Our Southern Confederacy: Death of Lincoln to the 2000 Crisis

A long time ago, in the foreign land of middle school, I first got into alternate history. As roughly a third of us begin our careers as architects of allohistorical worlds, I decided to write a Confederate victory timeline, but put what I thought was a clever spin on it by writing it as a history book from that world. Recently I revisited that world and realized that, once you cut down on the Confederatewank and got rid of the Third Global War it wasn't such a bad TL. Now I'm reposting the revised version of my childhood steps into alternate history, chapter by chapter.
The title of the original book was just what the title of this thread is.

Preface

If one takes a broad look at it, the Confederate States of America began in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the United States for fear of President-elect Lincoln destroying the southern institution of slavery, despite said President-elect's promises to the contrary. Following this, several other states seceded to join South Carolina and created a new nation to preserve the "noble institution."
Their fears were found to be not altogether unfounded when a Maryland agitator, hoping his brave action could preserve the Union, assassinated President Lincoln on March 2nd, 1861. However, the assassin, whose name is still unknown to this day, only made things worse, not realizing that Lincoln's successor would be his vice president Hannibal Hamlin.

Following the disastrous events surrounding Fort Sumter, several key Confederates realized that action needed to be taken immediately, and arranged for an attack on Washington DC, aided by Northern sympathizers. Although it was only partially successful, the attack did manage to block off the city, and General Robert E. Lee personally entered the city on April 22nd, 1861. President Hamlin, with no other option, personally surrendered to his foe.

Thus, in an illogically short period of time, the war was won, and the Confederacy set itself on the path to becoming a true nation. This would begin with the June 1861 treaty negotiations...


I realize that the preface was quite short, but give both present and twelve-year-old me a break, I didn't want to spend much time figuring out how the Confederates would have won the war so much as figuring out the consequences of such a victory and how it would affect the world and present me is too lazy to extend it further for pretty much the same reason. The following chapters will be much longer, I promise.
 
Last edited:
Preface

If one takes a broad look at it, the Confederate States of America began in 1860 when South Carolina seceded from the United States for fear of President-elect Lincoln destroying the southern institution of slavery, despite said President-elect's promises to the contrary. Following this, several other states seceded to join South Carolina and created a new nation to preserve the "noble institution."
Their fears were found to be not altogether unfounded when a Maryland agitator, hoping his brave action could preserve the Union, assassinated President Lincoln on March 2nd, 1861. However, the assassin, whose name is still unknown to this day, only made things worse, not realizing that Lincoln's successor would be his vice president Hannibal Hamlin.

Following the disastrous events surrounding Fort Sumter, several key Confederates realized that action needed to be taken immediately, and arranged for an attack on Washington DC, aided by Northern sympathizers. Although it was only partially successful, the attack did manage to block off the city, and General Robert E. Lee personally entered the city on April 22nd, 1861. President Hamlin, with no other option, personally surrendered to his foe.

Thus, in an illogically short period of time, the war was won, and the Confederacy set itself on the path to becoming a true nation. This would begin with the June 1861 treaty negotiations...

Hey, that's pretty good writing, especially for being only 12 years old! Having a timeline from 1861 to 2000 is ambitious, too. I look forward to the next chapter!
 
1. The authority of the US does not rest solely with the President, acting or otherwise. Any treaty acceding to the secession of the CSA would have required Senate "advice and consent". Given that the Republicans and their allies had won majorities in both the Senate and House, it is very doubtful that such an outcome was acceptable. A simple coup would not displace the nature of the conflict which was resolved only by the defeat of the Confederacy's armies and its occupation. It would take more than the occupation of DC to force the US as it existed after secession to accept secession and it is probable that the act of force in occupying the Nation's Capitol would motivate the North even more than the capture of Fort Sumter.
2. Lee held no authority outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, which he assumed command of its forces on 23 April 1861 after his resignation from the US Army on 20 April 1861. His CSA commission as general dated to 14 May 1861. Since the Commonwealth did not secede until the referendum approving the secession was passed on 23 May 1861, there would be no reason to take any action against the US. Lee's primary command objective was suppressing the anti-secession elements in the counties of western Virginia which eventually became the State of West Virginia.
3. The only troops available to the Commonwealth was its own militia, which system existed under the Militia Act of 1792 as amended and state laws. Most of the mobilized militia were with Lee in the west or had been involved in operations around Norfolk, seizing the Navy Yard and forts and other US government property in the area and then building coastal fortification to block off use of the James River. Also, the Supreme Court had ruled that militia could not serve outside the borders of the nation. The Commonwealth could not compel its militia to invade the US, which they would be doing in crossing the Potomac. Given the communications and transportation difficulties, concentrating sufficient troops to cross the Potomac and occupy Washington DC would have taken time after the formal acceptance of secession. Moreover, by 24 April, there were 12,000 militia from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey within two days march of DC.
4. Even with a rising of Southern sympathizers in DC, the crossing of the Potomac by Virginia state militia would simply cause the US government to displace to Philadelphia while US forces concentrated to recapture the city. There is no way a military coup would end the crisis or result in Southern Independence.
 
