[PzLdr]

Disagree. If Lee had stopped attacking after Day 2, history still would have been different, and he wouldn’t have lost a whole bunch of casualties on Day 3.

And besides, the war was basically lost when Grant took Vicksburg - the next day [July 4th]

[gorush]

It is all conjecture, but... Lee made an uncharacteristically large number of errors at Gettysburg, and JEB Stuart’s tardiness also contributed to the loss. If Lee had taken the high ground immediately upon arriving he would have won the battle and Day 3 would never have occurred, the fact that he didn’t allowed the 20th Maine their heroic stand. Had Lee won at Gettysburg the will of the North would have been broken as it was teetering on the brink at the time. It would have overshadowed Vicksburg and Lincoln would have lost his remaining support.

Maybe our Constitution would still mean what it says...and maybe not... John Adams packed the federal courts after his loss to Jefferson but before his term was up. One of his liberal appointees was Marbury of Marbury v. Madison, possibly the greatest cause of our Constitution's demise. Once again, just conjecture.