I'll just repeat my objections with your previous AU, namely the need to go back further in time to achieve anything like a credible independent South, and the need to start well before the historical CSA, probably going back to the American Revolution. I'll echo the sentiment of the previous poster, that you probably need more than just the Carolinas this time around.
One of the biggest issues I find in *any* scenario with the South as a separate entity, presuming you're planning on getting into an eventual pissing match with the USA, is the general opposition to industrialization. It wasn't so much a matter that the South couldn't, or didn't have the means to do so, so much as there was an active opposition to the notion. The southern identity was that of a slave based, agrarian society, and most southerners saw the social ills that came with the industrialization of the North in just as bad of a light as the abolitionists did with southern slavery, and wanted little part of it. Clearly, attitudes are going to have to change....
I like the idea of getting involved in Cuba, Mexico, and the Caribbean better than trying to take on the USA, which isn't going to end well...for anyone. People who are passingly familiar with the Civil War point to towards the first half of the conflict as proof that the South could hold its own against the USA, at least for a time, through better generalship and feats of arms, and point towards the string of victories all the way from Manassas up to Gettysburg, but leave out the erosion of the CSA in the west, during the same period, which would eventually doom the whole enterprise, and break the back of the Confederacy.
Another problem that I saw with the old AU, was it seemed to generally underestimate the north, who particularly in naval circles is going to be formidable, with a very strong maritime tradition, coupled with an excellent shipbuilding industry--another reason to avoid tangling with them directly. One issue I had back then was the notion of the US accepting any sort of parity with the South in this area, no matter what the incentive, as dependent on overseas trade as the nation is.
Anyway, I hope this is helpful, and am looking forward to seeing what you come up with for the next iteration of this AU!
_________________ We can't stop here--this is Bat country!
If it's close enough to cast a shadow, I think the flying house wins initiative.
Bronies are like the Forsworn. Everyone agrees that they are a problem but nobody wants to expend the energy rooting them out.
"That is a very graphic analogy which aids understanding wonderfully while being, strictly speaking, wrong in every possible way."
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