Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America, commonly called Dixie, the Confederacy, the CS, or the Confederate States, is a presidential confederated republic located in North America with 35 states, 1 territory, and several unincorporated territories. As of 2020, the population is 257,561,917 people.

Before Secession
From the time of settling on the North American continent, what was called 'Virginia' at that time was settled first by the more rural English, and then by Scottish and Irish, bringing a different culture to that of the Puritans in New England. They were the 'cavaliers' in Britain, more independent-minded, and more distrusting of centralized authority and religion.

After Massachusetts started enslaving Pequot Indians, then the slave trade in 1637, Virginia also legalized slavery in 1655 due to the court case of Anthony Johnson, a black man who was an indentured servant, claiming that John Caser owed him his labor, and the court finally granted his labor for life, creating the first slave in the south. Abolition societies formed across the colonies, though 4/5 were located in the southern colonies and states until about 1830. Northern colonies gradually sold their slaves to the south due to economic unprofitability, though they continued the slave trade until the War for Southern Independence. Virginia petitioned the king in the 1750s to end the import of slaves, but the king refused. Georgia's original constitution banned slavery and the slave trade until it was forced to accept it. Thomas Jefferson originally included a condemnation of slavery and the slave trade in the Declaration of Independence, but it was removed at the insistence of northern representatives.

Once the thirteen States had joined together in the United States, southerners cautioned about confederating with the north due to their different culture at the 1787 convention, but the states continued working together. Alexander Hamilton defended a carriage tax at the Supreme Court, a tax which only affected the Southerners, who were the only ones who used carriages at the time. As the country grew westward, New England threatened secession in 1803, fearing their loss of power and control of the government. Again they threatened secession during the War of 1812, as the war was affecting their economy (money). By the time their Hartford Convention had finished with crafting amendments to weaken the central government, the war was won and their demands were meakly delivered and forgotten. As a means of compromise, the south allowed the north a higher tariff to help their industry recover, but the north never made compromises for the south in return.

During the Missouri Compromise of 1820, northern states demanded that slavery be excluded about the 36°30' line, serving two purposes - to prevent blacks from moving into the west so they could do so, and to prevent southerners from moving in and creating more states that would vote with the south, thereby hopefully preserving northern power in the Congress. The South agreed so as to get along with the north, though many in the south believed that spreading slavery west would serve to dilute it and push it more towards extinction.

Soon the tariff was high enough that South Carolina nullified it, causing a crisis, and threatening secession if it weren't lowered. The northern industrialists had grown used to being subsidized for their lower quality goods, and were angered at southern states affecting their profit margins. So to retaliate, the northern states began attaching everything the south did to slavery, so as to demonize them in the eyes of the nation. Northern abolitionists began to arise, though not true abolitionists. They were really exclusionists, wanting to prevent blacks from moving into the western states, and deportationists, who wanted to deport blacks from the country. Abraham Lincoln himself was a member of the American Colonization Society, a noted deportationist abolition group.

Virginia was close to abolishing slavery in 1831, but the vote missed by a handful of votes. Virginia at this time had the largest population of free blacks of any southern state. The recent Nat Turner Rebellion may have had a part to play in that. Tensions grew with abolitionists, who were not very well liked in the north, continuing to agitate against slavery, turning north and south against each other. The Whig party, the left-wing party of the 'American System' of government subsidies, a national bank, and protective tariffs, fell apart, and remnants gathered together into the Republican party, which finally succeeded in winning the White House in 1860. Their candidate, Abraham Lincoln, did nothing to assuage the south that he rebuked the violent rhetoric from northern states.

Fearing the worst, South Carolina seceded, citing a history of abuses by the north, and seized the forts on its territory, though Colonel Anderson, in violation of the truce between President Buchanan and South Carolina, spiked the guns at Fort Moultrie and took Fort Sumter, an aggressive act that threatened Charleston itself, but South Carolina held off an attack to try to work the situation peaceably. In January and February a total of seven states seceded and formed the Confederate States, and sent peace commissioners to Washington, DC, whom Lincoln refused to meet.