1. The authority of the US does not rest solely with the President, acting or otherwise. Any treaty acceding to the secession of the CSA would have required Senate "advice and consent". Given that the Republicans and their allies had won majorities in both the Senate and House, it is very doubtful that such an outcome was acceptable. A simple coup would not displace the nature of the conflict which was resolved only by the defeat of the Confederacy's armies and its occupation. It would take more than the occupation of DC to force the US as it existed after secession to accept secession and it is probable that the act of force in occupying the Nation's Capitol would motivate the North even more than the capture of Fort Sumter.
2. Lee held no authority outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, which he assumed command of its forces on 23 April 1861 after his resignation from the US Army on 20 April 1861. His CSA commission as general dated to 14 May 1861. Since the Commonwealth did not secede until the referendum approving the secession was passed on 23 May 1861, there would be no reason to take any action against the US. Lee's primary command objective was suppressing the anti-secession elements in the counties of western Virginia which eventually became the State of West Virginia.
3. The only troops available to the Commonwealth was its own militia, which system existed under the Militia Act of 1792 as amended and state laws. Most of the mobilized militia were with Lee in the west or had been involved in operations around Norfolk, seizing the Navy Yard and forts and other US government property in the area and then building coastal fortification to block off use of the James River. Also, the Supreme Court had ruled that militia could not serve outside the borders of the nation. The Commonwealth could not compel its militia to invade the US, which they would be doing in crossing the Potomac. Given the communications and transportation difficulties, concentrating sufficient troops to cross the Potomac and occupy Washington DC would have taken time after the formal acceptance of secession. Moreover, by 24 April, there were 12,000 militia from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey within two days march of DC.
4. Even with a rising of Southern sympathizers in DC, the crossing of the Potomac by Virginia state militia would simply cause the US government to displace to Philadelphia while US forces concentrated to recapture the city. There is no way a military coup would end the crisis or result in Southern Independence.

Keep in mind that I wrote the original version of this TL when I was twelve. All that I have altered was removing the rampant Confederatewank and Third Global War, as well as fixing some grammatical errors. As I have stated, at the time that this was originally written I did not wish to waste time figuring out how the Confederacy would win when it would be far more interesting to see what would have happened if it had won.
 
Bravo to your 12 year old self! I also started writing my first Alternate History at around that same age (although my efforts were more towards screwing over the Roman Empire and creating a Celtic Europe because, well, 12 year old Dan :D). I can't wait to see more of what you came up with back in the day!
 
Keep in mind that I wrote the original version of this TL when I was twelve. All that I have altered was removing the rampant Confederatewank and Third Global War, as well as fixing some grammatical errors. As I have stated, at the time that this was originally written I did not wish to waste time figuring out how the Confederacy would win when it would be far more interesting to see what would have happened if it had won.

Due to the plausibility issues that Mike Snyder correctly points out, I'd advise that you move this to Writer's Forum. That's where a lot of the "thought-experiment" TLs are usually placed.
 
I have always wonder my self what the 20th century would be like of the CSA became independent in the long term and how it would affect the many wars in the 20th and 21th century.
I saw an interview an American politician a few years ago ( whose name I cannot remember), who was asked what would be the result of an independent CSA be.
He said an independent CSA would be not good for the world. American remaining a united nation was what allowed America to be involved wwi, wwii and the cold war and the many wars in the middle east etc.
If America did not become a superpower because of an independent csa, that the world would have much bigger problems that it had OTL.
 
Guys, I'm sorry I haven't had an update sooner, but finals are coming in and I've been a bit busy to really do much. Next update should be some time tomorrow, I promise.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I have always wonder my self what the 20th century would be like of the CSA became independent in the long term and how it would affect the many wars in the 20th and 21th century.
I saw an interview an American politician a few years ago ( whose name I cannot remember), who was asked what would be the result of an independent CSA be.
He said an independent CSA would be not good for the world. American remaining a united nation was what allowed America to be involved wwi, wwii and the cold war and the many wars in the middle east etc.
If America did not become a superpower because of an independent csa, that the world would have much bigger problems that it had OTL.

When did I ever say TTL's USA wasn't going to be a superpower (or at least a regional power) in its own right? Besides, due to some very interesting butterflies my younger self thought up, the decades after the 1861 Revolution (as it will be called TTL) will be very different, as will the modern world. It won't be necessarily better or worse, but it will be different.
 
Top