As song about in the new Garth Brooks Hit ..........................Bragg assaulted Nashville in 2010?!
As song about in the new Garth Brooks Hit ..........................Bragg assaulted Nashville in 2010?!
Bragg assaulted Nashville in 2010?!
With a (presumably) faster and less costly Union victory, mightn't the effects on the country of the war be less? IOTL, defeat was only achieved by really grinding down the South with superior men and materiel, not through any great deal of cleverness on the battlefield. In my estimation, that let Southerners feel that "If only our leaders had been better...", thereby reducing feelings of reconciliations,
I'd say its exactly the opposite. The South was surprisingly willing to accept its battlefield defeat in practical terms. A big reason was that both sides, with some justice, largely beleived or suspected that the South had superior generals and even superior armies---but was still defeated by Northern numbers. This had two effects: (1) it meant that Southern partisans couldn't tell themselves that they could try again and this time all they needed was better generalship and (2) it meant that the South could take pride in the war despite its defeat, so there was no need to fight again to redress their honor.
Also, you just can't discount the effect of the extra suffering and death on the South to make them feel like they just didn't want to go through that again.
Its possible that this South will be somewhat more irreconciliable than OTL, unless our author has some rabbits to pull out of his hat that give us a couple more years of bloody total war.
The Battle Cry of Freedom is the national anthem?
Its hard to see how that happens if ATL takes the same let-bygones-be-bygones approach to national reconciliation that eventually happened OTL. I mean, that song is pretty clearly a song about beating the Southerners in the Civil War, as opposed to the Star-Spangled Banner, which is about beating the Brits. I'm guessing that there's more a longterm 'conquered nation' feel in the South and less a willingness to let things slide in the North. Unless the South is thoroughly, thoroughly remade, I have a hard time seeing Southern politicians voting to make a song about the Civil War the national anthem. Maybe there are long-term regional voting blocs with the Southern bloc often on the losing end of the stick. TTL could be ugly.
The Battle Cry of Freedom is the national anthem?
Its hard to see how that happens if ATL takes the same let-bygones-be-bygones approach to national reconciliation that eventually happened OTL. I mean, that song is pretty clearly a song about beating the Southerners in the Civil War, as opposed to the Star-Spangled Banner, which is about beating the Brits. I'm guessing that there's more a longterm 'conquered nation' feel in the South and less a willingness to let things slide in the North. Unless the South is thoroughly, thoroughly remade, I have a hard time seeing Southern politicians voting to make a song about the Civil War the national anthem. Maybe there are long-term regional voting blocs with the Southern bloc often on the losing end of the stick. TTL could be ugly.
The Battle of Richmond was anticlimactic as Confederate forces fighting a regard action, moved through the city heading south. On the morning of June 6th, 1862 Union forces entered the capital of the Confederacy. When the Stars and Stripes was raised over the Virginia statehouse a Union private yelled to General Sumner “If only Little Mac could see us now!”
Well the SPB wasn't adopted till the early 1900's [1913??] I could see the BCOF being adopted during the first Great War.The Battle Cry of Freedom is the national anthem?
Its hard to see how that happens if ATL takes the same let-bygones-be-bygones approach to national reconciliation that eventually happened OTL. I mean, that song is pretty clearly a song about beating the Southerners in the Civil War, as opposed to the Star-Spangled Banner, which is about beating the Brits.
Well the SPB wasn't adopted till the early 1900's [1913??] I could see the BCOF being adopted during the first Great War.
Well, while the Union is in less dire straights, the war has been going on for about as long as it had when the Proclamation was introduced OTL; I just can't help but think it would be a huge blunder to allow states to declare war on the US in the demand to preserve and extend slavery, then not touch the institution in those treasonous states.
I'm hoping Abe will still push the Proclamation -- same as OTL, only it looks like here it wouldn't apply to Virginia since most of the state has been brought back into the Union.
The Battle Cry of Freedom is the national anthem?
Its hard to see how that happens if ATL takes the same let-bygones-be-bygones approach to national reconciliation that eventually happened OTL. I mean, that song is pretty clearly a song about beating the Southerners in the Civil War, as opposed to the Star-Spangled Banner, which is about beating the Brits. I'm guessing that there's more a longterm 'conquered nation' feel in the South and less a willingness to let things slide in the North. Unless the South is thoroughly, thoroughly remade, I have a hard time seeing Southern politicians voting to make a song about the Civil War the national anthem. Maybe there are long-term regional voting blocs with the Southern bloc often on the losing end of the stick. TTL could be ugly.
I thought it was a bit off myself. As you say it doesn't seem a song that would have national appeal. I could see it being the unofficial national anthem in the north during the rest of the war and maybe beyond, but it just doesn't have the appeal of Francis Scott Key's tune.
This TL is excellent, and I look forward to its continuation. I am ignorant when it comes to military affairs, but I'm a bit of a student of US domestic policy, so I offer the following talking points:
- Because of the PERU, Abolitionists are going to be afraid that they'll end up right back where they were in 1860. One of their reactions will be to put tremendous pressure on Delaware and the territory of West Virginia to abolish slavery. As of the 1860 Census, Delaware was down to only 1,798 slaves (1.6% of the population), and West Virginia 18,371 (4.9%), and most of West Virginia's slaves were in the disputed counties. After these two, it's a big jump to the next set of slave states. In OTL, Delaware's legislature kept attempting abolition acts and falling short by one or two votes, and West Virginia passed gradual abolition as a condition of statehood.
- Note that the Confiscation Act of 1861 is still in effect, so Union soldiers may still confiscate the slaves of Confederates and make them the property of the Union Army. This could be a useful way of putting pressure on Virginia.
- This TL hasn't addressed the Homestead Acts. One of the major objections to abolition was how to handle all the freedmen. Many people were racists and didn't want them in their towns, but even good white people recognized that unleashing millions of unemployed folks with little experience in independent living could be disastrous. So the Alt-Homestead Act could be a chance to turn the Army's informal "40 Acres and a Mule" policy into something with the force of law.
- Also unmentioned are the Railroad Acts, the Land-Grant Colleges Act, and the creation of the Department of Agriculture and the Internal Revenue Service. I know this is a military-focused TL, so I can understand continuing to ignore them for that reason, but whether they pass, and in what form, will influence how the USA develops in the coming years.
- Elections are in one month. I'd think that these elections are going to turn out very differently, since the two main issues in OTL were military failure and Lincoln being too abolitionist, and we're seeing the opposite ITTL.