Northern opinion was in favor of letting the southern states go, while the upper south wanted to try to work out a solution for everyone, with Virginia offering to hold a convention of states to try to prevent war. The North passed a Morrill Tariff in early March, and the next day, the Confederate States passed what was just a revenue tariff. At that point, northern opinion changed, and they were demanding action, as it now affected their profit. Lincoln conspired behind his cabinet and sent two war fleets to Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens to try to incite the South to fire the first shot so as to rally opinion behind the federal flag for an invasion.

Fort Sumter was fired upon when the peace commissioners found out about the fleet of warships and informed the capital, Montgomery, and when the ships were just outside the harbor, due to confusing communications between the President and the Secretary of the Navy sending the lead ship for Sumter to Pickens, the Confederates fired upon Sumter. For 30 hours, they fired until the fort surrendered, and the Southerners, being gracious, made a 100-gun salute to the Union troops and flag, as they left.

At this point, the Union President, Lincoln, asked the states for 75,000 volunteers to invade the Confederate States. At this point, Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee seceded, citing that the government had no right to invade other states. Shortly after, Kentucky and Missouri seceded also, though those two states also had competing Union governments as well for the duration of what became the War for Southern Independence.

War for Southern Independence
The seven Confederate States sought peace, but were conspired against by Abraham Lincoln and his cabinet for the purpose of preserving the economic prosperity of the northeast and their captive market of cotton in the South. Lincoln's declaration of war by calling up the militia escalated the conflict between the states and caused more secessions from the Upper South. The war began in 1861, as Lincoln refused to call Congress in session, so they wouldn't be able to stop his war to force the South back into the country.

What many historians claim was what saved the Confederacy was the Cotton Run, where President Davis claimed to have had a dream about a snake strangling the Confederacy, which choked on cotton, while several people chided Davis in the dream that they would've bought it. Pierre Lafitte, a noted 'pirate' helped smuggle cotton out through Mexico, Cuba, and other ports not yet blockaded by the Union, which brought back much needed hard cash, as well as foods, drinks, consumer goods, as well as military goods including boots, uniforms, saddles, medicines, medical equipment, and munitions.

The war began in earnest at Big Bethel, Virginia, with a smashing Confederate victory, soon followed up by the Battle of First Manassas, which was another huge Confederate victory, where they routed the Union and hundreds of civilian spectators who gathered to watch the fight as if it were a spectacle. The rest of the year is mixed in result, with a number of Union and Confederate victories. The Union's issue with the British vessel Trent nearly caused the British to intervene on behalf of the CSA, but the Union eventually backed down in its capture of the vessel. But Union violation of Kentucky's declared neutrality did send that state firmly in the Confederate camp. At the end of the year, the Confederates welcomed Oklahoma into the Confederacy as a state, in a treaty with the five tribes to fight on their side in exchange for statehood and equal citizenship and representation in Congress, a first for the entire North American continent.

The second year of the war continued across the continent, and even in New Mexico, where a Confederate win at Valverde opened up a route to Colorado, and the gold there. Under influence of some in Congress, the Confederate States create their own Confederate Declaration of Independence on February 22, 1862, declaring the causes of their separation, citing the continual abuses at the hand of the north while in the United States; notably, slavery is not named in the document. The Union wins at Shiloh, but its victory is costly; however the Confederates win at Murfreesboro in Tennessee. Nearly a year after the first battle, another battle at Manassas ends in another Confederate victory. In both the first and second years of the war, the Union has suffered many more casualties than the Confederates, due to the Confederate having at least a little more help with medical care, and the assistance of pirates under Pierre Lafitte's direction, the military had just a little more help in supplies.

The third war was when the fight turned to the Union, as the South began having trouble due to the northern 'scorched earth' policy and their harsher treatment of civilians. Everywhere the Union occupied, they would burn villages, burn farms, slaughter cattle, steal valuables as spoils of war, and rape women just because they were southern. British Col. Fremantle conducts his tour of both the southern and northern armies for three months, and reports back to the UK that the British should support the south in their fight, as they are fighting more honorably than the north, and are not fighting for slavery, but independence. The largest, most important battle is Gettysburg, in July, where Lee decides to venture north to convince the north to end the war in a display of their ability to reach the north. For three days, both sides fought, but the success of Pickett's Charge, the Confederates were able to win a costly victory; however, the Union saved some face in declaring a victory over the South when the South left Pennsylvania for Virginia. But it was a victory the northern public was growing less willing to endure for much longer. Desperate to buoy the sagging recruitment, and facing draft riots in New York, Lincoln finally issued an Emancipation Proclamation, but his inclusion of a sentence declaring a desire to colonize the freed slaves muted his efforts at a PR victory.

