Northern Sympathizer
Private
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2009
There have been so many books and discussions about what life would be like if the Confederates won the War between the States, but rarely do people discuss what would have become of President Lincoln.
To avoid answers such as it being impossible for the Confederacy to win or that it would all depend on certain events, I'll attempt to make the fantasia clearer and fill in those gaps. (This alternate history time-line is partially based off one of the last chapters from the book "The Glittering Illusion: English Sympathy for the Southern Confederacy" by Sheldon Vanauken where the C.S.A. wins the war through British intervention.)
Let's say that England recognizes the Confederacy as it's own country in December of 1862 which leads to the United States declaring war on England.
Union Forces in New Orleans, Louisiana are defeated by the British Army and are forced to retreat and The Army of Northern Virginia is reinforced by British brigades during the battle of Gettysburg. Together, they cut the U.S. Army in two which leads to General Meade's surrender which happens ironically on the 4th of July.
Confederate and British forces ride into Washington D.C., unopposed and the United States Government (at the new capital in Portland, Maine) finally answers the cry for peace and ends the war.
Now to also avoid a discussion of what would happen to the U.S.A. - Let's also say that the Confederacy has no plans to annex the Union into the C.S.A. and despite what they consider to be war crimes, the Confederacy...in an attempt to ease the tensions...do not try to find President Lincoln (like in the mocumentary film "The Confederate States of America") and force him to stand trail. The soldiers just turn around and go home. Maryland joins the Confederacy since so many people there in the first place were pro-southern, and The District of Columbia becomes The District of Dixie, the C.S.A. becomes apart of the British Empire, General Robert E. Lee becomes Lord Arlington, and slavery soon ends peacefully in the late 1870's.
Which now leads to the current question - It is now 1863 and the Union has been defeated. Would Mr. Lincoln be able to continue his term as President? Would he be blamed for the loss? Would he be reelected in 1865? Would he continue to live in the U.S.A? What would he do after his Presidential term was over?
My answer - I think a lot of people would be calling for him to step down as President, but not being a quitter....he would finish out his term as President, but would not run for reelection. I think there would have been a lot of angry families out there that felt their men and boys died for nothing. I think he would face many death threats while trying to live in the United States and be blamed for not only losing the war by some people, but for causing the war by others.....so he would retire to Canada and would write his memoirs a few years after the war in an attempt to tell his side of the story.
There would be no Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln's likeness would not appear on the penny, stamps, the five dollar bill or Mount Rushmore. He would not have a holiday in his honor and there would be no monumental for him at the new capital in Portland, Maine, and there would be no street names, schools, or cities named after him and his picture would not appear in American History classes.
I think he would be forgotten by the mainstream and the casual person. All the great things he said and did would be obsolete. He would forever be seen and remembered the same way some people remember King George III. He'd also be seen as one of the worst Presidents of the U.S and would be remembered and blamed by historians and history buffs as the "tyrant" who divided what was once a great nation and lost "The War for Southern Independence".
Thankfully, this never happened.
To avoid answers such as it being impossible for the Confederacy to win or that it would all depend on certain events, I'll attempt to make the fantasia clearer and fill in those gaps. (This alternate history time-line is partially based off one of the last chapters from the book "The Glittering Illusion: English Sympathy for the Southern Confederacy" by Sheldon Vanauken where the C.S.A. wins the war through British intervention.)
Let's say that England recognizes the Confederacy as it's own country in December of 1862 which leads to the United States declaring war on England.
Union Forces in New Orleans, Louisiana are defeated by the British Army and are forced to retreat and The Army of Northern Virginia is reinforced by British brigades during the battle of Gettysburg. Together, they cut the U.S. Army in two which leads to General Meade's surrender which happens ironically on the 4th of July.
Confederate and British forces ride into Washington D.C., unopposed and the United States Government (at the new capital in Portland, Maine) finally answers the cry for peace and ends the war.
Now to also avoid a discussion of what would happen to the U.S.A. - Let's also say that the Confederacy has no plans to annex the Union into the C.S.A. and despite what they consider to be war crimes, the Confederacy...in an attempt to ease the tensions...do not try to find President Lincoln (like in the mocumentary film "The Confederate States of America") and force him to stand trail. The soldiers just turn around and go home. Maryland joins the Confederacy since so many people there in the first place were pro-southern, and The District of Columbia becomes The District of Dixie, the C.S.A. becomes apart of the British Empire, General Robert E. Lee becomes Lord Arlington, and slavery soon ends peacefully in the late 1870's.
Which now leads to the current question - It is now 1863 and the Union has been defeated. Would Mr. Lincoln be able to continue his term as President? Would he be blamed for the loss? Would he be reelected in 1865? Would he continue to live in the U.S.A? What would he do after his Presidential term was over?
My answer - I think a lot of people would be calling for him to step down as President, but not being a quitter....he would finish out his term as President, but would not run for reelection. I think there would have been a lot of angry families out there that felt their men and boys died for nothing. I think he would face many death threats while trying to live in the United States and be blamed for not only losing the war by some people, but for causing the war by others.....so he would retire to Canada and would write his memoirs a few years after the war in an attempt to tell his side of the story.
There would be no Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln's likeness would not appear on the penny, stamps, the five dollar bill or Mount Rushmore. He would not have a holiday in his honor and there would be no monumental for him at the new capital in Portland, Maine, and there would be no street names, schools, or cities named after him and his picture would not appear in American History classes.
I think he would be forgotten by the mainstream and the casual person. All the great things he said and did would be obsolete. He would forever be seen and remembered the same way some people remember King George III. He'd also be seen as one of the worst Presidents of the U.S and would be remembered and blamed by historians and history buffs as the "tyrant" who divided what was once a great nation and lost "The War for Southern Independence".
Thankfully, this never happened.
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