Np! And yes it is.Thanks for your comment! And yes, the work is beginning now
Reconstruction: The Second American Revolution - The Sequel to Until Every Drop of Blood Is Paid
- Thread starter Red_Galiray
- Start date
You're welcome. Yeah, when people start wondering why certain groups of blacks want to separate for a while, that may cause further study into the idea of these imprints. Because even for me with a touch of Asperger's, especially when younger, such things were a little confusing. Because after all, they had to achieve what they wanted. And once it is explained it makes sense to me. It will definitely be Harder for someone who doesn't even have the concept of trauma.
This too might end up leading to a much greater understanding of trauma than the people had just a decade earlier.
(Theodor Meynert made some discoveries about the amygdala in 1867. From what I just found. And if Doctor Da Costa has not corresponded with him before. I'm sure he will now
)
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This is actually a favorite historical niche of mine, so I'm quite excited to see how you choose to cover it. I'm definitely curious if Ex parte Milligan comes out the same from Lincoln's new Court (I do not recall what changes were made there vs. OTL). As seems to be a recurring theme, though, the Junta has hoist its own petard. Their actions made the south an active war zone where no functioning civilian courts exist, and eliminated whatever facade of government Breckinridge could've protected them with. It's beautiful.
Like Wendell Phillips said--
Hope the next update will catch up on the carpetbaggers and Scalawags ITTL
Seeing the Russian Embassy in the last vignette makes me thing... Alaska's coming up. Maybe Lincoln could settle some black soldiers up in Kodiak or Sitka
Seeing the Russian Embassy in the last vignette makes me thing... Alaska's coming up. Maybe Lincoln could settle some black soldiers up in Kodiak or Sitka
As an add on to this I wonder how the changes in the court would affect this ruling
For context:
The majority of Milligan was held up by Associate David Davis, joined by Nathan Clifford, Stephen J. Field, Robert C. Grier, and Samuel Nelson
this is relevant because Nathan Clifford and Stephen Field are not in the court (Clifford was appointed by Buchanan after Curtis resigned which he didn’t ITTL until Lincoln was elected and was instead replaced by Republican Ebenezer R. Hoar who otl was Grant’s AG, while Field was appointed to appeal to democrats during the National Union Party time, since that doesn’t happen Maryland Unionist George P. Fisher is selected instead)
meanwhile the Concurrences stated that “they disagreed with the majority's assertion that Congress did not have the power to authorize military commissions in Indiana. Chief Justice Chase asserted that Congress had the power to authorize a military commission, but it had not done so in Milligan's case.”, this was filed by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, Justices James Moore Wayne, Noah Haynes Swayne, and Samuel Freeman Miller, of this one’s only Chase isn’t in the court with instead William Strong being the Chief Justice, and then there’s the fact that since Lincoln was alive, John Catron’s seat was not abolished and instead Kentucky judge Bland Ballard is the replacement
this means that accounting for OTL the results are as followed
OTL majority: 3 (Davis, Grier, Nelson)
OTL concurrence/dissent: 3 (Wayne, Swayne, Miller)
Unknows: 4 (Hoar, Fisher, Strong, Ballard)
interesting indeed, honestly it could go either way, Hoar and Strong to me seem more likely to side with the dissent while Fisher seems more likely to side with the majority but there’s so little about Ballard‘s judicial opinions that I can’t say with certainty, while Ballard did prosecute traitors and the like he was in Kentucky, I am not sure if he would support the same measures in Indiana.
And on that note, the Union's focus on war criminals, junta leaders, and fire-eaters is also convenient for the Union on grounds that the bureaucracy for larger-scale trials than those people doesn't really exist.
One other interesting thing I just thought, muscle memory was not really examined as a thing for another Century because the idea of the brain being entirely chemicals and stuff and bearing the responsibility of the entire body took precedence. But with a few athletes involved it is possible that someone else could develop the idea of muscle memory based on that idea of imprints.
In fact, I'm getting an idea...
In fact, I'm getting an idea...
I see no reason to believe the Alaska purchase wouldn't occur ITL, especially with relations with the British becoming a bit shakier. Plus, as you said, it'd be a place where freedmen could settle without many whites (at least, until the gold rushes); Alaska as the "New Africa" is fucking blursed, though.