The fourth year of war began with the Cleburne Memorial, written by General Patrick Cleburne, an Arkansan from Ireland. He proposed freeing and arming slaves to help the sagging southern numbers. One of the generals was shocked, and secretly sent it to Richmond, and it leaked to the papers, finding widespread public support, to the shock of some in the South who wanted to keep blacks held to service. Congress passed the bill by March to enlist blacks officially into the army, despite the fact that they'd served and fought the entire war unofficially. Recruitment was slow to begin but positive results, led by Albert Sidney Johnston's training in southern Georgia, convinced more people. The siege of Richmond and Petersburg was helped by the additional troops, and Stonewall Jackson's tactics.

In the North, Lincoln added new states to try to buoy his electoral numbers as the war was growing more and more unpopular. Despite this, his posting troops at polls and other intimidation tactics were aided by Sherman's attack on Atlanta, his siege beginning two days before the election, allowing northerners to believe the war would soon be over, and to keep Lincoln to finish the war. He won with less than a majority of the popular vote, and barely enough electoral votes, with the votes of Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri, occupied with Union troops, being counted for him in dubious circumstances.

The fight turned against the Union, however, with the Battle of Peachtree Creek the day after election day, where Cleburne's forces allowed a break in their lines to trick the Union into advancing, where he used the smoke to hide his troops, and attack on 3 sides, decimating the Union force, and routing them into the creek, which turned into a full route, Union troops falling into the creek, unable to climb out, where the creek became a slaughter pen. The coup de grace was when one of his Sergeants captured General Thomas, a Virginian who was fighting on the Union side. The lopsided victory by Joseph Johnston validated Davis's decision to keep him, and caused Sherman to lapse back into a fugue.

With the huge loss, Lincoln grew impatient and ordered Grant to leave Virginia to try to save the efforts in Georgia. Grant feinted leaving for Montgomery, drawing Johnston away, but a single sergeant sent to infiltrate the Union army to see what they were doing was able to get back to tell the Confederates that it was a ruse, and get the defenses of Atlanta strengthened. Albert Sidney Johnston was in charge of the defense, and most of his black Confederate troops, under various names like 'Dixie Colored Troops,' and 'Dixie Knights,' manned the cannon and defense. As Grant doubled back, he began slamming Atlanta with a revived General Sherman. He did not expect, however, Johnston to return as quickly as he did, and after a three day battle, the Union army retreated across the Tennessee River back to Chattanooga. Battles at Nashville and Franklin proved costly for the Union, as Cleburne, aided by black troops to bolster his numbers, was able to defeat the Union under General Johnston's direction.

Grant returned to Virginia to winter and try to plan for spring, while Sherman retreated further into Tennessee to concentrate his forces. The Union efforts were dealt a blow when they found out that the UK and France had struck a deal with the Confederates to give them loans for compensated emancipation, and foreign recognition and aid, in exchange for 20 years favorable cotton trade, and their ships came in on December 24th into southern ports. Medicines coming in to Andersonville along with blankets and clothes eased the suffering of the PoWs there.

Grant's spring offensive was a roundabout way to destroy Richmond and Lee, by going west to Lynchburg to try to draw Lee away and meet up with Sherman to destroy him once and for all. Unfortunately the enlarged Confederate army, black and white, with boots, socks, uniforms, and captured weapons and new weapons from Europe, with buoyed hope and morale and more food in their belly, and a Confederate navy enlarged with over two dozen ships built in Europe harassing Union trade were wearing on the north. In February, a Hampton Roads peace conference was called, but failed as Lincoln's terms included rejoining the Union, something the Confederates were no longer willing to do.

Grant made it west to Lynchburg, but he didn't find Sherman there, but a force of General Forrest, and he decided to head northeast back to Richmond, but was harassed by Lee, Forrest, Cleburne, and the Carolina militias that Davis was finally able to get out of those two states for a final battle with Grant, which occurred at Appomattox Courthouse, where Lee defeated Grant. He accepted very gracious parole, and in the west, the Union was defeated in Kentucky, firmly planting it in the Confederate camp, while Missouri was still a battlefield when a truce was finally called. Lincoln dragged his feet for over two weeks until his cabinet finally forced him to seek peace.

