American Civil War alternate histories are alternate history fiction that focuses on the Civil War ( or a lack thereof ) ending differently . The American Civil War is a popular point of divergence in English-language alternate history fiction . The most common variant of these detail the victory and survival of the Confederate States . Less common variants include a U.S. victory under different circumstances than in actual history , resulting in a different post-war situation ; African-American slaves freeing themselves by revolt without waiting for Lincoln 's Emancipation Proclamation ; a direct British intervention in the war ; the survival of Lincoln during John Wilkes Booth 's assassination attempt ; a retelling of historical events with fantasy elements inserted ; the Civil War never breaking out and a peaceful compromise was reached ; and secret history tales . The point of divergence in such a story can either be a " natural , realistic " event ( such as one general making a different decision than he did in our timeline , or one sentry detecting an enemy invasion which he failed to notice in reality ) , or else it can be an " unnatural " fantasy/science fiction plot device such as time travel , which usually takes the form of someone bringing modern weapons or hindsight knowledge into the past . American Civil War alternate histories are one of the two most popular points of divergence to create an alternate history in the English language , the other being an Axis victory in World War II
assassination attempt
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
American Civil War alternate histories