Redrawing southern state borders after US Civil War

Somewhere online there's a map showing redrafted borders of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware (!). West Virginia gets the Shenandoah Valley, Delaware gets the entire Delmarva Peninsula, and I don't remember how Virginia and Maryland divide the rest.

Unfortunately, I can't remember which prominent Republican proposed that division.

That map is somewhere here (on a sleeping thread in this forum) as well.
 
After a couple weeks, I decided to draw one possible redrafting of Southern borders. One possible PoD is that Johnson dies in 1866 (maybe in some way that can be blamed on the Southern elite); Radical Republicans take power and decide to destroy the old Southern system from the top down by abolishing the former states. Obviously, this's only one possibility; please have away at its plausibility!

* Clark County is added to Nevada as per OTL.
* The Restored Government of Virginia is recognized, under its 1864 Constitution which disenfranchises ex-Confederates. Its seat is at Williamsburg. In gratitude to the government's loyalty, its borders are unchanged (save for West Virginia).
* The State of Franklin is formed to gratify Unionist Tennesseans. Union-loyal counties of North Carolina are added (yes, this includes Asheville). It will be admitted to the Union significantly before its surrounding territories.
* Upon request of the residents, various ex-Georgian counties are added to Franklin.
* Carolina Meriduem delebitur in saecula saeculorum. (South Carolina is abolished, eternally.)
* The State of Carolina (the remainder of NC with parts of SC) will rename itself Piedmont when applying for admission to the Union, in an effort to even further differentiate itself.
* The State of Jones is formed from "backwoods" regions of Mississippi and Alabama (EDIT: Sorry; tis was a previous draft; I'm leaving the note here because people have commented on it.)
* Given rumors that southwestern Texas is primarily Unionist, it is divided. There was a move to split off the western part as Arizona Territory, but it was squelched in favor of letting the Unionist state keep the legacy of Texas.
* East Texas is added to upstate Louisiana and named Lincoln after the recently-martyred President.
* Due to the importance of the port of New Orleans, the State of Orleans is gerrymandered to have a majority of freedmen, who can be relied on to vote Republican. (The borders show a slave majority per the 1860 census; I know there was a lot of migration during the war, so I'm waving my hands here.)
* West Florida is formed out of more-heavily-populated parts of Florida and the lower half of Alabama. The rest of Alabama is merged with Mississippi; the rest of Florida is given Territorial status due to lack of population and named Jackson.
* Arkansas survives because no one was paying attention to it.

1864 piedmontverse.png
 
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After a couple weeks, I decided to draw one possible redrafting of Southern borders. One possible PoD is that Johnson dies in 1866 (maybe in some way that can be blamed on the Southern elite); Radical Republicans take power and decide to destroy the old Southern system from the top down by abolishing the former states. Obviously, this's only one possibility; please have away at its plausibility!

* Clark County is added to Nevada as per OTL.
* The Restored Government of Virginia is recognized, under its 1864 Constitution which disenfranchises ex-Confederates. Its seat is at Williamsburg. In gratitude to the government's loyalty, its borders are unchanged (save for West Virginia).
* The State of Franklin is formed to gratify Unionist Tennesseans. Union-loyal counties of North Carolina are added (yes, this includes Asheville). It will be admitted to the Union significantly before its surrounding territories.
* Upon request of the residents, various ex-Georgian counties are added to Franklin.
* Carolina Meriduem delebitur in saecula saeculorum. (South Carolina is abolished, eternally.)
* The State of Carolina (the remainder of NC with parts of SC) will rename itself Piedmont when applying for admission to the Union, in an effort to even further differentiate itself.
* The State of Jones is formed from "backwoods" regions of Mississippi and Alabama.
* Given rumors that southwestern Texas is primarily Unionist, it is divided. There was a move to split off the western part as Arizona Territory, but it was squelched in favor of letting the Unionist state keep the legacy of Texas.
* East Texas is added to upstate Louisiana and named Lincoln after the recently-martyred President.
* Due to the importance of the port of New Orleans, the State of Orleans is gerrymandered to have a majority of freedmen, who can be relied on to vote Republican. (The borders show a slave majority per the 1860 census; I know there was a lot of migration during the war, so I'm waving my hands here.)
* West Florida is formed out of more-heavily-populated parts of Florida and the lower half of Alabama. The rest of Alabama is merged with Mississippi; the rest of Florida is given Territorial status due to lack of population and named Jackson.
* Arkansas survives because no one was paying attention to it.

why didn't you get the portion of Virginia off the coast of the rest of Virginia to Maryland?
 
