Here is a structured "What If?" scenario slide designed to provoke discussion and critical analysis regarding Pocahontas County in a timeline where the Confederacy achieved independence.
🏳️ Scenario: The Reclaimed Highlands
Topic: The Fate of Pocahontas County in a Confederate Victory (c. 1865)
1. The Core Divergence
The Event: The Confederacy forces a negotiated peace in 1864.
The Consequence: The Confederate government refuses to recognize the constitutionality of West Virginia's statehood (formed in 1863). As part of the peace treaty, West Virginia is dissolved and its counties are returned to the Commonwealth of Virginia (CSA).
2. Immediate Impacts on Pocahontas County
Political Retribution & Local Power:
Pocahontas County was a border region with deep internal divisions. While many men fought for the South (e.g., the 19th Virginia Cavalry), there were strong Unionist pockets.
What If: The local Confederate government enacts "Loyalty Oaths"? Do Unionist families (who supported the state of WV) face land confiscation, social exile, or forced migration north to Ohio/PA?
The Economy of Enslavement:
In our timeline, slavery ended in 1865. In this scenario, the institution is constitutionally protected.
What If: Instead of evolving into free-labor timber and coal industries, the county sees the rise of industrial slavery? Does the CSA use enslaved labor to build the railroads through the Allegheny Mountains to extract resources for Richmond?
3. Critical Thinking Discussion Points
Group A: Geography as Destiny
"Pocahontas County is rugged, mountainous, and isolated. Even if the South won, could Richmond effectively control this region?"
Discuss: Would the county become a site of long-term guerrilla insurgency (bushwhackers) resisting Confederate rule, similar to how Appalachia resisted the elite Planter class?
Group B: The Timber Boom
"The timber boom hit Pocahontas County in the late 19th century."
Discuss: Without Northern capital investment (which funded much of the real-life timber boom), would Pocahontas County remain an isolated agrarian subsistence farming community for decades longer? Or would British allies of the CSA invest instead?
Group C: The "State" of West Virginia
"West Virginia was the only state to form by seceding from a Confederate state."
Discuss: If the South wins, does the concept of "Mountaineer" identity disappear, or does it become a counter-culture symbol of resistance against the Southern aristocracy?
4. The Big Question
If the Confederacy survived, would Pocahontas County be remembered today as a "loyal heart of Virginia" or a "rebellious occupied territory"?
Would you like me to generate a specific role-playing exercise for students based on the "Group A: Guerrilla Insurgency" angle?
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