Wolfpaw
Banned
Quite right, it's part of the Alternate Presidents anthology, which is a delightful read. There are actually two short stories that involve the North seceding from the Union.There was an interesting story I read -years- ago about an alternate presidential election which caused parts of the north to secede in the 1850's and basically get pummeled by the rest of the nation.
I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it or the title, but I think it may have been part of a short story collection called alternate presidents, but don't quote me on that.
The first is "How the South Preserved the Union," which is about David Rice Atchison becoming president after Taylor and Fillmore both die in a carriage accident on their way to their inauguration in 1848. A more determined John Brown (with the aid of an opportunistic Daniel Webster) and (unsuccessfully) try to carve out a new nation for themselves.
The second is "Now Falls the Cold, Cold Night" about Buchanan dying of a heart attack during the 1856 Democratic National convention and the resulting chaos leads to Millard Fillmore being elected as a Know Nothing (confused Democrats flock to him). He starts seriously enforcing the fugitive slave act and passing harsh laws aimed at immigrants. New England gets so furious that it forms the New England Confederacy under Fremont, Sherman leads Confederate armies against Lee's Union forces. The ending is left a bit vague, but it's implied that the NEC was crushed.
I'm a firm believer that if Northern and abolitionist interests continue to be stymied by Southerners, a coup isn't at all out of the question.As hard as it might be to create, the concept of a military coup in the North or a temporary Dictatorship as in the Roman Republic coming into being (Neo-Confederates, not now) is interesting. The latter would set an interesting precedent.