> There's also the question if the CSA were ever really a "major English-speaking country" because they did default: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_w

> There's also the question if the CSA were ever really a "major English-speaking country" because they did default: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_war_finance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_war_finance If I'm reading the sources correctly, the CSA never technically defaulted until it ceased to exist as a meaningful entity. The CSA never paid the interest on the junk bonds, but those bonds appeared to have a clause permitting it to defer any payments while the war was ongoing; the cotton bonds were actually serviced in full throughout the entire war.