The Civil War (1833-1837)

OK, consider this an open TimeLine.

POD: 1833, the South Carolinan legislature convenes on March 11, 1833 and instead of repealing the Nullification Ordinance, it only digs deeper in it's state's rights doctrine.

Effects: The Civil War erupts, with President Jackson using his Force Bill to send Federal troops to South Carolina.

Here are the problems I'm having with these:

1. Why dous SC decide to keep the Nullification doctrine? Supposedly, John Calhoun was at a Congressional dinner and was rambling on about Nullification and how the south "would know what to do" when Jackson was forced to make a statement: he stood with his glass raised and said, "Our federal union, it must be preserved!" Calhoun backed down after that. Suppose either Jackson doesn't make such a comment, or it doesn't put Calhoun in his place?

2. How could South Carolina, after being firm in their position to stay to their Nullification, convince the other southern states to declare themselves independent? There's no way SC could fight an entire war by themselves, but perhaps combined with Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, (and perhaps Virginia) they could win their independence as an earlier Confederacy.

3. Supposing that SC pulled the "way of life" card on the southern states, how would such a war fare for the south? As far as I can see, the North would have the upper hand in military commanders, Winfield Scott being the only one I know of. Can anybody think of any Southern commanders that could bring the south to victory? Maybe if SC brought Virginia to the Confederacy, then Scott would join the south... although the same event in OTL didn't yield that result.

4. I think it's safe to say Calhoun would've led the fight, at least politically for the Confederacy. Who would be in President Calhoun's cabinet? What would the Confederate government look like this early on?
 

Japhy

Banned
Jackson will be able to keep many of the southern states in the union. At most you get a rebellion in South Carolina and possibly Georgia but its quickly crushed by a Union Army personally led by Jackson. This Southern revolt has no chance, mostly noted for setting a president against secession/nullification and forceing the Federal Goverment on states more.
 
You would not have had Georgia join with South Carolina because of the Indian question. Jackson was tough on the Cherokee and other civilized tribes and helped to evict them along the Trail of Tears. South Carolina would have had to go it alone...and would have been crushed.

This would have decided the issue of secession a generation or so earlier. And so by 1860 if a similar crisis arose as that caused by Lincoln's election, I doubt that the Southern states would have been so quick to secede. This is a very interesting AH to ponder as it would relate to the future of slavery in the US.

If your just trying to get a Civil War to occure in this time frame than a different cuase than the Nulification Crisis is needed to spark secession. Most Southern states knew that there was room for compromise when it came to tariff rates and saw the Crisis as grandstanding by South Carolina politicians.

Perhaps as a POD you could have William Wilburforce tour the Northern states sparking a earlier abolition movement that leads to increased sectionalism. This would change the entire political situation of the nation but that is probably needed in order to get a full scale Civil War in this time period.

Benjamin
 
I like the Wilburforce idea. Basically, what's going on though is that slavery has to be the central issue because it unites the south and angers the north?

OK, so go with the Wilburforce idea. Say he tours Boston, New York, makes a brief appearance in Washington, and then goes to Philadelphia before returning to London. Say he does this all in 1830. Nullification comes up as an issue, is there any way to widen it so Calhoun can point towards slavery as the next thing to go for the south?
 
You could combine this with a more serious Nat Turner rebellion (OTL start date of Aug. 21 1831). Have the slaves spurred on by religious/abolitionist tracts written by Wilburforce and his supporters. If the slaves have more moral support from the North and are somewhat less vicious and indiscriminate about whom they murder then the Turner Rebellion could end up a rallying cry for both sides in the same way that John Brown's Raid did in 1859.

Turner's Rebellion began in Virginia so this could bring the most imporatant Southern state in to the the Nullification. If Turner's Rebellion had spread and with South Carolina and Virginia playing both the tariff and race cards then you could perhaps have a full blown civil war in 1833-1837.

Benjamin
 
Ok, so Wilburforce tours the Northern states, Nat Turner's Rebellion is spurred on and becomes bigger than OTL. Nullification hits, and is that just the catalyst for a Civil War? How does slavery play into that?
 
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