So far I appreciate the emphasis on black agency throughout the process of dismantling the Slavocracy. It just shows that they're not just a monolithic group that accepted their new status all at once but rather they were real people who weighed their options before declaring themselves free, and once they did, took matters into their own hands to work the land for their family and community. With land reform and distribution being more favored towards the freedmen (and more importantly, their lands and wealth can be inherited throughout the generations), the future is bright for Black Americans ITTL.
Considering the treason trials, this reminds me: What line of defense will the vanquished rebel leaders be taking in their defenses?
Rebel Talking Point: Hasn't the South suffered enough with Northern barbarism?
They'll want to guilt trip their way out of being tried for a litany of offenses. They pray and hope someone is sympathetic to their plight and let them go based on pity.
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I fully expect quite a few to take the Saddam Hussein approach and deny the legitimacy of the Court trying them, especially the civilian politicians who often had legal backgrounds and can make a legitimate claim that civilians being tried by military courts is technically illegal (which was a major stumbling block IOTL vis-a-vis the question of trying Confederate leaders).
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It’s a solid policy, beats having to rely on merchants that will wring them dry and offer a chance to build wealth.
That would definitely help the South’s rebuilding. Historically, merchants charged higher interest rates than banks because they themselves were borrowing funds and had greater market power. Moreover, investing back into the freedmen is not only the morally responsible thing to do, it helps avoid the speculation that doomed the Freedman’s Bank IOTL. If I might suggest, perhaps the Freedman’s Bank should switch from being a mere savings bank to its new mission as the Cotton-Mule policy is finished.
It will be a different track from OTL for sure. The Federal government was scared to actually do the trial because they might accidentally declare secession as legal and constitutional. Hence, the defense kept playing up that they would prove the constitutionality of secession - in reality, Jeff Davis was scared as hell of being tried. Here, their best defense against treason would be the same: secession was constitutional, therefore it’s not treason.
There will probably be some shenanigans among the U.S. politicians as to how secession is unconditional - was it always unconstitutional or was it because of trial by battle? The latter was pushed by Radical Republicans in a last ditch for State Suicide IIRC - because secession was legal before 1865, that meant the Confederacy was an independent state and now it was a conquered territory that could be moulded into anything they wanted. Of course, that also meant that the Confederate officials did not commit treason and looking at the words ‘Treason Trials’ I doubt this worked.
For war crimes, it’s more simple. Contrary to popular belief, Henry Wirz was not the only Confederate figure to be executed for war crimes. Plenty of others were executed, such as Champ Ferguson. George Pickett of Pickett’s Charge fame was meant to be tried for executing several captured NC Unionists for serving in Federal uniforms. Only Andrew Johnson’s proclamation to ban military tribunals in peacetime stopped it and other pending trials.
Loved the chapter! I'm a bit late to comment because I was traveling. I have to ask though...
If so, that's cool, if not, still a cool moment.
Is this a reference to "Somewhere in South Carolina"/"A deserter and a freeman." because it feels like it lol
If so, that's cool, if not, still a cool moment.
Side-story: "More on the Life of Dr Da Costa"
One more from Dr. Da Costa for now, with a note at the end.
The medical assistant smiled at the boy, probably around fourteen, despite the lad's scowl in return. "Dr.Da Costa tells me that you are still having some hallucinations, Andrew?"
"Why should I talk to you?" The boy grumbled and looked down at the stump that was once a leg, and the wooden stilt or whatever they called it that was now attached. "My paw died in the war, and my mama died in the famine. And now I gotta get treated by one of you," he drawled.
The assistant sighed. At least Andrew was treating him more kindly than he had at first. "Now, what's more shocking to you; seeing me training to be a doctor, or those stories you've heard about Elizabeth Blackwell?"
He'd known this was a good way to disarm the boy and get him to think. It was now April, 1866, and especially after a recent letter Da Costa had received back from Dr. Theodor Meynert last week, they had been stepping up their efforts to see how these "imprints" could be treated. Dr. Meynert was researching the amygdala himself and how different thigns might be reversible..
