LOL Chase,
Our ancestors of yore fulfilled the rest of the line you partially quoted (from "Big Jake" - gotta love JW, right?). Thankfully, we are not liable to do likewise today. We may fuss and discuss, but we aren't planning to enact Jake's complete line of what's gonna happen when it's "your fault, my fault, nobody's fault ...". Well, maybe virtually at times ... there is, after all, the phenomenon of re-enactors. :)

Maybe the almost racial differences thing could be more accurately described as "cultural differences"; and it falls into the classic question of nature vs nurture. Maybe it's both?

I do agree that industrialization would have occurred on a larger scale much sooner in the South if it hadn't been for the war and subsequent reconstruction.

There are too many variables, though, for any serious speculation on this particular "what if" for me. Just think of all the possibilites inherent in how earlier and greater industrialization might have impacted the agrocentric economy base of the Southern states, for starters. And, think of all the bright minds snuffed out early in both the U.S. and CSA armies. What contributions and innovations might those bright minds have contributed to both industry and agriculture? It's too enormous to imagine.

Thought provoking thread, though. Good one, Steve!

Regards,
Penny