WI the Union Began the War

Hey Guys,

What if the United States were the ones who fired the first shots in the American Civil War, and thus would be seen as the aggressors?

Would we see more border states whom IOTL were very split in fact lurch towards the Confederacy? If so which states may secede alongside the Confederacy? Might we see Kentucky leave the Union for the Confederates? If so could this encourage other states such as Delaware or Maryland to secede also?

Also how would this effect international opinion on the Civil War, might we see Britain and France getting more involved with the Union being seen as the aggressive nation here? With the Confederates being romanticized as the poor underdog of America, while their northern neighbour throws its weight around?
 
Hey Guys,

What if the United States were the ones who fired the first shots in the American Civil War, and thus would be seen as the aggressors?

Would we see more border states whom IOTL were very split in fact lurch towards the Confederacy? If so which states may secede alongside the Confederacy? Might we see Kentucky leave the Union for the Confederates? If so could this encourage other states such as Delaware or Maryland to secede also?

Also how would this effect international opinion on the Civil War, might we see Britain and France getting more involved with the Union being seen as the aggressive nation here? With the Confederates being romanticized as the poor underdog of America, while their northern neighbour throws its weight around?

My timeline has that as part of the POD. I didn't use it to have Britain and France join in, but it helped them sympathize with the C.S.A. Kentucky and Missouri both had two gov. in OTL-one pro-Union, the other Confederate. Kentucky would be much more likely to side with the C.S.A. Missouri is still fairly difficult to place-it might lean more toward the C.S.A. Maryland and Delaware wouldn't go though, Lincoln definitely prevented that.

The general setup is Kentucky to the C.S.A., Delaware and Maryland to the Union, and you're free to choose who gets Missouri.

If you want to go even further, a heightened response from the Union might carve out both West Virginia and Nickajack (Eastern Tennessee) from the C.S.A. due to their pro-Union sympathies.
 
Top