However, did muscles record these things,too? The assistant was going to have to hire his own assistants, what with the suggested works on "muscle memory," as it would be called many decades later, in athletes.
"I.." Andrew looked to be ready to say something, but he started looking far away.
"I'm sorry, Andrew. Did that thought remind you of your mother?" Andrew nodded almost imperceptibly. "You feel like you don't want to go home, with all those memories; you said you had an older sister, too, right?"
"She's got enough problems caring for the wee little ones...." he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.
In future years, Andrfew would be said to have "lots of issues." Had he even been thirteen when he was drafted by the desperate rebels? The assistant had no idea. All he knew was, this was the work of a despotic regime which had apparently not cared that Andrew was white; they had messed up his mind by throwing him into battle just as much as they messed up the slaves' minds before they'd finally been freed.
"Would you like to do some of that testing with the muscles we talked about with the others?" The assistant tossed him a ball, and Andrew grabbed it and began to smile. Perhaps he was out of his... trance, it almost seemed like.
"That was fun when I got to sit and ride in the Easter Parade," Andrew saidafter a moment as he threw the ball back.
The assistant smiled. He recalled how Octavius Catto had told him he used baseball as a way to start conversations. Perhaps it could help youth like this one - who was basically an orphan - to heal.
He also wondered about Andrew's older sister, who was eighteen, it seemed. What was she going through? He imagined that she probably felt like she had to get married. Perhaps she would end up marrying a Union soldier. There sure weren't very many former Confederate ones left.
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The assistant, one of a couple black ones, left Andrew with a nurse a short time later. He approached Dr. Da Costa and shared what had happened. "I didn't think it wise to go back to the hallucinations. He talked more about his sister, though. And he said there were a couple children of my race, too; he didn't want to talk about his parents then, so I let it go."
"Speculation, Richard?" the doctor asked as they walked back to his office to write out a report. While he'd hoped to get into what would be called flashbacks, he would gladly learn more about Andrew's family. They really wanted to reunite him with his sister; they didn't want a Southern orphan in Philadelphia, and while people accepted that he was still being treated, Andrew's refusal to go home seemed like more than just being sad that things were not like they had been before the rebellion.
"This mention of children of my race makes sense; I had my suspicions, as I told you before, that he or his younger siblings had played with some, based on the fact he wasn't as repulsed by my presence as most other rebel soldiers have been."
Da Costa smiled."That's good reasoning. We know from how he talked before his mother was a saint in his eyes. Any more about her?"
"All he'll say is she died in the famine. And we were able to find that his father did indeed die about two years ago in battle. He clearly has no love for the junta. He was drafted soon after they took over. My guess is he blames them for the famine,"Richard explained.
Da Costa nodded. "Probably; he's from an area that the rebels took all the food for their own men. Maybe he got word back that his mother was refusing even our meager rations once our men got there, to give it to the children. I can see that."
"But now that his woulnds are healed, what do we do?" Richard asked, anticipating Da Costa's question. "He lost some toes on the other foot, too, but his athletic skills as far as throwing are getting back to what they were, from what he tells me. I wonder if we could do a case study on that. Sort of a follow up to some of the side info you got from the athletes when you did those tests with the firecrackers."
"I like the way you think, Richard. You're trying to find a way to learn more all the time. That's going to make you a good doctor someday. But we can't just keep treating a patient forever, either."
Dr. Da Costa thought for a moment. He wondered if the boy's mother had actually died protecting the children. He knew with the reports of marauders down there, it was quite possible; even probable in some areas, given the way Andrew was so tight-lipped about it. Still, there were at least family members remaining, including an older sister who could care for him if he was reallyin bad shape. They were not yet at the place where they would be in another century when it came to treating PTSD.
Still, they could provide some hints. "Get that sister's name and an address if you can. I'm going to write her a letter - explain the memories and the like. Maybe one of the doctors down there will be able to follow up somewhat and get more info."
Richard explained that he'd even written to REbecca Crumpler. "She went down from New England to help treat Freedmen in Virginia. I doubt they'd wat her following up, but she's been collecting some good data," Richard said.
