The physical separation of the sections was declining rapidly.
The railroad was eclipsing the steamship. The transcontinental railroad was coming. The telegraph, an electrical device, had reached Sacramento.
The ability of the South to survive as a separate enclave in the nation was declining rapidly.
It was the age of printing, and newspapers were everywhere.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a major political novel.
The dream, that the South could survive as an independent nation sitting next to the closest thing to a democracy in the world, did not make sense.
Thanks for your reply.
(Not sure why you separate your responses as you do: why not combine them?)
Everything you say is true- so long as you stay with fact and context.
The railroad was eclipsing the steamship.
Yes, in both the north and the south. The Civil War significantly accelerated the development of the railroads in the north, while southern railroads-though significantly damaged- were slowly rebuilt as better systems.
The idea of a transcontinental railroad originated well before the war. Southerners tried desperately to have such a line built across the southern US, increasing the likelihood of expanding slavery into the southwest as well as providing financial benefits to cities along the route from Georgia through Louisiana and Texas. Any chance of that happening ended with the Civil War, which decided the eventual route farther north.
The ability of the South to survive as a separate enclave in the nation was declining rapidly.
This seems like another way of saying secession wasn't well thought-out. Few would disagree.
It was the age of printing, and newspapers were everywhere.
Even the south. So?
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a major political novel.
Indeed. But without secession and the ensuing war it would have had far less impact. The slave-holding states were not about to negotiate away their 'way of life'.
The dream, that the South could survive as an independent nation sitting next to the closest thing to a democracy in the world, did not make sense.
Certainly not to me. This seems to be a restatement of your similar, earlier "enclave" point.
But let's be clear: the United States has never been a "democracy". Nor was the Confederacy. In form, the Confederate government was similar to the US government. The form of government would have meant little had the south succeeded in forming a separate nation. Form of government has certainly not- by itself- caused the collapse of Canada or Mexico. Once independent, the CSA might be expected to do at least as well as those neighbors.