A key point many may overlook is that the South could not have achieved their goals with a “two-state” solution: the confederacy would have been a failed state. Keep in mind, that the war was not triggered by an attempt to ban slavery in the deep south, but to limit its growth to the West. Mere secession would have left the South not only with a large, enslaved population inclined to insurrection, but also with a white population that was largely doomed to mere agriculture, and yet could not compete with slave plantations. “Victory” without conquest of the North would thus result in a tiny, super-rich elite governing over a nation plagued by grinding poverty and unrest.
So the question is not could the South have repelled the North, but could they have conquered it; could they have won without home-team advantage? Could they have invaded cities like Boston and New York?
Your high opinion of Southerners is duly noted as bigoted bull crap. For a "failed state" they sure did put down a lot of Yankees. Grave yards down here full of them.
Re 13.
If the South won independence, they would have had the west, NM, AZ and Maybe even SoCal to expand.
And they probably would have expanded South as well, taking over Mexico.
Who knows what Mexico and South America would be like today
The South's biggest advantage was that they were fighting for their homes and their way of life. Had they attempted conquest, they would have lost that strength. They would have had no chance of conquering the North.