The doctor agreed. "It's odd to me; the former slaves aren't just integrating right away. More of these imprints, I guess; I don't know. It's such a new area to explore; but I think we're on the right track. I'll let Andrew's sister know what we're finding out; hopefully it'll help.
Several weeks later, Richard was checking a patient's vital signs when Dr. Da Costa came in. "Good news, Sir?"
"Yes, you can tell, huh? I got a letter from the sister of that Andrew we treated; she said he's home and in good hands. No specifics, but she says some of our suppositions were correct. There was fighting near his home, and what he saw, well... It's going to be a long road, but at least he's with family."
"I imagine it's hard for all of them, whatever it was," Richard said solemnly.
"Indeed. Had we kept him here, I suppose we could have gotten to the truth, but then, how to treat it?" The doctor flapped his hands at his side slightly. "If Dr. Meynert were here, maybe. But the sister said we did a good job, she will be tring to utilize some of my suggestions, and will keep us abreast of his recovery. In time, we may get some more data from the doctors down there which will help further our study; I'm sure there are a number of Northern doctors in the area, I have corresponded with a number who went down there."
Richard smiled. "Good. I know my colleague," he said, referring to the other black potential doctor Catto had found, "wants to remain here, but I am seriously considering going down South to practice once I complete my training." He told Dr. Da Costa how much he'd appreciated the time he'd been able to spend with him. "The research into athletes and training, into the imprints and other possible facets of the brain, into the psyche that your colleague Dr. Meynert in Europe mentioned, the burgeoning ideas growing from that new pastuerization technique, so many other things make this an amazing time to study medicine. We are finally learning just how incredibly complex we are, and just how marvelous God's handiwork is in creating us with such meticulous intricacy. I know it will be difficult, but hopefully in another generation I'll be as accepted as I am up here.`` Which wasn't exactly with open arms, but he would take what he could get.
"You'll make a good one. AS Newton said, we stand on the shoulders of giants who have gone before us. You have a good worldvview - that we are amazing complex, and perhaps there is much more to the brain than we can imagine. Be willing to keep learning your whole life, and you will do well."
----------------
So I was thinking about the last episode of M*A*S*H, where Hawkeue has PTSD from soemething he's repressing, but the reason for it is only revealed in a few different recaps of a scene. I had thought this boy, an example of the child soldiers drafted at the end, might reveal the same thing - going from being willing to to accept Richard, who is black, a little more than others would, then going from insisting his mom died in the famine to maybe hinting at her sacrificing her own dietary needs to save the children (which Andrew does reveal) to finally having one of the roaming gangs, or eveone of the last remaining CSA armies actually killing Andrew's mother for protecting the black children because of the hatred their leader has against the now-freed populace.
However, I decided that it would be more realistic for them to only discover part of that, and to have him only able to reveal the worst later, so we don't see exactly what happens. Were they more proficient in dealing with PTSD they might have - or, as Dr. Da Costa said, if his colleague who deals with the psyche were there. But even then, the idea tended to be that family would handle thigns better, and it was hard for them to figure out what to do. So, I had Andrew go home, but Dr. Da Costa still keeps tabs and there may be a correspondence a few times a year with the sister, in fact. He treated both Union and Confederate soldiers OTL, and there's no reason to believe he wouldn't here. He is, after all, a doctor, and that's what doctors do - care for people no matter what. Just like andrew's mother insists on protecting children bec asue they are children, no matter the race - even if not every mother would.
Besides, it was really hard to think of writing the scene where he reveals the truth, and there are certain thigns I can't let enter my brain, so I figured it'd be best if Andrew doesn't share on screen.
Okay, that's probably the last interlude for a while, but that idea had come to me and I decided this was the best time.
The medical assistant smiled at the boy, probably around fourteen, despite the lad's scowl in return. "Dr.Da Costa tells me that you are still having some hallucinations, Andrew?"
"Why should I talk to you?" The boy grumbled and looked down at the stump that was once a leg, and the wooden stilt or whatever they called it that was now attached. "My paw died in the war, and my mama died in the famine. And now I gotta get treated by one of you," he drawled.
The assistant sighed. At least Andrew was treating him more kindly than he had at first. "Now, what's more shocking to you; seeing me training to be a doctor, or those stories you've heard about Elizabeth Blackwell?"
