What might have happened is that the Northern newspapers and politicians may have spread panic, forcing congress to sue for peace, but depending on the nature of the defeat, Meade might have rallied his troops, retreated in good order, and fallen back to another defensible position blocking Lee's progress to the north and east. In any event, Lee could not have captured Washington. Washington was the most fortified city in the world at that time, and Lee was not traveling with a siege train. Much like Hannibal outside the walls of Rome, Lee could have done little more than shake his futile saber in the face of his enemy.
The Union would have suffered a big psychological blow, in allowing Lee to invade the North, where he had failed the year before.
Short-term, the Confederates would have been able to replenish their supplies. In particular, there was a big boot-and-shoe factory near Gettysburg. Also it was rich farm country, that could provide food, when the Southern farms were increasingly war-ravaged.
But the Confederates would not have had the manpower to mount a lasting invasion of Union country.
However a Confederate win at Gettysburg might still have impacted on Lincoln's chances in the 1864 election.
south would have still lost but the war would have lingered on
There would be no split between the union and the conferacy
The Gettysburg address was writen to comemorate the horrific battle of Gettysburg.
The battle was a Union (North) victory.
The Union was the North at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Army of the Potomac was the army on the field.
Gettysburg destroyed Lee's ability to carry out an offensive in the North.
Gettysburg forced Lee to abandon his invasion of the North, but it did not prevent it.
No Gettysburg happened two years after the war started. It was the second Confederate invasion of the North.
Meade turned back Lee's final invasion of the North.
There was no such thing as "the Battle of Gettysburg Address."
The Gettysburg address was writen to comemorate the horrific battle of Gettysburg.
The battle was a Union (North) victory.
The Union was the North at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Army of the Potomac was the army on the field.
NORTH
Gettysburg probably wouldn't have happened. However, it might have been a different battle because they might have met up somewhere else. Another outcome might have been that the North would have lost the war. Gettysburg was one of the major turing points in the Civil War. The North might have lost. Then again, the North was winning back its footing and Gettysburg was not the only turning point in the War. So, I guess we'll never really know what could've happened if Gettysurg had not been. But I think it is much more comforting to know that what really happened in the end effects our lives today, and we can all live free.
The North
The North
In Pennsylvania.
The town of Gettysburg