After a couple weeks, I decided to draw one possible redrafting of Southern borders. One possible PoD is that Johnson dies in 1866 (maybe in some way that can be blamed on the Southern elite); Radical Republicans take power and decide to destroy the old Southern system from the top down by abolishing the former states. Obviously, this's only one possibility; please have away at its plausibility!

* Clark County is added to Nevada as per OTL.
* The Restored Government of Virginia is recognized, under its 1864 Constitution which disenfranchises ex-Confederates. Its seat is at Williamsburg. In gratitude to the government's loyalty, its borders are unchanged (save for West Virginia).
* The State of Franklin is formed to gratify Unionist Tennesseans. Union-loyal counties of North Carolina are added (yes, this includes Asheville). It will be admitted to the Union significantly before its surrounding territories.
* Upon request of the residents, various ex-Georgian counties are added to Franklin.
* Carolina Meriduem delebitur in saecula saeculorum. (South Carolina is abolished, eternally.)
* The State of Carolina (the remainder of NC with parts of SC) will rename itself Piedmont when applying for admission to the Union, in an effort to even further differentiate itself.
* The State of Jones is formed from "backwoods" regions of Mississippi and Alabama.
* Given rumors that southwestern Texas is primarily Unionist, it is divided. There was a move to split off the western part as Arizona Territory, but it was squelched in favor of letting the Unionist state keep the legacy of Texas.
* East Texas is added to upstate Louisiana and named Lincoln after the recently-martyred President.
* Due to the importance of the port of New Orleans, the State of Orleans is gerrymandered to have a majority of freedmen, who can be relied on to vote Republican. (The borders show a slave majority per the 1860 census; I know there was a lot of migration during the war, so I'm waving my hands here.)
* West Florida is formed out of more-heavily-populated parts of Florida and the lower half of Alabama. The rest of Alabama is merged with Mississippi; the rest of Florida is given Territorial status due to lack of population and named Jackson.
* Arkansas survives because no one was paying attention to it.


Looks good to me, this seems to be quite likely.
 
Looks good to me, this seems to be quite likely.
Thanks!
why didn't you get the portion of Virginia off the coast of the rest of Virginia to Maryland?
During the war, the Restored Government of Virginia actually did exercise (some) authority over the Eastern Shore. I was assuming they'd keep the state entirely intact in commemoration of its loyalty... though, given how almost the entire Eastern Theater of the war took place in Virginia, I could see another TL where they were almost as hostile to it as to South Carolina.
 
At one point the courts ruled that since succession (unilateral at any rate) was illegal, that meant the States never legally left the Union. The Constitution says that in order to make States out of previous States, the consent of the State Assembly is required. So it would be rather difficult to simply redraw the borders.
 
At one point the courts ruled that since succession (unilateral at any rate) was illegal, that meant the States never legally left the Union. The Constitution says that in order to make States out of previous States, the consent of the State Assembly is required. So it would be rather difficult to simply redraw the borders.
Texas v. White (1869), several years after the PoD. At the time, there was a difference in opinion on the subject. A lot of Radical Republicans thought that by trying to secede, the states had committed "suicide" and were therefore equivalent to territories, which Congress can adjust at its pleasure. (That was one of the grounds on which they justified the Reconstruction Acts.) For instance, look at these Congressional journals from February 1864:
February 16. After routine business the question of reception and reference of the credentials of Mr. Johnson, who appeared as Representative from Arkansas, was taken up. A discussion ensued, which elicited the fact that there was a wide difference in the views of Republican members upon the question whether there was really any State of Arkansas now existing and entitled to be represented in Congress. Finally the whole subject was referred to the Committee on Elections.
 
