Until Every Drop of Blood Is Paid: A More Radical American Civil War
- Thread starter Red_Galiray
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Downfall it is, then, as expected. The analysis of Breckinridge's scheming was a lot of fun; as was commented on before, the TL really manages to capture the feel of a pop culture history work.
People were previously discussing whether or not the slaveholders would try to kill their slaves rather than let them be freed but I think it's more likely towards the end of the war or after the war we're going to see some of the lower class white Southerners trying to burn plantations to the ground (which may or may not include their slaves alongside them...), perhaps to punish the aristocrats as much as they would also be denying them to freedmen, with federal troops trying to stem the tide. Breckinridge, as the narrative has stressed to us, was their hero but now the wheels are falling off the wagon - well, more so than they already were.
One wonders what Longstreet's role will be in all of this given how locked out of everything he seems to have been. I could see him trying to surrender by sidestepping the government, using the excuse it's lost its legitimacy with the Fire-Eaters' coup, and likely taking at least a small portion of the CSA's remaining soldiery with him. There's a lot more tears to be shed in between now and whatever treaty's signed but they've also unleashed one of the worst possible things amongst the populace right now: disenchantment with the cause.
People were previously discussing whether or not the slaveholders would try to kill their slaves rather than let them be freed but I think it's more likely towards the end of the war or after the war we're going to see some of the lower class white Southerners trying to burn plantations to the ground (which may or may not include their slaves alongside them...), perhaps to punish the aristocrats as much as they would also be denying them to freedmen, with federal troops trying to stem the tide. Breckinridge, as the narrative has stressed to us, was their hero but now the wheels are falling off the wagon - well, more so than they already were.
One wonders what Longstreet's role will be in all of this given how locked out of everything he seems to have been. I could see him trying to surrender by sidestepping the government, using the excuse it's lost its legitimacy with the Fire-Eaters' coup, and likely taking at least a small portion of the CSA's remaining soldiery with him. There's a lot more tears to be shed in between now and whatever treaty's signed but they've also unleashed one of the worst possible things amongst the populace right now: disenchantment with the cause.
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Did you mean "spurred them to act"?
In any case, let's see how Grant capitalizes on this.
Damn Toombs is really the ultimate fire eater. That's some WW2 Imperial Japan levels of "they shall have to kill every one of us before they sully our culture with their barbarian ways" madness. This really is the junta of the most radical slavers. As the last paragraphs shows though, a large chunk of Dixie society is not that fanatically committed to slavery.
As usual, the slavers go to violence rather than accept a single concession, and only seal their doom in the process. It does seem Breckinridge is going to get a lot of worship from people seeking to whitewash the CSA as being for 'personal liberty' in the future though.
Winter 1864/65 is going to be a nasty winter of discontent in the south, I suspect there is when society will really start to break.
As usual, the slavers go to violence rather than accept a single concession, and only seal their doom in the process. It does seem Breckinridge is going to get a lot of worship from people seeking to whitewash the CSA as being for 'personal liberty' in the future though.
Winter 1864/65 is going to be a nasty winter of discontent in the south, I suspect there is when society will really start to break.
Anyone expect that some of the poor white folk punishing a Junta with a wipe like they did to slaves or with a black man doing it because I do and it mostly sound karmic and also barbaric
As the last paragraphs shows though, a large chunk of Dixie society is not that fanatically committed to slavery.
FTFY
From what we've seen, ITTL Lost Cause involves Beckerdrige's apology by implying he was actually trying to get a peace agreement. It seems there is no sympathy here for the Fire-Eaters, not even from what I suppose are TTL version of Neo-Confederates. Since the story implies that the CSA fell apart in a very stupidly spectacular fashion instead of that painting of Lee surrendering to Grant where dumb people can look and say "Damn, war is so nuanced!" None of that: it's going to be a shitshow. The catastrophic downfall of the Confederacy probably will be a good reminder to future American generations of the idiotic nature of prejudice and racism. I can imagine Nazi losers calling Toombs and Jackson heroes when the rest of the world (including those that defend the Confederacy) think they are dumb assholes.
Also well, the past few years have not exactly proved that God was on their side, and in fact, maybe listening to the same idiots who dragged them into this mess....
This is certainly one way to weaken the eventual backlash against Reconstruction: the mother of all stab-in-the-back myths. Or rather in this case, firing squad to the face. The lower classes of the South will as OTL oppose the freedmen, carpetbaggers, and scallywags that ran post-war state governments, but the former planter elites won't find themselves welcome company ITTL. Jim Crow will have a harder time getting set up when Confederate veterans paramilitaries regard the old Southern elites as traitors to and hijackers of "the noble cause", greedy fat-cats that marched them to the slaughterhouse to stay a few pennies richer. Though of course, they can always find new leadership in former officers and middle class types. Looking forward to how all this pans out
Something Lincoln could foster is an attitude of 'I may not like a freedman, but at least letting him stand as my equal sticks it to the planter traitors who destroyed my nation in a way nothing else could'.
After all, they must not be that bad if even Johnny Breck thought to do so in exchange for serving their country. (I do not espouse the attitude in paragraph 2, just illustrating how it could play out.)
After all, they must not be that bad if even Johnny Breck thought to do so in exchange for serving their country. (I do not espouse the attitude in paragraph 2, just illustrating how it could play out.)
He's probably just going to walk over the other side and surrender...
just defect casually...
As much as I detested the institution Breckinridge and Davis defended, I felt some sympathy for them here. Good job creating martyrs anyway, Lincoln definitely is going to send that to the Junta.
If the Junta survives this.
If the Junta survives this.
That is one of the reasons why I said it was an emotional chapter. Now I would not use the word sympathy since that kind of implies understanding of someone motives. That is certainly not the case. The word I would use is pity. I do not agree with Breckeridge's goal, but I have to feel sorry for a man who did everything he could to win and seemingly cared for the common man. Only to be betrayed by the planter-class, who's privileges he was ironically protecting too. He was again ironically trying to save them from themselves. I did not feel much for Davis since he lacks Breckeridge's tragic villain qualities, but I will admit that the scene with his wife was a somewhat touching.
And that we have the scene where the soldiers are unwilling to shoot Breckeridge....
One again, Red has succeeding at their state goal of making the antagonist human and still evil.