Over two months of negotiation in Toronto resulted in the Treaty of Toronto (1865), ending the War for Southern Independence. The southern states agreed to accept a portion of the national debt as of 1860, while the north agreed to accept the independence of Virginia, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma and all states south thereof, as well as the New Mexico territory, and ceded the desert of California south of the 37th parallel. The north accepted a notch for Nevada from the territory of New Mexico to give Nevada some water access and the ability to sail down the Colorado, and Missouri. Both agreed to a border wall policed by the British and French, and to give each other most-favored nation status.

Post-War Expansion
As per their agreement with the British and French, the Confederates began emancipating their slaves, under terms of indenture where they were prepared for independence by earning a trade, learning to read and write, and live on their own. Black troops were released from service in the army as free men, along with their wives and children, as agreed in the emancipation bill. Blacks often moved home and many lived close to where they lived before, while many would move to California or the west. Within 7 years, there would be no more slaves in the Confederacy. In 1867, the states would approve a new constitution, removing references to slavery due to the emancipation, ending northern complaints from some quarters that they were founded on and fought for slavery.

The Confederate economy was buoyed by the loans from the UK and France, allowing many whose farms, homes, and livestock were destroyed by the US during the war to restore what had been lost. The Union tried passing a tariff on southern cotton, but the Confederates countered by cutting their exports, shuttering the faltering New England textile industry by about 50%. Enterprising Confederates bought up closed mills' equipment on the cheap, helping start up the Confederate textile industry and lowering costs for southerners looking for fabrics.

Mexican Cession
In 1867, France was still in Mexico, and the United States was more concerned with its economic woes and impeachment of Lincoln, so the Confederates promised to pay France's debts from Mexico in exchange for some land from Mexico; they were surprised, however, with the size of the offer from France, which amounted to nearly half of the remaining Mexico.

The territory was divided into what would become the states of Rio Grande, Washington, Sonora, Durango, Jefferson, and Veracruz.

Alaska Purchase
While the United States was distracted with the issues of Lincoln's Impeachment and economic malaise, Russian Minister de Stoeckl traveled south to Davis, DC, and found a much more receptive audience, which finally negotiated the transfer for $8 million CSD in gold. When the transfer ceremony happened in 1867, the Confederates were welcomed graciously by the Russians there, and asked that they stay to help build the territory up, and asked the Russian officials to send more Russians to help settle the land.

For several years, Russians came to the far away territory, in trickles of hundreds and thousands, to help settle Alaska and even south to California and in the Kingdom of Hawaii.

Annexation of Hawaii
In 1874, the King of Hawaii, Kalakaua, visited both Washington, DC, and Davis, DC, before returning to his kingdom, and toured the world in 1874-1875 while he ordered a new palace to be constructed since the old one had been infested with termites. In 1876, an attempted coup by a joint Anglo-American group that was foiled by a joint Hawaiian-Confederate armed force convinced Kalakaua that he could not maintain the independence of Hawaii safely. Someone was going to annex Hawaii, be it the United Kingdom, United States, or Confederate States.

From the Iolani Palace, King Kalakaua invited the Confederate Minister to Hawaii, James Stephens Bulloch, and offered to join the Confederate States. Bulloch was surprised, as he had communicated with President Custis on the possibility of a military base at Pearl Harbor. The two spoke favorably, and Bulloch gave Kalakaua a copy of the Confederate Constitution, and the King asked the monarchy be dissolved, and a republic be declared, for the purpose of annexation to the Confederate States. In a series of speeches to the legislature, he explained to the native Hawaiians that the only way to protect their rights as Hawaiians was to join the Confederacy; otherwise, the United States would exterminate them like it was doing to its own indigenous populations in the west.

In July, the Republic of Hawaii was declared, and in September, on the 17th, Hawaii was annexed to the Confederate States as a state on equal standing with the other states and equal citizenship for the native Hawaiians like the Oklahomans.

Industrial Age
General Bushrod Johnson is often credited as the father of Confederate industry with his recruitment efforts of talented individuals to his University of Nashville in Tennessee. He began by recruiting a young man named Thomas Edison, who was working as a telegraph operator near the Ohio-Kentucky border. One night, Edison was working on a battery, and some sulfuric acid leaked onto the desk of his boss, and he was fired the next morning.

