Until Every Drop of Blood Is Paid: A More Radical American Civil War
- Thread starter Red_Galiray
- Start date
South will try and rally the rest of the border states to their side while trying to invade western Maryland while the north goes on the defensive in Maryland and attacks in Kentucky and the Shenandoah valley
A less harsh Reconstruction would have ended in the same result. A more harsh reconstruction could have led to a long insurgency, depending on how poor whites felt. The problem with Reconstruction is poor whites weren't given enough incentive to play ball. The planter class couldn't do much by themselves- just not enough of them.
Carving up the planter class amongst both blacks and poor whites would likely make them allies of convenience against the former quasi-nobility of the South- and nothing brings people together like a common enemy.
No, as I've said elsewhere African Americans would have had a devil of a time properly financing any new holdings, and those poor whites who were passed over in favor of African Americans would more strenuously seek to drive them into bankruptcy.
Would they rather stay around and be poor, or go out and find land on the Great Plains? Most would choose the latter. Suddenly, a lot less white non-landowners are around.
One, this is working under the assumption that a lot of poor white Southerners will have that option, given I think that a more vindictive Radical Administration may have service in the Confederate Government or Military preclude their right to participate in any form of homesteading, or at considerably more expense. Two, many would probably feel immeasurably more secure working land they are already familiar with, with local connection they are already familiar with, rather than jaunt out West and hope for the best.
Only if you ignore the natives yelling and shooting at you to f*ck off
I mean, they're still not in the South. They're busy getting shot at by natives. But yes, I see your point.
I think this is more a cynicism vs. idealism debate at this point.
I was going to make a joke, but that pretty much boiled the conversation down to its core.
What happens when you crush coal, do you get dust or a diamond?
Last edited:
You know, given how radical the North's likely to get given the even more blatant rigging by southern slavocrats, it might be possible for the US to confiscate the assets of all slaveowners in rebel states and redistribute them to non-slaveowners (black and white) to shore up Union loyalty among poor whites post-war.
I'd be more surprised if it didn't happen tbh, at the very least I think the feds would redistribute every former plantation's land to it's slaves outright. The monetary assets could be partially redistributed to the white yeomen that swore an oath of loyalty as a sign of good faith.
But above all else, the very idea of "southern plantation agriculture" is going to get erased. And with plantations destroyed, cotton (and other plantation crops like indigo, tobacco) might have their production in America halted for generations until agriculture gets more mechanized.
Would the federal government encourage substinance farmers to grow rice in areas with enough water (Lower mississipi valley, southeast costal plains)?
While more labour intensive, it gave much better yields than wheat or corn in that period.
Would the federal government encourage substinance farmers to grow rice in areas with enough water (Lower mississipi valley, southeast costal plains)?
While more labour intensive, it gave much better yields than wheat or corn in that period.
Fried rice sounds like a nice reward for half a decade of misery and human viciousness.
