Abraham Lincoln? There have been so many discussions about what life would be like if the South won the American War between the States, but rarely do people discuss what would have become of Honest Abe.
To avoid answers such as it being impossible for the South to win or that it would all depend on certain events, I'll attempt to make the fantasia clearer and fill in those gaps. (This alternate history time-line is partially based off one of the last chapters from the book "The Glittering Illusion: English Sympathy for the Southern Confederacy.")
Let's say that the C.S.A. wins the war through British intervention - Union Forces in New Orleans are defeated by the British Army and are forced to retreat and The Army of Northern Virginia is reinforced by British brigades during the battle of Gettysburg. Together, they cut the U.S. Army in two which leads to Meade's surrender which happens on the 4th of July. Confederate and British forces ride into Washington D.C. unopposed and the United States Government at the new Capital in Portland, Maine finally answer the cry for peace and end the war.
Now to also avoid a discussion of what would happen to the U.S.A. - Let's also say that the Confederacy has no plans to annex the Union into the C.S.A. and despite what they consider to be war crimes, the Confederacy...in an attempt to cool the tension... do not try to find Lincoln (like in the mocumentary film "The Confederate States of America") and force him to stand trail. The soldiers just turn around and go home. Maryland joins the Confederacy since so many people there in the first place were pro-southern and The District of Columbia becomes The District of Dixie, the C.S.A. becomes apart of the British Empire and slavery soon ends peacefully in the late 1870's.
Which now leads to the current question - It is now 1863 and the Union has been defeated. Would Lincoln be able to continue his term as President? Would he be blamed for the loss? Would he be reelected in 1865? Would he continue to live in the U.S.A? What would he do after his Presidential term was over?
My answer - I think a lot of people would be calling for him to step down as President, but not being a quitter....he would finish out his term as President, but would not run for reelection. I think he would face many death threats while trying to live in the United States and be blamed for not only losing the war by some people, but for causing the war by others.....so he would retire to Canada and would write his memoirs a few years after the war in an attempt to tell his side of the story.
There would be no Gettysburg Address, I don't think Lincoln would appear on the penny, stamps, the five dollar bill and Mount Rushmore. I don't think he would have a holiday in his honor and there would be no monumental for him at the new capital in Portland, Maine, and there would be no street names, schools, or cities named after him and his picture would not appear in American History classes.
I think he would be forgotten by the mainstream and the casual person. All the great things he said and did would be obsolete and he would forever remembered by historians and history buffs as the "tyrant" who lost "The War for Southern Independence" and he would forever be seen and remembered the same way some people remember King George III.
To avoid answers such as it being impossible for the South to win or that it would all depend on certain events, I'll attempt to make the fantasia clearer and fill in those gaps. (This alternate history time-line is partially based off one of the last chapters from the book "The Glittering Illusion: English Sympathy for the Southern Confederacy.")
Let's say that the C.S.A. wins the war through British intervention - Union Forces in New Orleans are defeated by the British Army and are forced to retreat and The Army of Northern Virginia is reinforced by British brigades during the battle of Gettysburg. Together, they cut the U.S. Army in two which leads to Meade's surrender which happens on the 4th of July. Confederate and British forces ride into Washington D.C. unopposed and the United States Government at the new Capital in Portland, Maine finally answer the cry for peace and end the war.
Now to also avoid a discussion of what would happen to the U.S.A. - Let's also say that the Confederacy has no plans to annex the Union into the C.S.A. and despite what they consider to be war crimes, the Confederacy...in an attempt to cool the tension... do not try to find Lincoln (like in the mocumentary film "The Confederate States of America") and force him to stand trail. The soldiers just turn around and go home. Maryland joins the Confederacy since so many people there in the first place were pro-southern and The District of Columbia becomes The District of Dixie, the C.S.A. becomes apart of the British Empire and slavery soon ends peacefully in the late 1870's.
Which now leads to the current question - It is now 1863 and the Union has been defeated. Would Lincoln be able to continue his term as President? Would he be blamed for the loss? Would he be reelected in 1865? Would he continue to live in the U.S.A? What would he do after his Presidential term was over?
My answer - I think a lot of people would be calling for him to step down as President, but not being a quitter....he would finish out his term as President, but would not run for reelection. I think he would face many death threats while trying to live in the United States and be blamed for not only losing the war by some people, but for causing the war by others.....so he would retire to Canada and would write his memoirs a few years after the war in an attempt to tell his side of the story.
There would be no Gettysburg Address, I don't think Lincoln would appear on the penny, stamps, the five dollar bill and Mount Rushmore. I don't think he would have a holiday in his honor and there would be no monumental for him at the new capital in Portland, Maine, and there would be no street names, schools, or cities named after him and his picture would not appear in American History classes.
I think he would be forgotten by the mainstream and the casual person. All the great things he said and did would be obsolete and he would forever remembered by historians and history buffs as the "tyrant" who lost "The War for Southern Independence" and he would forever be seen and remembered the same way some people remember King George III.