As Edison was leaving, Johnson heard the commotion and took a chance on the boy, and brought him with him into the Confederacy to Nashville. The young man was impressed with Johnson's lab at the university, and agreed to join him there, getting his Confederate citizenship soon afterward. Edison created an electronic vote recorder, receiving a Confederate patent for the device, but it got little attention. Soon, he created a multiplexing telegraph machine, which would send two messages at once. By the 1880s, Edison had founded Forrest Park, a real estate development named for a former Confederate General, which was dedicated solely to technological innovation, with the aid of Bushrod Johnson.

In 1871, the Chicago fire finally decided the matters for the McCormicks, originally from Virginia, who moved their plough company to Birmingham, Alabama, and began making ploughs and tractors in the Confederacy, reducing the need for manual labor. This had the effect of allowing freedmen to move into the city or to move onto their own farms, and increased everyone's productivity and free time. Their ploughs and tractors would eventually incorporate diesel and gasoline engines, making farming much less labor intensive than before.

Corporate farming grew in the Confederacy after the end of the war, and by 1870, over 38% of former slaves were already independent, and those over 16 were already employed, except for mothers raising children at home. By 1872, 56% were independent, 1873 had 71%, 1874 had 88%, and by 1876 all former slaves were independent. Formerly bonded black Confederates were aided in their transition to independence by learning skills on the farms, as well as at the textile industry and construction, and as machinery steadily replaced workers, they seamlessly moved into new areas with their skills. Agricultural output of the Confederacy regained its former levels by 1868, and by 1876 had nearly doubled, supporting a growing population with fewer farm workers needed, fueling the industrial expansion of the nation.

Shortly after the war, the issue of railroads became a hot topic in how the South would go about reconstruction of its devastated economy. Several senators and house members wanted quick improvement, but at the suggestion of Senator Benjamin Harvey Hill and Landon Carter Haynes, suggested changing from a narrow 4.5' gauge to a new 6' wide gauge for greater stability, speed, and handling higher cargo loads in the future. While Congress was forbidden by the Constitution to fund internal improvements, they were able to set standards, making the 6' gauge the new Confederate Standard Gauge. The rail hubs of Richmond, Atlanta, and Chattanooga were joined soon by Nashville, Dallas, Little Rock, Jacksonville, and San Diego, with new cities popping up along the rail lines as they were laid. Unlike the United States, the Confederates' rail was laid as straight as possible and without federal funding, it was required to turn a profit, so both passenger and cargo traffic were used to keep the rails profitable. The Confederates built two major east-west lines with three tracks in wide to avoid collisions and delays, so one train would go fast, another slow, and a third track would allow a train to be out of service for maintenance. The southerly route was from Jacksonville, Florida, west to San Diego, California, and the northerly route from Norfolk to Richmond, Virginia, then Charlotte, NC, Nashville, Tennessee, through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Arizona, and finally through to California at San Luis Obispo. Atlanta would be soon tied into a line from the Gulf Coast of Florida at Tampa, then on to Nashville, while Chattanooga would tie in to Frankfort and the US. Savannah would be the end point of the Atlanta railroad as before.

Harbors and seaports were dredged to accommodate larger ships, and larger and stronger docks were built after the war to handle the increased exports. Cotton went to Europe, outpricing Egyptian and Indian cotton. Powerful rail-mounted, steam powered cranes were introduced to speed loading and unloading, and pallets were introduced to aid rapid loading, both of which were copied at foreign ports to improve loading bound for Dixie. By 1890, the Confederates had introduced the 40' stackable steel container, and pioneered cargo ships which carried them on their deck for easy loading and unloading.

During the war, the Confederates didn't have much in the way of ships to carry their cargo to the seas, and with the rise of ironclads and steel, they began focusing on building a true ship-building industry to carry their produce and cargo to the world. Just like Bushrod Johnson's push to recruit scientific minds from abroad, the Confederates recruited shipbuilders from Great Britain and even the northeast of the United States. New industries took hold, and ship-yards expanded in Norfolk, VA, Charleston, SC, Mobile, AL, Jacksonville, FL, Baton Rouge, LA, Houston, TX, San Diego, CA, and Tampico, RG.

