Could The South Have Won The "Civil" War?

This question has been the subject of so much speculation for so long that the real question is "Why bother?" The answer is that, of course The CSA could have won The War and their independence. They lost it for a variety of reasons. They lost because of botched opportunities at numerous battles. On more than one occasion, they could have ended The War with a quick stroke or even the capture of Washington D.C. They lost because of poor leadership from Richmond. This was as much due to political bickering as it was to Jeff Davis' myopic and constant attempt to run The War from The Presidential Mansion and assign generals based on favor rather than merit. Finally, they lost because, I believe, it was not ORDAINED that they win separation. A prophecy of Jacob in The Bible ordained that Mannassa (USA) would split from his brother Ephraim (Great Britain), but no such prophecy ordained that Mannassa would then split in two. Lest you think this is silliness, the prophecy was widely believed in the 18th century and was an official part of Anglican doctrine until it was removed for fear of aiding The American Revolution.

The war of 1861-65 was NOT actually a Civil War. It was a war for Southern Independence. What the Southern leaders SHOULD have done was wage a TRUE Civil War to take control of the overall government in Washington. That would have been a victory of Conservatism over Liberalism. That would have been Civil War of the same type as The Spanish Civil War which inevitably will be OUR model for what we will have to do here in our future.

The South should not have STARTED such a war. Both sides waited a long time for the other to fire the first shot. If and when The North fired first somewhere, The South would have had the moral right to then launch a Civil War and move on Washington. What actually sparked The War was either impatience, hubris, or just plain stupidity by either local Charleston leadership or by Jeff Davis himself depending on which historian is to be believed. Fort Sumter was fired on and the game was afoot.

As for the issue of slavery, that institution would have ended in any case. The United States was the only major power that, by 1861, still allowed it. The issues of slavery and of States' Rights SHOULD have been handled by The Supreme Ct. Both were appealed to The Court numerous times. But the Justices dropped the ball. They were too chicken to rule on these hot potatoes.

Westward expansion of new states in free areas, European revulsion and boycotts over slavery, new technology that loosed hand labor, and eventually film and modernism would have forced the end of slavery. But the States' Right to Secede issue has never really been solved! No new Amendment to The Constitution ever spelled out a final judgement. Northern Liberals, as usual, think that silence is acquiescence is agreement and that therefore no further codification is necessary! They spoke, "Make it so." And it WAS so. The 10th Amendment still stands as the argument that Confederates used for their actions.

Texas' Constitution of 1845 specifically spelled out in words a protection for it's right to secede at any time and for any reason. This was sealed by a treaty which, according the U.S. Constitution, became "Law Of The Land" for The USA! Yet Abe Lincoln trashed that Law Of The Land and FORCED Texas back into The Union! Later, a new State Constitution was FORCED on it's people via Northern Reconstructionists! Even if we accept that the other 10 states did an illegal thing by seceding, NO ONE can argue that Texas did. Could Texas therefore, actually, legally, maybe . . . be the only remaining part of The CSA? Today, Northern Liberalism has ruined northern States. We speak of the "Rust Belt" and high unemployment across them. The South has been in ascendency and Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma are three of the four biggest energy producing States. Industries have been relocating to the "right to work" South. Things don't look so good now for The North. Maybe The South actually DID win The "Civil" War!

--RPC, Sunday, November 1, 2009

References:

Command Magazine, "Could The South Have Won The Civil War?, Issue 35, Nov. '95

Dixie Betrayed -- How The South Really Lost The Civil War, David J. Eicher, Little, Brown, &