Union and Liberty: An American TL

[wilcoxchar]

Alright, got a new update ready.

Part Fourteen: The End of the Oregon War

A Snowy Ceasefire:
As the United States and the United Kingdom moved toward negotiation, fighting died down in Oregon. The United States Pacific Squadron, led by John Sloat and based in Monterrey, California, drove off the British ships near Fort Astoria. The Pacific Squadron then continued north and began denying ships from passing near Fort Victoria. After a few days, the Pacific Squadron travelled up toward Fort Langley and met Fremont and his men at Warren Bay.[1] Fremont and Sloat coordinated an amphibious landing on the east side of Vancouver Island and proceeding south to capture Fort Victoria. However, they never got the chance to enact this plan.

In early February, a ceasefire was arranged between the United Kingdom and the United States, and the path was laid toward negotiation. A month later, the peace negotiations began in Madrid, with Washington Irving as United States ambassador to Spain representing American interests and Sir Frederick Pollock,[2] a Privy Councillor, representing Britain. Alexander Christie was also present at the negotiations as a voice of the Hudson's Bay Company. The deliberation on the specifics of the peace treaty last for a few weeks, but finally a workable peace was made.

The Peace of Madrid:
The Peace of Madrid was signed on March 18, 1847, after being ratified by both Congress and Parliament. While it was clear that the United States won the Oregon War, the country did not accomplish all its war aims and even have to make some concessions. The main body of the treaty was concerned with the concessions in the Oregon Territory. Firstly, the United States did not gain up to the 54 40'N line that surrounded American support for the war. The border line was arranged at the 52nd degree North latitude, so as to pass between Vancouver Island and Queen Charlotte Islands. Further, Great Britain retained fishing rights off the coast of Oregon north of Vancouver Island.

Also in the Peace of Madrid, the two sides also took the opportunity to settle the remaining territorial disputes along their shared border. To connect the region under jurisdiction of the United States north of the Lake of the Woods in northern Itasca, the border was extended west to the Red River. Also, Maine's border was settled as the River Saint John's going to the longitude midway between the American claim up to 1798 and the American claim after 1798. The border would then continue south along the longitude until it reached the Saint Croix River, and would follow the Saint Croix River to the coast. An odd inclusion into the treaty was the article calling for the return of the skull of Chief Comcomly, which had been stolen from his burial ground in 1834 by a physician to be placed in a museum in England.[3]

After the Peace:
With the Oregon War ended, the two sides returned to diplomatic normalcy, but the war would begin a rift between Great Britain and the United States that would affect world politics for at least a century. The American reaction to the end of the war was generally positive. The United States had bested her former master for sure, unlike the ambiguity of the American victory in the War of 1812. However, some Americans felt disheartened that the United States did not gain all of the disputed territory in the peace.

In Britain, the war was looked upon as a minor affair compared to Britain's domestic troubles of the time. However, Parliament was alarmed at the relative lack of defense that the colonies in British North America put up, especially Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with their important naval bases, and attributed it to the decentralization of the colonies and the slow dispensations from Parliament. As a result, the British government encouraged confederation in the Maritime colonies, granting self-governance to Nova Scotia in 1848. New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island followed with self-governance in the 1850s. In 1861, the last step to confederation was completed with the Charlottetown Conference. At the conference, the three colonies were joined into the Acadian Union, with the administrative capital settling in Moncton, New Brunswick.

[1] Warren Bay is OTL Boundary Bay, which lies on the border between British Columbia and Washington. But with no boundary, I had to think of a new name. Warren Bay is named after the USS Warren, the first ship of the Pacific Squadron that Fremont saw coming north.
[2] Frederick Pollock was a Privy Councilor in OTL, but not in 1847 according to Wikipedia. IOTL he is also known for the Pollock Octahedral Numbers Conjecture apparently.
[3]This happened IOTL, but I don't think it was ever returned.

[Nicomacheus]

Interesting peace Treaty. Surprising the Americans appear victorious: as to the facts on the ground in the West, that could well make sense, but GB doesn't seem to have brought its preponderant weight to bear, say, as regards the Royal Navy. I suppose London has decided to prefer negotiation to prolonging the conflict further.

A border of 52 degrees north will have some important effects. It will mean that a lot of OTL Canadian cities in the Prairie Provinces are in (or much, much closer to) the US (Winnipeg and Calgary, for example).

