters and the concentration of the economy and trade to the ports while the Memphis and Nashville, with natural river trade routes to the United States and Freedonia benefits little as their only legal trading partner is Texarkana, where middlemen charge additional fees to take cotton from Tennessee to sell in the United States while the river traffic that should stop at Memphis between Saint Louis and New Brownsville passes it by. A growing groundswell of support for leaving the Confederacy and rejoining the United States is creating political problems in the Confederacy by the 1890s.
Only the fact that there is no particular enthusiasm to warmly bring Tennessee back into the Union other than for strategic reasons such as total friendly domination of the Mississippi River and eliminating an important defense barrier for the Confederacy perks up any interest at all in the United States as well as the emotional 'I told you so” sort of satisfaction.
The Confederate States consists of the states of Maryland (the eastern shore including Baltimore and Washington DC after 1875), Virginia (minus West Virginia lost during the war), North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The Confederate Constitution of 1861 remains in effect (amended with the end of slavery), and the Confederacy is essentially the same government type as the United States. The Confederacy stubbornly retains the flag it adopted in late 1865, in spite of the loss of some of the states represented on it (or which were never in the Confederacy to begin with) which during the war was the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia, its most successful combat force.
The Confederacy has gained its independence from the United States but little else by the end of the long civil war. Four states have left to create their own destinies, while three other states that were supposed to be in the Confederacy when it was formed are either fully or partially in the United States. The institution of slavery, the preservation of which was the whole point of the American Civil War to begin with, is done. Killed by the civil war that followed the War Between the States and while not the bloody horror of Haiti that was the generational fear in the South, it still has resulted in economic catastrophe and for many families, personal disaster.
As of 1871, the Constitution of the Confederacy has been modified to end slavery which resulted in some economic help from France and Great Britain, help that was desperately needed. The destruction of slavery by war and revolt and forced ejection has cost the Confederacy nearly 45% of its prewar wealth, nearly $1.5 Billion 1860 US dollars (authors note: $100 1860 dollars is $2700 US dollars in 2014). Foreign aid only provided $100 Million in recompense, while debts owed by the individual states and the national government from the war are staggering as well. The great plantations are full of empty fields and there is a tremendous labor shortage.
Over the 1870s smaller farms which grew cotton as a cash crop manage to weather the disaster, while the large plantations switch to grain, horse breeding, and cattle and limited share cropping to survive and gradually by supplying the European armies in Central America and the Caribbean the economy has recovered from a total disaster to merely struggling by 1880. As money becomes available, the larger plantations manage to obtain mechanical reapers that are commonplace in the United States, while cotton prices are sufficiently high to make cotton exports an important money maker. The Confederacy refuses to trade with the United States (which has no affect on them, as the US is buying its cotton from Freedonia and Texas who have no such scruples) and are completely dependent on British and French demand, which luckily for the Confederacy remains high.
One thing that does help the Confederacy is the export of arms and ammunition from its government created arms industry that came about during the war which with the ending of the blockade is able to obtain the raw materials needed to produce modern weapons for the Mexican Imperial Army. It also enables the Confederacy to arm the mercenary regiments that first see service in Mexico in 1871 and whose performance leads to contracts with the Mexican and French government not only in the Caribbean and in Central America, but also in French colonial efforts in Africa. By the 1880s nearly 40,000 Confederates are serving in mercenary cavalry and infantry regiments overseas and in Latin America and those soldiers are sending home vitally needed foreign currency home, while the Confederate government and private contracting businesses are making money supporting and licensing them. None of them however are serving in North America north of Mexico.
Another boon for the Confederacy is the development of a domestic garment industry which initially supports the military industry but later on by the 1880s is exporting clothing overseas. Labor is cheap, and migration of the poor from Appalachia to find jobs in the garment industry leads to the growth of cities like Mobile, Charleston and Jacksonville. While barely a blip compared to the garment districts in New York City and London, they are still vital for the 6 million living in the Confederacy at the start of the 1890s.
The South however is still ruled primarily by the same class that ruled it in 1860 as they had the most land and benefited the most from the cash injections from France and Britain and thus could make the needed capital investments to benefit from the recovery that followed.
The Confederacy remains firmly dominated by the rich planters just as it has for centuries even after the shocks and disasters of the Civil War and after. Only the rich and well to do can afford government service, which pays nominally, and this keeps many out of office who must support their families. The embittered culture is also resistant to “Yankee ideas” and even more resistant to anything smacking of what their Black neighbors are doing. This holds reform in any meaningful sense firmly at bay. Indeed by the early 1890s the people of Tennessee are growing increasingly hostile to the domination of the rich planters and the concentration of the economy and trade to the ports while the Memphis and Nashville, with natural river trade routes to the United States and Freedonia benefits little as their only legal trading partner is Texarkana, where middlemen charge additional fees to take cotton from Tennessee to sell in the United States while the river traffic that should stop at Memphis between Saint Louis and New Brownsville passes it by. A growing groundswell of support for leaving the Confederacy and rejoining the United States is creating political problems in the Confederacy by the 1890s.
Only the fact that there is no particular enthusiasm to warmly bring Tennessee back into the Union other than for strategic reasons such as total friendly domination of the Mississippi River and eliminating an important defense barrier for the Confederacy perks up any interest at all in the United States as well as the emotional 'I told you so” sort of satisfaction.
authors note:
The destruction of slavery inflicted on the South is nothing short of massively catastrophic in OTL and in this one. Nearly half the economy basically evaporated. Now in OTL nasty measures were put into effect to get those people back to work for the people that used to own them but not so here. However there is still a lot of land, and cotton prices would remain high with the disruption of the cotton supply by the ACW and after, so a little nudge from prices helps some.
The element of the mercenary regiments is based on the high military participation rate in OTL from the South, because military service is an excellent way out of poverty in the United States and considered highly honorable in particular in the American South. The butterfly effect of the need for reliable troops for French dominated Mexico, as well as campaigns waged by Spain and France in Central America and Hispaniola and the political unpopularity (and strategic situation) mean that there is a need for a source of troops other than from Europe.
Besides, it adds interesting color to the timeline. Think of the Confederate regiments as akin to the Indian Army regiments in British service and the Highland and Irish regiments that were once common in European
The destruction of slavery inflicted on the South is nothing short of massively catastrophic in OTL and in this one. Nearly half the economy basically evaporated. Now in OTL nasty measures were put into effect to get those people back to work for the people that used to own them but not so here. However there is still a lot of land, and cotton prices would remain high with the disruption of the cotton supply by the ACW and after, so a little nudge from prices helps some.
The element of the mercenary regiments is based on the high military participation rate in OTL from the South, because military service is an excellent way out of poverty in the United States and considered highly honorable in particular in the American South. The butterfly effect of the need for reliable troops for French dominated Mexico, as well as campaigns waged by Spain and France in Central America and Hispaniola and the political unpopularity (and strategic situation) mean that there is a need for a source of troops other than from Europe.
Besides, it adds interesting color to the timeline. Think of the Confederate regiments as akin to the Indian Army regiments in British service and the Highland and Irish regiments that were once common in European
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