How Realistic are These

...what's with alt-history sites always being full of confederate apologists?

And brushing past your transgression of Godwin's law, because this is an alt-history site, I still don't see how your example is germane to the conversation. If anything, if you could prove that the confederacy condoned slavery and all of the brutality that went with it yet was aghast at deafening horses for use in war I would find them all the more insane. Compounded evil through hypocrisy.
Umm, I'm now a confederate apologist for saying that they weren't all monsters? Ooookay...
Well, I just read part of the Confederate Constitution stating that the federal government could not improve their country's economy, thus rendering the entire idea I had for the CSA industrializing (the government giving free money to entrepreneurs to encourage factory construction) void.

I fixed this plot hole by introducing a Mary Sue named Jack Ostrowski, a sympathetic Polish-American who immigrates to the CSA and fixes their economy. He starts by just building a railroad company, eventually investing in Texan petroleum so that he has Confederate fuel instead of relying on American coal. He goes on to start a third company that uses "company towns" (called "officins") to manufacture goods, and a fourth company that is shipbuilding.

So basically, he's an industrialist who is using the new nation as fertile ground for his financial empire.

EDIT: I, in fact, have removed the Mexican-Confederate War completely. I remembered the Franco-Mexican War, so I read a bit about it. I decided to have America (for a number of reasons) stay neutral, while the Confederacy joins the coalition. The Republicans lose, and the Monarchists take power. As a deal with the French, the Confederates get a chunk of northern Mexico for 25 million C$. (assuming they even had that much money, or that it was worth anything)

Due to the whole affair, the CSA and Britain are on good terms, and the CSA slowly takes Mexico in as a client state, due to Dixie and Imperial Mexico having been allies.
Aw, I never liked Imperial Mexico. Anyhow, the Confederacy could possibly industrialize, but it'd be lopsided and slow considering it'd be a more state-by-state kinda deal. At the time of the Civil War I think Virginia and Georgia had some industry of their own going on, Georgia in particular did a pretty good job of equipping and outfitting their troops IIRC. The problem is just that Georgia and Virginia industrializing doesn't help their neighbors a whole lot, unless the Confederates decided to make the central government stronger despite the whole war being against that.
 
Hresvelgr wrote:
Say what you want about their motives, they weren't a bunch of dumb hicks from the middle of nowhere. They weren't the goddamn Tea Party. They were more innovative and friendly to foreigners than the north! Seriously! How do you think they lasted so long? Where do you think they got their guns? And who did you think invented the first successful submarine?
Maybe you're right - the right word would be mostly anti-intellectual.

It was an aristocratic, mostly anti-intellectual society. Money for inventions was hard to come by locally. There was no freedom of speech for those whom criticized Southern institutions. People were progandized about agriculture and slavery being the best ways of life, when industry, engineering, and finance all are far easier and pay unbelievably better. Because of those, there was a clear poverty gap visible when you crossed the Mason-Dixon line.

They lasted so long because elected leadership does a good job, and because they were luckier faster on good generalship than the North. The North was far longer on ships and every kind of war supply because of their factories and money. Southerners spent most of the war somewhat hungry, underclothed, and serially dreaming about capturing Union supplies.

There's a long gap between courtesy and agreeing to help a stranger. But, actually, now that I think about it, the Confederates would've listened more to him if he'd claimed to have a title.
 
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