Of course there is no way to know for sure, but I would think that slavery might have lasted little longer. However, it would be long gone in today's society, if for nothing else - economic reasons.

I would think that mechanization would have made keeping large numbers of slave uneconomical as machines took over the jobs that they did. However, it is entirely possible that slavery might have survived as a status symbol in the form of house slaves. (There are, after all, people who still consider non-European races to be inferior and long for the days of slavery. The KKK comes to mind.) Of course, as mechanization took over, there would have been the problem of what to do with all of the extra slaves. This could have led to all sorts of problems for the Confederacy. Do they free the slaves? Do they stop them from reproducing? If they free them, do they allow the former slaves to receive an education? How do you keep them from turning on their former masters? Personally, I think that the rebels should be glad that they failed. There was the potential for a whole lot of additional chaos if they had continued with the institution of slavery.

Article 14 of the Confederate Constitution specifically forbids the passage of any law which forbids ownership of slaves at the state level. While the Confederate Constitution DID outlaw the international slave trade in Confederate Waters (even suggesting military action as a recourse for violations of this law), the domestic trade, transfer, and ownership of slaves was something else entirely. No serious Historian believes that the American Civil War was waged without slavery being a pivotal issue. All other rights aside, it was ultimately the right of a state and its citizens to "keep and own slaves" which was at issue for most secessionists.

Well, many Historians believe slavery was the main cause for the civil war. It had been a dividing factor long going all the way back to the founding of the country. But thats not the question, Slavery in some from would probably still exist in some from today if the south had won. During the civil war, England had begun looking for cotton elsewhere, and it found it in Egypt. Egyptian cotton is still considered some of the finest in the world, and it is much cheaper to produce over there then it was here. So right after the war, slaves would not have been an economic necessity in the fields. But once the south industrialized, masters would have probably adapted and bought an industry, and forced the slaves to work there. In more modern times, im sure that the slaves would be working in similar jobs. But i wouldn't be surprised if they were also involved in things such as garbage collection, janitorial work, maybe even making cars. And they probably would be owned by giant corporations and thus stocked entire factories. But this is really just a guess.

The Confederacy would probably have done away with blatant slavery but probably would have adopted a system of disguised semi-slavery similar to what South Africa came up with; apartheid

Slavery was on it's last leg long before the South's struggle for independence. It had already disappeared on the European front (for the most part). However, even after the war, the slave trading ships of the North still dealt in the supply of slaves to the Carribean areas. Even in European waters where slave trading had been outlawed, non-American slave trading vessels would often hoist the American flag if threatened, because authorities would ignore the American slave trading ships. The northern states had dropped slavery only when enough cheap labor became available from immigrants. They didn't, however, drop racism. Northern states passed laws forbidding Negroes from entering their states, working, owning property, etc. Most people loyal to the northern cause, were thus not because they wanted to stamp out slavery, but because losing the revenues from the southern states would cripple their economy. Many of those in the north who did not agree with forcing the southern states to remain in the union were jailed when Lincoln ignored the constitution's habeas corpus. Many of these ugly facts of the war are not taught to the school children in their history lessons. Virginia, a southern state, was the 1st to outlaw slave trading. Northern states still traded in slaves long after the war ended. Brazil was the last country to outlaw slavery. If the Southern states had achieved their goal of independence, their economy, which had been ravaged by the northern states in unbalanced tariffs, would have blossomed. After cotton died out, the last remnants of slavery would have vanished. The south would have become more industrialized out of necessity. Their constitution, had it survived, would closer resemble the constitution of the American forefathers than does present day America. Race relations would undoubtedly be much better today, as southerners would not have suffered the atrocities of "reconstruction" where they were humiliated and ravaged by the victors. This, I believe, is the catalyst of the ensuing resentment. The northern states, however, would had suffered great economical losses had the south won. They would have survived, but would probably pretty much resemble some of the present day northern industrial cities, filled with squalid living conditions, crowded tenements, and much poverty. Chances are, the north and south would have eventually reunited, but would be more of a true "United" states with more state sovereignty as the writers of the constitution had envisioned, rather than a "Conglomerated" states with the federal govt. being the main governing body. The federal govt.'s main purpose would be defense, as was intended from the beginning. References available. It's really interesting to study actual history, instead of the spoon fed kind of which textbooks are made. It's important to remember that the victors get to write the history books.

im not sure but would we have grey denim instead of blue ?????

No!

Slavery was illegal before the Civil War. This question was written by someone either without knowlege of history or someone who chooses to be racist themselves. Get over it!

I think it would have lasted for a few more generations and then because of economic issue abolished completely. But the South keep their superior/inferior ideals in tacked with "Jim Crow".

""A house divided against itself cannot stand." I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South." This was spoken in 1858 by Lincoln, he was a Unionist, and went to war over it.

I don't think so, one reason being the industrial revolution and modern machinaery really got rid of the need to own hundreds of slaves. Even if slavery would have lasted after the civil war if not for labor then for status symbols then I think eventually society would come to its senses and a modern, more aware society would have done away with it, at least in that form anyways because when you think about it slavery still exists in the world under many guises from people actually owning slaves to corporations working people for minimum wage..it's all astill a form of slave labor..it's just packaged prettier

Slavery is wrong, it always was wrong and will ever be wrong. The Civil War was NOT fought over slavery. Mister Lincoln's first proposal was to gather slaves and send them back to Africa in their own colony. Mister Lincoln brought the slavery issue up in an attempt to create trouble for the slave owners of the South by creating an illegal document to free the slaves of a Soverign Country (The CSA). He had no legal authority to do so and in doing so he once again denied the States rights to govern themselves.

Fact from fiction, truth from diction. By today, no. Slavery would have hung on in death throes for a while. Even if the South had mechanized and attempted to use slave to run the machines in these factories it would not have worked. The powerful labor unions of the North would have had them pretty marginalized and secluded in the South. And if they were able to keep slavery from spreading west it would have beem compounded for the South. They would have had to educate the slaves somewhat to make them capable of working these machines and understanding factory life. That might have lead way to some slaves being smart enough to creat a system of sabbotage. If it had lasted until WWI and especially WWII it would have been a different world because the US would have been less capable of ramping up the war machine to go against Hitler's Germany, and thus Europe may have fell to the Nazi. There would most likely never have been an embargo against Japan causing them to attack Pearl Harbor so the US would have never fought them, and they would still control most of the Pacific. There would have been a domino effect of events that would have came out much different than they had.