Confederate chemical ability would be a critical point to expanding the country's industry in various fields like petroleum refinement, textile dyes and chemicals, crop fertilizers and soil conditioners, medicines, ore refinement, paints and finishes, food preservation, leather tanning, explosives, improved rubber, and synthetic materials. The University of Nashville was able to recruit a German chemist Wilhelm von Hofmann, who was residing in Great Britain at the time. Recruited by now Professor Johnson, he would teach hundreds of students, black and white, in Nashville, having been warmly received all along the way, he decided to bring his family with him. Visitors from Alabama and Mississippi would come to learn about his work in aniline dyes, looking to apply those to the cotton fabrics they were making in those states. Professor Hofmann would often visit the Tuskegee Institute to coordinate his work with that of the practical-application-minded professors there, such as Booker T Washington and George Washington Carver. Combining efforts, Carver and Hofmann ensured even the red clay soils of Georgia would be more productive than with only one of them.

Culture
The Confederate culture can be properly understood when looking back at the people who colonized the South. Largely rural, and largely distrustful of the authorities in London, the English and Celtic settlers desired nothing more than to live without being bothered by a busybody central government. They sought to continue the ways of life and traditions they held to in England, in the New World. It was a patriarchal society, with a heavy reliance on honor and tradition.

Confederates place a high value on family traditions and their Christian faith, with many churches being the center of the lives of those who attend them, and with churches being the center of charity for Confederates, to such a degree that there is no need for a welfare state for the poor or unemployed.

Women in the Confederacy are highly valued and honored, and value their femininity moreso than those in the United States, in the opinion of Confederate women. Women more often than not wear their hair long, and either down, ponytail, or bun when needed. While women are taught homemaking growing up, they often do attend trade schools or apprentice themselves to a trade before marriage, and sometimes attend college. They are highly intelligent and driven, and while their husbands lead the family, women often lead the household on a daily basis. Women have been in the workplace since the 1910s due to the war, and moreso in the 1940s due to the second World War. Though women returned to the home after the war, their daughters won the right to equal pay and equal hire laws so they could go to work if they wanted before raising a family, or after having done so.

Race is not as much of an issue as it is in the United States, as politicians don't use the issue to drive a wedge between people of different races. While people have experienced racism at various times, such as the freedmen trying to find work, or Asians moving in from China, or the Mexicans and Cubans who were annexed, over time, relationships were built, and families were made, and people were integrated into the mainstream of society. Without government handouts, minorities were not made dependent and fearful, and are thus as independent and self-sustaining as any other Confederate. Without government payments to women who have children without a male in the household, black families have remained strong and proud ever since independence from the United States. During the two world wars, people of different races were put together in much closer quarters than before, and the close experiences of combat and service brought people past their prejudices, and helped bring states to pass various civil rights laws in the 1940s and 1950s to allow equal treatment before the law and make the constitutional guarantee valid for all Confederates regardless of race or gender.

Language
English is the de facto language of the Confederacy, while the states are the only bodies capable of defining an official language. Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and Mississippi recognize French as an official language. German is an official language in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Rio Grande, Washington, Sonora, and Durango. Spanish is an official language in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Veracruz, and Jefferson, and English is the official language in every state. Louisiana actually conducts government business in French, the only state to do so.

Education
Main article: Education in the Confederate States Schooling is under the control of the states, not the confederate government. Children attend Kindergarten at age 5-6, then attend twelve years of schooling to graduate at age 17-18. Children attend Elementary school until grade 5, Middle School from 6-8 where they are placed in basic, advanced, or expert tracks, and then they are again placed into either a College, High School, or Professional School. Typically a High School is for basic students; Pro-School for advanced students; and College for expert students. Students who attend High School typically get apprenticeships for a profession. Students at Pro-School sometimes attend trade schools, get an apprenticeship, or might attend a university. Finally, students who attend College either go directly into the workforce or might get a two-year university degree.

Most students who attend university do not have much loan debt, as they often work while attending classes in positions along their majors, where the workplace often pays some or all of a students' tuition, while students often get scholarships for good grades to pay the rest.