Maybe a gerrymandered Republican state in the Black Belt, that has an African-American majority?

Whoa. I don't know if everyone appreciates what a BFD this would be, were the Radicals brave/ballsy/completelyf***inginsane enough to do it. Great Migration of OTL would be butterflied away as millions flee to The Promised Land instead. Black Nationalism would go from abstract concept/pipe dream to theoretically plausible plan of action.

If the good ol' boys felt humiliated by OTL's Reconstruction sweet black jesus they would HATE this arrangement. Honest-to-god "low intensity conflict" between this state and its white neighbors could be a ugly problem that rages for decades. Imagine a world where a U.S state rivalry reaches the point of sponsored assassinations and terrorism!

Cultural impact might be pretty big too. Less blacks in less Northern cities = crappier 20th century music? Or maybe everything would just be more country influenced. :)
 
That should be possible if Sherman's order 15 is carried out:
"The islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice fields along the rivers for thirty miles back from the sea, and the country bordering the St. Johns river, Florida, are reserved and set apart for the settlement of the negroes [sic] now made free by the acts of war and the proclamation of the President of the United States."
I can't find a map of it though, is that enough for a viable state?

Section two specifies that these new communities, moreover, would be governed entirely by black people themselves: " … on the islands, and in the settlements hereafter to be established, no white person whatever, unless military officers and soldiers detailed for duty, will be permitted to reside; and the sole and exclusive management of affairs will be left to the freed people themselves … By the laws of war, and orders of the President of the United States, the negro [sic] is free and must be dealt with as such."
This part could end badly, what's the future of segregation if whites can point to a whole state they aren't allowed to live in?
 

katchen

Banned
Very good, except that the Union might create a state in Northern Alabama centered around the former Free State of Winston, which was a center of Unionist sentiment. Either that, or extend the State of Franklin through part of Northern Georgia into Northwest Alabama to encompass Winston County. Also, Unionist parts of North Arkansas might be rewarded by separation from secessionist South Arkansas and early statehood, maybe as the State of Ozark.

