by Trey Russell

Created on: June 15, 2007

How incredibly easy it is to change the future when on the winds of the past thy travel. How easy too, to see how things might have come to pass with but a subtle suggestion.

Your Majesty,

I, Fremantle, have spent some time now in North America. Observing what was the southern half of the United States I have learned many things of the new Confederacy. The men here seem to be quite agreeable. The officers in particular are truly top-notch and would not be out of place in the English court. Indeed, here in the Confederacy they seem to stick to good old English values and customs.

Their system of governing is not so very unlike ours either. They manage to give the commoners some say in the governing body, but in large part it is the rich, aristocratic types that control the Confederacy. Because of this, the Confederacy is being kept on an even keel. Their habit of keeping slaves is something that cannot be tolerated in the long run, but if we help them I'm sure they will come around to our more civilized way of thinking eventually.
In fact, if we help them win this pesky little war of theirs I'm sure we'll find in them a much more agreeable country than ere the break. With such similar values and customs I cannot see a reason why they would not accede to our wishes on occasion and provide a considerable new market for our finished goods. The tariffs of the accursed northerners thwarted even the best of our many merchants, but with the Confederacy supreme in the South our economy will be revitalized.
It is true, I have not met their president, Jefferson Davis, quite yet but I have heard that he and General Robert E. Lee are not so different, and Lee is nothing if not a superb fellow. The way their system of government works over here should install him as president in no time once the War is over. Notice that I do not say Civil War for this struggle is in no way a Civil War. It is just as the Americans said to us near 100 years ago, and while I cannot personally account for what happened on that occasion, I do know that this war is fought by opposing countries, not factions. For as I implied earlier, these men of the Confederacy are more alike to us than to those few Northern noncombatants I have met in my time here.
I am not sure how much more I can say of these people to convince you, Majesty, beyond what I have already said. But do not judge this plea by the length of this letter, but rather by its depth and the depth of the bonds connecting us to them and their fight. After all, a hundred years is not so long in the never-ending fields of the Confederacy. Because of this, how can we deny our cousins aid when they need it? For while the war goes well at the moment, a few ships from the British Navy will help them finish up quickly and get their economy moving again.
Do not leave the Confederacy to fight this war alone or they will become as bitter towards us as the U.S.A. is with their Monroe Doctrine and remembrance of their time as mere colonies. Instead win their good will and we will retake our position as the unimpeded leader of the world. Split in half the U.S. will easily accede to our wishes and lack the power to manipulate us economically now that they lack their Southern counterparts. So I plead, send to us a few men, a few ships to show England's stance in this war; to show England's good will. It will not take more than that.

With hope -
Fremantle, citizen of England

It wouldn't have taken much for the South to win the Civil War. What would they have done had they won? Well, that's difficult to say for certain, but England would have very likely had a part in it.

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