Education in Dixie teaches the basics, including reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, English grammar, elocution, penmanship, logic, rhetoric, and a language, most often German, but often French or Spanish. There are a number of immersion schools in the CSA, where students can spend a semester completely immersed in speaking German, French, or Spanish, and in Alaska, Russian. University professors have practical influence in their fields, and do not spend time proselytizing their politics to the students like in the United States, as professors all agree with the students on love of state and country, and none would think to try to divide people on race or gender for political reasons.

Children in the Confederate States often graduate in the top 5 of all nations, often attributed to the use of iodized bread, salt, toothpaste, along with organic farming and foods, use of clean vaccines where necessary, and a vibrant nutritional supplement use by parents.

Medicine and Health
The Confederate States was a pioneer in vaccination usage, but does not force parents to vaccinate their children. Confederate vaccines are 'clean' in that they do not contain aluminum, mercury, aborted fetal cells, or other adjuvants. No Confederate is forced to vaccinate as a condition of work or education, as that would be a violation of their rights, according to the laws of many states. As a result, many Confederates believe they are healthier than Americans to their north.

There is a much lower incidence of cancer in the Confederate States than in the United States. Various reasons are cited, including lower ambient radiation from lower wifi usage (in favor of fiber-optic), organic foods and raw milk usage, lower usage of vaccinations, use of nutritional supplements, less use of preservative-laden food, and more physical activity.

Unlike the United States, the Confederate States has much lower drug cost as well as insurance and medical cost. Most Confederates have hospital insurance and emergency medical insurance for life-threatening issues, chronic issues, or broken bones.

Welfare
Main article: Welfare in the Confederate States There is no national welfare system in the Confederacy. On a state-by-state basis, there are disability, old age, unemployment, and survivors' insurance offered by private insurance companies. People pay into those welfare systems by deductions paid to the companies chosen by their workplace (1-3% from each paycheck) until a certain threshold is met, and then the payments stop. Typically six months' worth of paychecks for disability, one or two years' worth of paychecks for unemployment (set by each citizen in duration and amount), and from fifteen to forty years' worth of old age pension, depending upon when a person plans to retire.

Most states have a sovereign wealth fund, where a portion of the sales of natural resources are paid out to citizens' old age pension accounts, to be drawn only upon retirement, beginning at age 16 until the person notifies the state he has retired.

Aside from this, most poor are taken care of by charities that receive donations from the generosity of the citizens.

Statue of Liberty
Main article: Statue of Liberty Seen high on a pedestal emerging from the central courtyard of Fort Sumter, the Statue of Liberty greets visitors to the Confederacy with the shining torch of liberty, as an example of liberty to be emulated around the world. The statue was donated by the French people to the Confederacy as a tribute to their persistence in their struggle for freedom, first from Great Britain in 1776, and again in 1861-65 from the United States, as they defended themselves and the republican ideals of the founders of the United States. It was proposed in 1870 by a French political leader Edouard de Laboulaye, with Frederic Bartholdi to design the statue. They had originally offered to send such a statue to the United States, but the administration under President Grant had no interest, and the American minister was dismissive of the idea, given French aid to the Confederacy, so the French proposed the idea to the Confederates, who eagerly took the idea. The pedestal was ready a full year before the statue was delivered, and was completed for the 1876 centennial of independence, bearing the dates of July 4, 1776, February 22, 1861, and July 4, 1865.

Stone Mountain
Main article: Stone Mountain A large granite face located east of Atlanta served as the template for what became the largest relief sculpture in North America, bearing the images of President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E Lee, General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson, General Patrick Cleburne, General J.E.B. Stuart, General Nathan Forrest, and General Joseph E. Johnston, all important figures in the founding and preservation of the Confederacy. The park that was dedicated around the rock face was dedicated to the fight for southern independence and the valiant efforts of the southern people to gain their freedom from northern aggression. On the other side of the mountain, a sculpture of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, Monroe, and Polk was dedicated to the honor of those who preserved the original Constitution, before it was 'perverted' as the plaques indicate, against the states and towards centralization of power.

The concept of a presidential sculpture was later copied by the United States in what would become Mount Rushmore, featuring Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Grant.

Grand Canyon
Main article: Grand Canyon

A natural formation due to the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon forms the border between the United States and the Confederate States, between the states of Nevada and Arizona. A border crossing bridge was dedicated during the 1970s, and since the 1930s, tourists have gone down into the canyon on hikes and canoes. It became a national park in 1939.