>> Free State of Winston Free State of Winston


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The Free State of Winston is a popular name given to Civil War-era Winston County, as a reflection of the county's generally pro-Union stance and resistance to Confederate rule during the war. During the secession crisis, Unionists in Winston County declared their right to secede from Alabama; much as the state seceded from the Union. Although the county pulled back from the bold step of secession and hoped to remain neutral in the conflict, it remained under state control and was the scene of violent acts of retribution during and after the war.
Located in the rugged hill country of northwest Alabama, south of the Tennessee River, Winston County was originally formed from part of Walker County in 1850 and was named Hancock County, before it became Winston in 1858. Its rugged terrain, characterized by hills and steep-walled gorges, together with its poor soil and unpredictable climate, made subsistence farming, rather than large-scale cotton planting, the mainstay of Winston's economy. Very few slaveholders lived in the county in 1860.
Christopher SheatsIn the 1860 election, the majority of Winston County's voters supported Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge for president, perhaps because they saw Breckinridge as the political heir of Andrew Jackson, a hero to many of the county's residents. From the beginning of the war, though, Winston County's inhabitants were strongly Unionist. Christopher Sheats, a 22-year old Winston County schoolteacher and ardent Unionist, was elected by an overwhelming majority to represent the county at Alabama's secession convention. There, he refused to sign the secession ordinance. His Unionism led to his expulsion from the state legislature and his imprisonment for some time under charges of treason. In the first months after secession, many Winston Unionists formed home guard companies to defend themselves against Confederates. In addition, Unionists elected as officers in many of the county's militia units refused to take the oath of office, preventing them from drilling and entering Confederate service.
Winston earned its reputation as a Unionist "free state" during a large informal gathering of Unionists from Winston and surrounding counties. One early local historian gives the date as July 4, 1861, at Looney's Tavern, north of present-day Addison, whereas other sources suggest a later date, perhaps as late as early 1862, also at Looney's Tavern. According to the earlier account, the Unionists passed three resolutions. The first commended Sheats for his staunch opposition to secession. The second denied Alabama's right to secede, but declared that if Alabama had that right, Winston County also had the right to secede from Alabama. The third resolution declared that those present desired to fight neither the Union nor the Confederacy, and requested to be left alone by both sides to "work out our own political and financial destiny." Although the second resolution affirmed the right of the county to secede from Alabama, it did not actually declare Winston's secession. Nevertheless, one of those present reportedly said, "Oho! Winston secedes! The Free State of Winston!" Though the accounts may well contain some inaccuracies, a Unionist meeting did take place in the county, and it called for neutrality in the Civil War.
There were supporters of the Confederacy in Winston County as well, many of whom volunteered for Confederate service at the beginning of the war. The county's Confederates held a meeting of their own on November 30, 1861. They petitioned Gov. John Gill Shorter to suppress the Unionist spirit pervading the county, to require all of the county's residents to take the Confederate loyalty oath, and to require the county to provide 250 Confederate soldiers. Shorter responded by issuing writs of arrest for those in the county who were actively disloyal to the Confederacy, and also demanding that militia commanders who would not take the oath of office resign.
Sign at Natural Bridge ParkAlthough Winston County's Unionists wanted to be left alone, the governments of the Confederacy and of Alabama did not oblige. The hill-country Unionists soon faced Confederate conscription beginning in 1862 and many fled their homes, seeking refuge from conscription agents in the county's rugged forests and canyons. The natural bridge in western Winston County was said to have been a major gathering point for Unionists avoiding the draft or who had deserted from the Confederate Army. From Winston County, many of these Unionists eventually made their way north to the Tennessee River valley and joined the Union Army, most commonly enlisting in the First Alabama Cavalry, USA. A few of the county's residents, including Bill Looney, served the Union Army by helping Unionists escape to the safety of Union lines. In July 1862, Colonel Abel D. Streight led a detachment of Union troops into the hills to gather more recruits for the Union Army. The Unionist farmers who fled into the woods and to the Union Army to avoid the Confederate draft could not work on their farms. Hence, the county's residents had difficulty growing enough food. Confederate impressment agents worsened matters by taking food and livestock from the county to feed the Confederate army.
The war saw a number of atrocities in Winston County, as both Unionists and Confederates committed acts of robbery, vandalism, and even murder against their former neighbors. One notable instance was the murder of probate judge Tom Pink Curtis by a band of Confederate horsemen, who were looking for salt left in Curtis's charge by the Alabama state government for distribution to the poor. In the later years of the war, both Union and Confederate raiders swept through the county. Dual Destiny Monument in Double SpringsConfederate captain Nelson Fennel led an unsuccessful raid into Winston in June 1863 to seize deserters and draft-dodgers. Lieutenant Colonel W. L. Maxwell led a Confederate expedition in April 1864 into the county for a similar purpose, but the rugged terrain hampered his efforts. Union colonel William J. Palmer led a raid through Winston County in December 1864 and January 1865. While in the county, his force won a skirmish with a body of Confederates and liberated a large number of Unionist conscripts. Major General James H. Wilson led a major Union raid through the county in March and April of 1865.
After the war, considerable tensions remained between Winston County's Unionists and Confederates, leading to occasional violence. The county's Unionism led to Republican Party dominance of local politics. Today, a statue of a Civil War soldier, half Union and half Confederate, stands in front of the Winston County courthouse in Double Springs, commemorating the county's divided loyalties during the war. The Incident at Looney's Tavern, a musical drama performed regularly in Winston County, tells the story of Christopher Sheats and the Unionist meeting at Looney's Tavern. It is the official state outdoor musical drama of Alabama.