He'd known this was a good way to disarm the boy and get him to think. It was now April, 1866, and especially after a recent letter Da Costa had received back from Dr. Theodor Meynert last week, they had been stepping up their efforts to see how these "imprints" could be treated. Dr. Meynert was researching the amygdala himself and how different thigns might be reversible..
However, did muscles record these things,too? The assistant was going to have to hire his own assistants, what with the suggested works on "muscle memory," as it would be called many decades later, in athletes.
"I.." Andrew looked to be ready to say something, but he started looking far away.
"I'm sorry, Andrew. Did that thought remind you of your mother?" Andrew nodded almost imperceptibly. "You feel like you don't want to go home, with all those memories; you said you had an older sister, too, right?"
"She's got enough problems caring for the wee little ones...." he trailed off, seemingly lost in thought.
In future years, Andrfew would be said to have "lots of issues." Had he even been thirteen when he was drafted by the desperate rebels? The assistant had no idea. All he knew was, this was the work of a despotic regime which had apparently not cared that Andrew was white; they had messed up his mind by throwing him into battle just as much as they messed up the slaves' minds before they'd finally been freed.
"Would you like to do some of that testing with the muscles we talked about with the others?" The assistant tossed him a ball, and Andrew grabbed it and began to smile. Perhaps he was out of his... trance, it almost seemed like.
"That was fun when I got to sit and ride in the Easter Parade," Andrew saidafter a moment as he threw the ball back.
The assistant smiled. He recalled how Octavius Catto had told him he used baseball as a way to start conversations. Perhaps it could help youth like this one - who was basically an orphan - to heal.
He also wondered about Andrew's older sister, who was eighteen, it seemed. What was she going through? He imagined that she probably felt like she had to get married. Perhaps she would end up marrying a Union soldier. There sure weren't very many former Confederate ones left.
-----------
The assistant, one of a couple black ones, left Andrew with a nurse a short time later. He approached Dr. Da Costa and shared what had happened. "I didn't think it wise to go back to the hallucinations. He talked more about his sister, though. And he said there were a couple children of my race, too; he didn't want to talk about his parents then, so I let it go."
"Speculation, Richard?" the doctor asked as they walked back to his office to write out a report. While he'd hoped to get into what would be called flashbacks, he would gladly learn more about Andrew's family. They really wanted to reunite him with his sister; they didn't want a Southern orphan in Philadelphia, and while people accepted that he was still being treated, Andrew's refusal to go home seemed like more than just being sad that things were not like they had been before the rebellion.
"This mention of children of my race makes sense; I had my suspicions, as I told you before, that he or his younger siblings had played with some, based on the fact he wasn't as repulsed by my presence as most other rebel soldiers have been."
Da Costa smiled."That's good reasoning. We know from how he talked before his mother was a saint in his eyes. Any more about her?"
"All he'll say is she died in the famine. And we were able to find that his father did indeed die about two years ago in battle. He clearly has no love for the junta. He was drafted soon after they took over. My guess is he blames them for the famine,"Richard explained.
Da Costa nodded. "Probably; he's from an area that the rebels took all the food for their own men. Maybe he got word back that his mother was refusing even our meager rations once our men got there, to give it to the children. I can see that."
"But now that his woulnds are healed, what do we do?" Richard asked, anticipating Da Costa's question. "He lost some toes on the other foot, too, but his athletic skills as far as throwing are getting back to what they were, from what he tells me. I wonder if we could do a case study on that. Sort of a follow up to some of the side info you got from the athletes when you did those tests with the firecrackers."
"I like the way you think, Richard. You're trying to find a way to learn more all the time. That's going to make you a good doctor someday. But we can't just keep treating a patient forever, either."
Dr. Da Costa thought for a moment. He wondered if the boy's mother had actually died protecting the children. He knew with the reports of marauders down there, it was quite possible; even probable in some areas, given the way Andrew was so tight-lipped about it. Still, there were at least family members remaining, including an older sister who could care for him if he was reallyin bad shape. They were not yet at the place where they would be in another century when it came to treating PTSD.
