Often the way with national myths/foundational beliefs. The (often case) nonsense behind them ends up being believed, to the detriment of rational thinking.
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Often the way with national myths/foundational beliefs. The (often case) nonsense behind them ends up being believed, to the detriment of rational thinking.
My impression is that academia and popular perception are very different with regards to the Civil War.
People forget that the Confederates were constantly seeking military intervention from Britain and France in order to lift the embargo. They assumed Britain would jump in immediately to continue the hostilties against the US made during the 1812 war and a potential valuable land grab (of what was technically their's in the first place) taking back some of the Northern colonies during Victoria's reign would have been massive for her prestige. And as far as I know the only point of entry and exit out of the South whilst avoiding the blockade was through the Gulf of Mexico and Texas. That being said whilst Victoria detested slavery and did not seek to support the confederates directly, Britain still relied on Southern Cotton and supplied the Confederates with a number of Clyde-made frigates to purpose as blockade runners, and not to mention supply 1,000,000 British enfield rifles.
Last edited:
Wilmington NC, Savannah GA, and Charleston SC are the primary port of entry for the Blockade Runners; because of their proximity to the Carribean ports where the Gun Runners and their European suppliers meet. When those ports get closed down, the Runners have to move down to Galveston and Houston.
Was the Union army dwindled down immediately after the war? What percentage was kept active during the reconstruction period?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Review_of_the_Armies
Several of them were brought to Washington for a grand parade and then disbanded within about a month or two of Appotomax. The armies not near Washington were gutted soon thereafter, as almost everyone went home. If my google fu is to be believed, the million strong Union military was down to 50-70k by 1866: or a reduction of 95%.
Who said the war ended? It didn't end, the theater just shifted.
Sherman marches an army to the Mexican border to eliminate the French threat, then begins a pogrom, a war of anhialation, against the Indians and the Buffalo in the name of the Almighty Railroads. And the Railroads are who Lincoln, Grant and Sherman really work for.
How did that impact societ I wonder you basically just added 1 million men to the workforce sure they were there before but having to orgabize that sounds like a nightmare.
Well not all of them were fit to enter the workplace right after, but a large number just went right back to farming (taking over from their wives, who had been doing most of the work), and otherwise filling in the the jobs that had gone undone since they left. A good number also headed West, with a smaller number moving South.
Keep in mind we were nowhere near scrapping the barrel manpower wise though: so it's not like everyone aged 18-35 disappeared and then reappeared.
I thought 1865 the population would have been small enough 900k people would have an impact.
Not in a country as under-exploited and rich in economic opportunity as the United States of 1865
As JodelDiplom noted. Far more than a mere 900,000 people moved west in the years immediately following the civil war claiming land and becoming farmers, getting jobs on railroads, becoming miners, etc. A massive influx of immigrants was necessary to kick start this process, because there weren't enough demobilizing soldiers to fill the gaping holes in the labor market, or the massive opportunities available to create personal wealth. From 1860 to 1900 the US population exploded from a combination of births and immigration from ~ 31.5 million to ~ 76 million. The movement of 900,000 former soldiers in the midst of all this was a drop in the bucket.
I will totally support Trump's military parade if he disbands 95% of our land forces afterwards.
Which Confederate State felt the least repercussions/damage from the Civil War? Is it known? I have it in my head being Florida but I'm not sure.
Texas
The war presented a short term issues with manpower but was actually a springboard for a massive upgrade in its infrastructure thanks to continued development of its rail network to export Texas cattle to feed a hungry nation whose fields had been plowed with artillery fire the past few years. By the time oil was discovered on Spindletop Ranch in Beaumont, Texas was becoming a viable economic power of its own.
Last edited:
Florida basically suffered nothing from the war, but then that is because almost nobody lived here. Florida didn't become a relevant state until after Henry Flagler built the railroads, and Dr. Gorrie's air conditioning became more widespread.
I always found it ironic that one of our two statue's in Capital Hill is some Confederate officer (every state get's to honor two people). Leaving aside the more obvious complaints, Kirby is frankly irrelevant to this state and a complete waste of a slot.
Last edited:
I wasn't aware that every state only get to honour two people? Interesting.
There were a few territories though, they've always been considered as a collective of Confederate territories rather than individual States.
Yeah, I was wondering myself also that do they count territories as States...propably not.