Confederate political parties

[StateBoiler]

A party called the Conservative Party existed in North Carolina politics during the Civil War. They elected Zebulon Vance as governor in 1862. The party per Vance's Wikipedia page was a coalition of former Whigs and Democrats with Unionist sympathies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebulon_Baird_Vance

[StateBoiler]

I doubt the Confederacy would have been real democracy, slavery and democracy are incompatible

Tbf the initial Athenian democracy was built on slavery.

And Roman.

[StateBoiler]

I doubt the Confederacy would have been real democracy, slavery and democracy are incompatible

Tbf the initial Athenian democracy was built on slavery.

And Roman.

The Roman Republic was an oligarchy, not a democracy.

Aren't most states that call themselves democracies by fact oligarchies? Philosophical question.

I get there's the whole patrician vs. plebeian discussion, but we have patrician vs. plebeian separations in all of the western world today even if it's not codified in law.

[StateBoiler]

I definitely think that a lasting CSA would develop party politics (or at least pseudo party politics) eventually. States like NC, TN, and LA had very strong Whig Parties just a decade removed and a lot of the ex-Whigs were never really on board with Davis even if they were on board with secession. I'd expect those three states would become the base of a lot of politicians opposed to Davis and his successors. (Remember, the CSA had a single six year term limit for President, like modern Mexico)

EDIT: House apportionment by state for the 1860s in the Confederate Congress:

AL: 9
AR: 4
FL: 2
GA: 10
KY: 12 (Let's assume that in the war only the 11 states that actually seceded are in this CSA, so we'll ignore the KY ones)
MO: 7 (ditto)
LA: 6
MS: 7
NC: 10
SC: 6
TN: 11
TX: 6
VA: 16

So without KY and MO, that Confederate House would have 87 members. Add 22 Senators and you have a CSA Electoral College of 109.

To use Vance as an example when he was North Carolina Governor, I wouldn't say he was anti-Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy, but he prioritized North Carolina's interests first ahead of the national Confederate state. His faction was definitely at odds with Davis' leadership. (He served as Governor again post-military appointed governors, was selected in the U.S. Senate and served until his death in 1894.)  I'm not aware of many other Confederate politicians that were able to form independent identities of Davis, although "Confederate politics" is not exactly a topic historians have focused on much for several reasons. (I know Davis won a re-election for president, but did he have a George McClellan-like figure opposing him?)

[StateBoiler]

I definitely think that a lasting CSA would develop party politics (or at least pseudo party politics) eventually. States like NC, TN, and LA had very strong Whig Parties just a decade removed and a lot of the ex-Whigs were never really on board with Davis even if they were on board with secession. I'd expect those three states would become the base of a lot of politicians opposed to Davis and his successors. (Remember, the CSA had a single six year term limit for President, like modern Mexico)

EDIT: House apportionment by state for the 1860s in the Confederate Congress:

AL: 9
AR: 4
FL: 2
GA: 10
KY: 12 (Let's assume that in the war only the 11 states that actually seceded are in this CSA, so we'll ignore the KY ones)
MO: 7 (ditto)
LA: 6
MS: 7
NC: 10
SC: 6
TN: 11
TX: 6
VA: 16

So without KY and MO, that Confederate House would have 87 members. Add 22 Senators and you have a CSA Electoral College of 109.

To use Vance as an example when he was North Carolina Governor, I wouldn't say he was anti-Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy, but he prioritized North Carolina's interests first ahead of the national Confederate state. His faction was definitely at odds with Davis' leadership. (He served as Governor again post-military appointed governors, was selected in the U.S. Senate and served until his death in 1894.)  I'm not aware of many other Confederate politicians that were able to form independent identities of Davis, although "Confederate politics" is not exactly a topic historians have focused on much for several reasons. (I know Davis won a re-election for president, but did he have a George McClellan-like figure opposing him?)

The Confederate president actually served a six-year term and had a one-term limit. Davis served as provisional president until he won election to a full term without opposition in late 1861.

Could've swore I remember reading he'd been "re-elected" in 1864 or 1865. Thanks. Bit of a key difference then between the U.S. and Confederate Constitution at the time, as it would be more than 80 years until the U.S. Constitution had presidential term limits.