Secession

What I found most interesting about this episode was that, while there was huge support for the secessionist cause in the South, there were still many who either completely opposed secession, or had little confidence in their chances of success, such as Texas Governor Houston. I also found interesting that when the statistics are added up, the confederacy had a better chance of gaining its independence than the original thirteen colonies did. However, despite these odds, the colonies gained their independence, and the confederacy didn't. There were more people in the colonies that opposed the Revolution than there were people in the confederacy that opposed secession, and yet the results contradict the statistics. My best guess is that the results of both wars hinged on single battles; Saratoga for the Revolution, and Gettysburg for the Civil War. By some small chance, both ended in favor of the Union.