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by Nicomacheus

Interesting peace Treaty. Surprising the Americans appear victorious: as to the facts on the ground in the West, that could well make sense, but GB doesn't seem to have brought its preponderant weight to bear, say, as regards the Royal Navy. I suppose London has decided to prefer negotiation to prolonging the conflict further.

Yeah, the UK had other problems to deal with during the war and Parliament didn't really want to continue fighting the US over the land.

A border of 52 degrees north will have some important effects. It will mean that a lot of OTL Canadian cities in the Prairie Provinces are in (or much, much closer to) the US (Winnipeg and Calgary, for example).

Actually, the 52 degrees north border was only set for Oregon Territory, since the border besides that had already been laid out in previous treaties. So Calgary and Winnipeg are still British, but Winnipeg is a bit closer to the US because of the border adjustment to get rid of the Northwest Angle oddity. I'll put a map up pretty soon of the new borders in Oregon Territory.

[wilcoxchar]

Here's the map of Oregon Territory after the war. The border might be a little off but I'm pretty sure I got all the important things on the right sides of the line.

[Strategos' Risk]

Nifty timeline. Again, I love how the changes are significantly different from OTL, but low-key and subtle. I can't wait to see what's next.

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by Strategos' Risk

Nifty timeline. Again, I love how the changes are significantly different from OTL, but low-key and subtle. I can't wait to see what's next.

Thanks! I'm trying to keep the butterflies at a reasonable pace, but still have some noticeable things.

[lothaw]

Hurrah for the Union... watchout California, you're next.

[wilcoxchar]

Update time. Next update should include the 1848 election.

Also, do you guys like me explaining where various places are in OTL, or should I just describe the area and have you find the OTL equivalent yourself if there is one? I know sometimes I have fun trying to find locations of alternate cities when just given the description and am wondering if you all want me to let you do that.

Part Fifteen: Advance of Religion and Science

Mormon Exodus:
After being banished from towns in Ohio and Indiana, many followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for their religious beliefs, they founded the town of Nuavoo in western Illinois. However, they continued to be persecuted by the state legislature and mobs of angry citizens. In 1847, after resolving to find elsewhere to settle, the Church split into two groups. One group, led by Hyrum Smith, brother of Church founder Joseph Smith Jr., went north to British North America. The other group, led by Brigham Young, went west looking for land in the sparsely populated Republic of California.

Smith's group headed north, arriving at Fort Decatur in April. His group continued northward eventually traveling along the east bank of the Red River. Finally crossing into Britain in late 1847, the group set up camp for the winter near Winnipeg. In the spring, Smith decided on a settlement after considering various possible sites around Lake Winnipeg and the surrounding area. The settlement was in between Lake Manitoba and Lake Saint Martin.[1] Smith named the settlement Whitmer after one of the Three Witnesses.

Young's group, the Vanguard Company, went west and consisted of the majority of the Mormons who fled Nauvoo. The group crossed Demoine and then followed the Platte River west, much like those heading to Oregon Territory. After following the Platte and the North Platte for months, the Vanguard Company broke off the river as it turned south. After reaching Fort Vasquez,[2] the company turned full south and entered the Republic of California in early 1848. Young consulted with trappers and frontiersmen about numerous sites for settlement as Smith did in Winnipeg, and decided on two places for settlement. The first and primary town, Vanguardia, would be on the east edge of Ute Lake. The second settlemnt, Youngstown, was much further south and east, along a bend in the Colorado River.[3] Over the years the population grew and smaller settlements spread out throughout the area, especially between the well travelled trail between Vanguardia and Youngstown. To this day the Mormon Church is one of the largest religious groups in the state of Espejo.

The Poinsettian Institution:
In July of 1847, Joel Roberts Poinsett founded the Poinsettian Institution, an organization to promote the advancement of science and general knowledge. The creation of the Institution was funded by the estate of Louis Elizabeth Hungerford,[4] after the death of his father, Hubert. Louis had read the will of his great-uncle James Smithson, which had stipulated that should Hubert die without heirs, the estate would go to the United States government for an "establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

Initially keeping the estate upon his father's death in 1835, Louis had over the next decade become infatuated with science and the world around him, and after reading a copy of Charles Darwin's Journal and Remarks on his voyage on the HMS Beagle, decided to fulfill Smithson's will and donate the wealth of the estate to the United States government. After the money was given to the government, Poinsett oversaw the creation of the Institution, and was its first Secretary.

