Current Events > Were people in the South allowed to move north during the Civil War?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or would the North assume they were spies trying to infiltrate them? I'm sure there were a lot southerners who didn't want to secede and thus might have wanted to fight for the Union army instead.

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"Border security" wasn't really possible in the 1860s.

Questionmarktarius posted...

"Border security" wasn't really possible in the 1860s.

it probably was to some point the Brits banned colonists from traveling west 100 years earlier

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There wasnt a lot they could do to stop them

but at the start of the war the North was extremely open and supportive of pro union southerners

They erroneously believed that southern citizens loved the union and politicians caused the unrest

They truly believed once war started the southern population would sue for peace rather than die

So southerners going North would be not only welcomed but allowed

They were wrong

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the Union forces counted nearly 250,000 White Southerners in it's ranks and yes some pro-union Southerners did flee North.

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BilalPowell posted...

it probably was to some point the Brits banned colonists from traveling west 100 years earlier

The Brits banned lots of things, and the colonists told the Brits to fuck off.

I think most southern unionists stayed and fought in their home states and territories

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Balrog0 posted...

I think most southern unionists stayed and fought in their home states and territories

The four or five states that were nominally "both" got it real bad.