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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dave_W" data-source="post: 219172" data-attributes="member: 9521">Yes, the North certainly was more industrious but that was something the South was not ready to admit. In fact, the South believed themselves racially superior to the general population in the North. They came to believe the Southern half of the nation was primarily settled by descendants of the Normans (as in William the Conqueror) and were sophisticated and born leaders, whereas the Northerners came from a more Anglo-Saxon lineage and were basically a mongrel race of peoples. Not unlike the Nazi's, their  superiority myth convinced them that a Southern man with all of his Norman breeding would have no problem fighting the North despite any industrial or manufacturing differences. The much used ratio was 10 to 1, one Southern man could easily take on 10 Northern men or more. This is such a fascinating subject in so many ways. I can't help but wonder what would our mutual histories had been if the North had won the war early on and without the massive destruction of the South. Had this occurred early in the war there would not have been an emancipation proclamation or a 13th Amendment against slavery. And the moderates in the North would have happily have given slavery sanctuary in the new territories in deference to the South coming back into the Union and to help smooth over any remaining hurt feelings. But only by virtue of prolonged and enormously costly war could the Union rid itself of slavery. Anything other than total annihilation of the South would have kept slavery intact in one form or the other. It's thoughts like this that make this war such a fascinating thing to study.</blockquote>

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