hey, all. this thought occurred to me recently and i wanted to get some peer review for it.
for clarification, i've long been considering that the alternate version of the American Civil War in my ASB ATL would be shorter than it was IOTL as an unintended consequence of a completely different decision (the short version is that photography develops--ha ha--earlier than IOTL and that results in smokeless powder being developed earlier which the Union has while the Confederacy doesn't), but now i'm thinking that not only is that less plausible than i'd originally thought but it might be more interesting to actually expand the timeframe of the Civil War by a year or two (and, perhaps more importantly, the Civil War lasting as long as it did IOTL or slightly longer is much more conducive to the larger story i want to tell with the TL).
so, anyway, i wanted to ask what everyone thinks would be the plausible results of the Civil War lasting to the end of the 1860s at the very latest, and what the most likely end-point for it would be after 1865. i doubt the war lasting slightly longer would result in a Confederate victory, so this is ultimately more about the late-war consequences for the Confederacy--maybe an extension or "Act II" of the March to the Sea?--and Reconstruction after the fact, but aside from those i'm at a bit of a loss. thoughts?