Still, they could provide some hints. "Get that sister's name and an address if you can. I'm going to write her a letter - explain the memories and the like. Maybe one of the doctors down there will be able to follow up somewhat and get more info."
Richard explained that he'd even written to REbecca Crumpler. "She went down from New England to help treat Freedmen in Virginia. I doubt they'd wat her following up, but she's been collecting some good data," Richard said.
The doctor agreed. "It's odd to me; the former slaves aren't just integrating right away. More of these imprints, I guess; I don't know. It's such a new area to explore; but I think we're on the right track. I'll let Andrew's sister know what we're finding out; hopefully it'll help.
Several weeks later, Richard was checking a patient's vital signs when Dr. Da Costa came in. "Good news, Sir?"
"Yes, you can tell, huh? I got a letter from the sister of that Andrew we treated; she said he's home and in good hands. No specifics, but she says some of our suppositions were correct. There was fighting near his home, and what he saw, well... It's going to be a long road, but at least he's with family."
"I imagine it's hard for all of them, whatever it was," Richard said solemnly.
"Indeed. Had we kept him here, I suppose we could have gotten to the truth, but then, how to treat it?" The doctor flapped his hands at his side slightly. "If Dr. Meynert were here, maybe. But the sister said we did a good job, she will be tring to utilize some of my suggestions, and will keep us abreast of his recovery. In time, we may get some more data from the doctors down there which will help further our study; I'm sure there are a number of Northern doctors in the area, I have corresponded with a number who went down there."
Richard smiled. "Good. I know my colleague," he said, referring to the other black potential doctor Catto had found, "wants to remain here, but I am seriously considering going down South to practice once I complete my training." He told Dr. Da Costa how much he'd appreciated the time he'd been able to spend with him. "The research into athletes and training, into the imprints and other possible facets of the brain, into the psyche that your colleague Dr. Meynert in Europe mentioned, the burgeoning ideas growing from that new pastuerization technique, so many other things make this an amazing time to study medicine. We are finally learning just how incredibly complex we are, and just how marvelous God's handiwork is in creating us with such meticulous intricacy. I know it will be difficult, but hopefully in another generation I'll be as accepted as I am up here.`` Which wasn't exactly with open arms, but he would take what he could get.
"You'll make a good one. AS Newton said, we stand on the shoulders of giants who have gone before us. You have a good worldvview - that we are amazing complex, and perhaps there is much more to the brain than we can imagine. Be willing to keep learning your whole life, and you will do well."
----------------
So I was thinking about the last episode of M*A*S*H, where Hawkeue has PTSD from soemething he's repressing, but the reason for it is only revealed in a few different recaps of a scene. I had thought this boy, an example of the child soldiers drafted at the end, might reveal the same thing - going from being willing to to accept Richard, who is black, a little more than others would, then going from insisting his mom died in the famine to maybe hinting at her sacrificing her own dietary needs to save the children (which Andrew does reveal) to finally having one of the roaming gangs, or eveone of the last remaining CSA armies actually killing Andrew's mother for protecting the black children because of the hatred their leader has against the now-freed populace.
However, I decided that it would be more realistic for them to only discover part of that, and to have him only able to reveal the worst later, so we don't see exactly what happens. Were they more proficient in dealing with PTSD they might have - or, as Dr. Da Costa said, if his colleague who deals with the psyche were there. But even then, the idea tended to be that family would handle thigns better, and it was hard for them to figure out what to do. So, I had Andrew go home, but Dr. Da Costa still keeps tabs and there may be a correspondence a few times a year with the sister, in fact. He treated both Union and Confederate soldiers OTL, and there's no reason to believe he wouldn't here. He is, after all, a doctor, and that's what doctors do - care for people no matter what. Just like andrew's mother insists on protecting children bec asue they are children, no matter the race - even if not every mother would.
Besides, it was really hard to think of writing the scene where he reveals the truth, and there are certain thigns I can't let enter my brain, so I figured it'd be best if Andrew doesn't share on screen.
Okay, that's probably the last interlude for a while, but that idea had come to me and I decided this was the best time.
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Given how abysmal the state of mental healthcare was in this era, I fear that these PTSD patients would be subject to even more suffering at the hands of doctors who claim to "care" about them... Let's hope that an earlier correct understanding of mental illnesses ITTL would make things better for them.
