Brother's Lecture - History Hinges on Smaller Historic Moments

[The Seeker]

In keeping with the 150th Anniversary of the US Civil War, my Brother gave a lecture last night - the first one I've ever attended, and I found out that he's pretty good at this stuff!

I was quite interesting.....which it had better have been since I was missing the Western Division finals Game one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In a nutshell, he showed how the entire world as we know it today would be very different in many ways had one, rather insignificant, skirmish during the Civil War had a different outcome. The skirmish is known as Pickett's Charge and it happened during the Battle of Gettysburg. Had Pickett's Charge been successful, the South would have won the Battle of Gettysburg. And if the South had won the Battle of Gettysburg, they probably would have won the war (instead, it was a major turning-point toward the South's loss of the war). Or at least, Abe Lincoln probably would have not been re-elected and whoever took his place would have immediately sued for peace with the South.

Then, had the South won their independence, today's America would be comprised of separate independent nations since the precedent for secession would have been set. In other words, instead of a USA from coast to coast, it would look more like Europe.

And if that were the case, then all the things that the USA has done since then probably would never have happened. The industrial strength, resources, technology, military power, etc. would have changed. Everything from WWI, WWII, man walking on the Moon, and countless other things would have different outcomes and some may have never happened. The entire world as we've come to know it, would be very different today.

 

[Rocky]

Interesting reading.
All through history there are similar events, battles, wars, that if they had gone the other way, would almost certainly have altered the course of history.
For a guy who didn't care much for history in school, I eat this stuff up now.
I'm not a Civil War buff, but I still find it interesting.

 

[The Seeker]

I'm much the same way as you Rocky.

When I had to know history to pass an exam, it wasn't fun. Now that I can absorb it for my own pleasure, I love it.

I forgot to mention that he actually went into a tinier event that shaped the outcome of the world......and it was all due to a simple wooden fence:

What caused the failure of Pickett's Charge was the existence of a wooden farm fence alomg the Emmitsburg Road which slowed the advance of the charge and made the Confederate soldiers completely vulnerable as they scrambled to climb over this 4.5 foot fence.

 

[CarlS]

I like most any history. But the "what if's" are pure conjecture. Who knows, we might have been better off if the Pickett's charge had been successful. I can guarantee you that the current President would not have been president of the CSA.

 

[DaveM]

Yes what if leave you a lot to think about. Just think if it did go the other way we would be no the wiser as it would just be normal. However I always enjoy reading these What If scenarios

 

[otherwise]

I like most any history. But the "what if's" are pure conjecture. Who knows, we might have been better off if the Pickett's charge had been successful. I can guarantee you that the current President would not have been president of the CSA.

Pick that cotton boy!

 

[The Seeker]

Well, to be honest, his lecture was a bit more than just conjecture or "what if?".

He was backing-up things up in more detail than I can here. For instance, he proved that the wooden fence directly resulted in the failure of Pickett's charge. Then, since the Rebels outnumbered the Union troops holding the line by a margin of 3 to 1, it's more than just probable they would have succeeded there. And since that one charge spent the Rebel's ranks, it was the turning point in the entire battle.

Of course it can be argued that losing at Gettysburg didn't directly lead to the loss of the South and that they could have somehow won the war regardless, it is still considered the turning point in the war. Never again was the South capable of invading any Northern territory and the losses just mounted from that point on.

 

[CarlS]

It was definitely the turning point of the war, the high water mark of the Confederacy.

 

[Dilligaf]

I am very familiar with Pickett's Charge having grown up in PA spending some time at Gettysburg and a lot of time at Valley Forge. Many people see the Civil War as the war the end slavery, that is incorrect. The war was about States rights vs. a powerful Federal Government. I wish the South would have won. We can assume the country would have been divided but perhaps not for long. We could have ended up with a unified U.S.A. that was more supportive of individual and states rights. Slavery was going to die with or without a war. I will assume many of you do not know that by a few votes the repatriation of all blacks back to Africa failed. Now that would have made a major difference in America's future, no entire group of people slaves to the welfare system, no multi-culturalism that is destroying America, vastly reduced spending on a massive prison system.....THOUGHTS?

 

[Dilligaf]

Oooops, have a forced a thread move?

 

[The Seeker]

I don't want the thread to devolve into a political discussion in this section of the forum and would be happy to discuss it elsewhere.

This is merely about how seemingly insignificant events or even objects like a wooden fence can decide history.

But, that said.....if you want some historical background as to the reasons the South seceded, I offer this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/outlo...e-south-seceded/2011/01/03/ABHr6jD_story.html

 

[CarlS]

Probably!

We had a discussion on this a month or two ago. I agree with you 100%. The idea of emancipation was not introduced until after the war had started. The abolitionists were a tiny minority in the North. AJ does not agree with us. The war was slave states vs free states; however, the war was over economics - agrarian vs industrial - and a rebellion against a centralized government. This is reflected in the CSA Constitution.