Additional Resources

Dodd, Donald B., and Amy Bartlett-Dodd. The Free State of Winston. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
Dodd, Donald B., and Wynelle S. Dodd. Winston: An Antebellum and Civil War History of a Hill County of North Alabama. Vol. 4 of Annals of Northwest Alabama, comp. Carl Elliot. Birmingham: Oxmoor Press, 1972.
Winston County Heritage Book Committee. The Heritage of Winston County, Alabama. Clanton, Ala.: Heritage Publishing Consultants, 1998.
David McRae
Auburn University
 
The only way I could see this happening is in the context of the wildest dreams of the Radical Republican faction, and that included vicious fantasies like the forced migration of a large proportion of white southerners to be spread across the western states, and replacing them with carpetbagging whites from the north; keeping the southern white generation that fought the war permanently disenfranchised, etc.

But, within a context like that, redrawing state lines in the South would have a particular goal: making sure that Slave power Democrats could never reemerge as a political power in the old Confederacy. To that end, I think two of the ideas mentioned in this thread would be quite logical: slicing off the Loyalist Appalachian regions and organizing them into new states, ala West Virginia; and reorganizing the remainder into what would be, coupled with forced mass deportations, black-majority states.

So East Tennessee, western North Carolina, parts of northern Georgia, and the Alabama hill country would be chiseled off and reorganized into at least two new Appalachian states. The rest would be an exercise in gerrymandering, coupled with shipping a third of the white resident population west at the point of a bayonet.

Pretty ugly scenario, isn't it?
 
Have the Jeff Davis guerrilla warfare plan enacted along with it. Maybe have Lee die of a heart attack or something after surrender so he's not around to use a symbol the other way? Lots of bushwhacking after 1865 would induce anger.

Yes, I was thinking this. The war ends, but the fighting does not. After Lincoln's assassination (and maybe the others too) Congress is in no mood to pussy foot around.

Given the influx of carpet-baggers, it would not seem too bad an idea to redraw the states and readmit them to the Union on the basis of proving loyalty.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
After a couple weeks, I decided to draw one possible redrafting of Southern borders. One possible PoD is that Johnson dies in 1866 (maybe in some way that can be blamed on the Southern elite); Radical Republicans take power and decide to destroy the old Southern system from the top down by abolishing the former states. Obviously, this's only one possibility; please have away at its plausibility!

* Clark County is added to Nevada as per OTL.
* The Restored Government of Virginia is recognized, under its 1864 Constitution which disenfranchises ex-Confederates. Its seat is at Williamsburg. In gratitude to the government's loyalty, its borders are unchanged (save for West Virginia).
* The State of Franklin is formed to gratify Unionist Tennesseans. Union-loyal counties of North Carolina are added (yes, this includes Asheville). It will be admitted to the Union significantly before its surrounding territories.
* Upon request of the residents, various ex-Georgian counties are added to Franklin.
* Carolina Meriduem delebitur in saecula saeculorum. (South Carolina is abolished, eternally.)
* The State of Carolina (the remainder of NC with parts of SC) will rename itself Piedmont when applying for admission to the Union, in an effort to even further differentiate itself.
* The State of Jones is formed from "backwoods" regions of Mississippi and Alabama.
* Given rumors that southwestern Texas is primarily Unionist, it is divided. There was a move to split off the western part as Arizona Territory, but it was squelched in favor of letting the Unionist state keep the legacy of Texas.
* East Texas is added to upstate Louisiana and named Lincoln after the recently-martyred President.
* Due to the importance of the port of New Orleans, the State of Orleans is gerrymandered to have a majority of freedmen, who can be relied on to vote Republican. (The borders show a slave majority per the 1860 census; I know there was a lot of migration during the war, so I'm waving my hands here.)
* West Florida is formed out of more-heavily-populated parts of Florida and the lower half of Alabama. The rest of Alabama is merged with Mississippi; the rest of Florida is given Territorial status due to lack of population and named Jackson.
* Arkansas survives because no one was paying attention to it.

Where is Jones? Oh damn, where'd the map go? I mean you describe Jones, but I can't see it on the map - can I?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
Where is Jones? Oh damn, where'd the map go? I mean you describe Jones, but I can't see it on the map - can I?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
Oops - that was a comment from a previous draft that I forgot to delete. On second thought, katchen and others are making me wonder whether it'd be a good idea...
 
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