Yes, I think this was the era of doctor whatever'ss little liver pills, anyone could just go around giving anything and claiming it was a miracle cure.
And yet they understanding of what illnesses there were was growing so fast that people almost had to believe them if they did not have access to something credible. Because you could never be sure if what the person saying was true.
Something that just occurred to me: One major reason for why the Lost Cause will never take root in this Timeline, besides many of it's leading proponents in OTL not surviving the War and it's aftermath here, is the division among the Confederates.
In OTL, the Confederacy went to it's death mostly united. After Lee surrendered, most of the other Leaders understood it was over and followed suit not long after. Like, something all Confederates could agree on was how and when everything ended for them...and instead of blaming each other for the defeat, they all then went on to blame the North, the Union Army, Sherman's March to the sea, superior enemy numbers, etc., etc.
Once they got themselves organized, they could thus quickly and without much fuss publish and push their narrative of the war, why it began, how it was fought and why it was lost. They presented the Confederacy as a united Entity that stood together to the end and never faltered in their unity.
Bluntly put, this is flat-out impossible in this Timeline. Any attempt by possible Lost Cause Activists to make their narrative popular on a level above local is gonna run into the problem that the Confederacy absolutely disintegrated after the October Coup...and that the various splinter factions all have their own ideas about how, when and why the War was lost.
Breckingridge-ites are gonna lay the blame chiefly at the feet of the Coup and those who supported it, calling them the vilest of traitors who 'ruined everything'. Supporters of the Coup will blame Breckinridge and his policies for 'mismanaging the war' and 'betraying the Foundations of the Confederacy'. Supporters of Kirby Smith or other former Confederate voices might say that both of those camps were morons and another way was actually the best, that the Yankees were the most to blame, or the British and French for not formally recognizing the Confederacy, or maybe some shadow cabal of Negroes/Jews/Abolitionists/whatever manipulating events behind the scenes, etc., etc.
Bottom line, any hope of a united Lost Cause Mythology with tenants that they all can mostly agree on and make a concerted effort to push through on a National Level is right out. The various proponents of Southern Viewpoints of the Civil War will be far too busy tearing each other to shreds over which faction in the South was truly to blame for the defeat and which can truly claim to be the 'true' heirs of the Confederate Legacy and Memory.
In OTL, the Confederacy went to it's death mostly united. After Lee surrendered, most of the other Leaders understood it was over and followed suit not long after. Like, something all Confederates could agree on was how and when everything ended for them...and instead of blaming each other for the defeat, they all then went on to blame the North, the Union Army, Sherman's March to the sea, superior enemy numbers, etc., etc.
Once they got themselves organized, they could thus quickly and without much fuss publish and push their narrative of the war, why it began, how it was fought and why it was lost. They presented the Confederacy as a united Entity that stood together to the end and never faltered in their unity.
Bluntly put, this is flat-out impossible in this Timeline. Any attempt by possible Lost Cause Activists to make their narrative popular on a level above local is gonna run into the problem that the Confederacy absolutely disintegrated after the October Coup...and that the various splinter factions all have their own ideas about how, when and why the War was lost.
Breckingridge-ites are gonna lay the blame chiefly at the feet of the Coup and those who supported it, calling them the vilest of traitors who 'ruined everything'. Supporters of the Coup will blame Breckinridge and his policies for 'mismanaging the war' and 'betraying the Foundations of the Confederacy'. Supporters of Kirby Smith or other former Confederate voices might say that both of those camps were morons and another way was actually the best, that the Yankees were the most to blame, or the British and French for not formally recognizing the Confederacy, or maybe some shadow cabal of Negroes/Jews/Abolitionists/whatever manipulating events behind the scenes, etc., etc.
Bottom line, any hope of a united Lost Cause Mythology with tenants that they all can mostly agree on and make a concerted effort to push through on a National Level is right out. The various proponents of Southern Viewpoints of the Civil War will be far too busy tearing each other to shreds over which faction in the South was truly to blame for the defeat and which can truly claim to be the 'true' heirs of the Confederate Legacy and Memory.
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