The sesquicentennial commemoration of the American Civil War began last week with the 150th anniversary of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina, and the observations will continue for the next four years through the defeat of the Confederacy as its generals surrendered to Union commanders in 1865.

But one might make the argument that if you take the long view, the Confederacy actually triumphed. We can start with the Republican Party, founded in 1854 to oppose the Dixie way of life, but now a reflection of Southern attitudes. In capturing the Republican Party, the political descendants of the Confederates are accomplishing through politics what their ideological ancestors failed to accomplish on the battlefield.

To be sure, chattel slavery has long been abolished in this nation. But you could consider slavery a form of cheap labor with no legal protections for the laborers. Now consider the GOP current efforts to bust unions, cut wages and benefits, and reduce workplace safety regulations.

In other words, one essence of the antebellum South’s economic system is becoming part of the national economic system.

One might also ponder income distribution in pre-war Dixie. It was extremely skewed with a few rich folks, mostly planters, sitting on most of the wealth, and outside of their slaves, lots of “poor white trash” scrounging for a meager livelihood at the bottom. It was close to feudal, sort of like the country you get with continued tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, ensuring there isn’t much for the folks further down the ladder, especially after you privatize Medicare and cut Social Security.

Lincoln and the Republicans of 1861 supported protective tariffs, not just to help finance the federal government, but also to support domestic industry and raise wages. The South supported free trade — South Carolina’s first secession threat came in 1832 in opposition to “the tariff of abominations” — and today’s GOP is a big supporter of free trade.

The Old South also opposed federal spending on “internal improvements” — canals, railroads, turnpikes and the like — in the first part of the 19th century. That is, investment in national infrastructure, and where does the anti-investment rhetoric come from today if not the GOP?

Nor was the South big on spending for education. Southern senators and representatives blocked early efforts to establish state land-grant colleges. As for the local common schools, the illiteracy rate in Dixie, even among whites, was much higher than in the North, which supported public education. The Southern heritage of poorly funding public education is now a national Republican policy, which also involves taking money from the public coffers to support private religious schools.

When it comes to foreign policy, the South was expansionist and imperialistic, with designs for a “Golden Circle” of a slave-holder republic surrounding the Caribbean after the acquisition of Cuba and the rest of Mexico. The idea was to control their resources and bring “the blessings of republican government” to an unruly part of the world. If that bears any resemblance to recent American foreign policy, well, perhaps it’s just a coincidence.

When you look at contemporary culture, those who fly the stars and bars and esteem Nathan Bedford Forrest are somehow considered patriotic, rather than admirers of treason.

Add all this up, and there’s a strong argument that the Confederacy actually won the Civil War — not by force of arms, but by taking over the political party that had once been dedicated to its destruction.

Freelance columnist Ed Quillen (ekquillen@gmail.com) of Salida is a regular contributor to The Denver Post.