[1] OTL Fairford, Maintoba
[2] OTL Fort Bridger, Wyoming
[3] Vanguardia is Provo and Youngstown is Moab
[4] This is the first fictional person I have mentioned in the timeline. In OTL, Hubert did not have any heirs, and the money went to the government automatically.

[vultan]

Keep it coming.

[wilcoxchar]

I just realized that based on my rough outline for the full timeline, I could call the first hundred years Union and the second hundred years Liberty. Yay, doubly referential title!

[vultan]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

I just realized that based on my rough outline for the full timeline, I could call the first hundred years Union and the second hundred years Liberty. Yay, doubly referential title!

Care to explain why?

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by vultan

Care to explain why?

Oh, alright. The first century primarily involves the creation of the United States as it is known in TTL's modern times and the second century involves the United States dealing with liberty and freedom domestically and abroad. Well, roughly that.

[wilcoxchar]

And with this triple post, comes an update. Finally settled in at home for the summer so I should be able to update at least a little more frequently.

Part Sixteen: The Last of the Jacksonians

Purchase of Cuba:
In 1848, Polk set out to complete the final part of his platform, and sent ambassador Washington Irving to discuss a purchase of Cuba by the United States. Irving was authorized to offer anywhere up to one hundred million dollars. The idea was supported by southerneres as Cuba already had slavery and it wouild create some balance to the gains from the Oregon War. Initially Irving's offers were not met with much approval by the Spanish, but when words of yet another revolt on the island, this time led by Narciso Lopez, the Spanish government agreed to sell the island for seventy milliond dollars, and allowing Spain to keep naval vessels in Cuban ports. Cuba was officially transferred from Spain to the United States on January 1, 1849.


Election of 1848:
The road to the 1848 election began with President Polk announcing that he would not be running for a second term. Polk stated that he had accomplished all his goals as President and thus had fulfilled his time in the White House. Since Polk was not in the running, the Democrats nominated Vice President Lewis Cass as their candidate, with Martin van Buren as the Democrat candidate for Vice President. On the Whig side, they nominated two generals from the Mexican-American War. Winfield Scott was picked for President and Zachary Taylor was chosen for Vice President.

The campaign of 1848 was the first one to bring up the issue of salavery. Scott and Taylor managed to remain vague on the issue, and managed to win many voters in the South. However, the Democrats were troubled by van Buren's outspoken platform against slavery. Van Buren's position gave the Democrats an image of a Northern ticket. This lost them many votes in the South, while gaining them little in the Northern states where few people considered slavery a major issue. In the end, the election marked the end of the era of the Jacksonian Democrats, and saw Winfield Scott become the last President running on the Whig Party. Prior to leaving office in March of 1849, Polk's last action as President was the creation of the Department of Interior, which would oversee domestic affairs in the United Staes.

Scott/Taylor: 165
Cass/Van Buren: 139

[wilcoxchar]

Now for the election map for 1848. The electoral vote values have been fixed.

[Meepy]

GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

All this time I thought killing Jackson off as a POD was my idea!

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by Meepy

GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!

All this time I thought killing Jackson off as a POD was my idea!

Well, it was my original POD but I realized I had to have a slightly further back POD for Calhoun to become president.

And there's nothing wrong with having two TLs going at once with the same POD. It will be interesting to see where our timelines differ and converge.

[Venusian Si]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

Well, it was my original POD but I realized I had to have a slightly further back POD for Calhoun to become president.

And there's nothing wrong with having two TLs going at once with the same POD. It will be interesting to see where our timelines differ and converge.

I really like the map, and I love your new State Borders. Still I must ask, will California ever be divided up between the U.S. and Mexico?

[wilcoxchar]

Originally Posted by UnitedStatesofMars13

I really like the map, and I love your new State Borders. Still I must ask, will California ever be divided up between the U.S. and Mexico?

I plan on having California be annexed to the United States, but I'm still trying to decide how and when.

[Tomac]

This timeline is fascinating, please continue.....

[Nicomacheus]

Originally Posted by wilcoxchar

I plan on having California be annexed to the United States, but I'm still trying to decide how and when.

This should be interesting, particularly if California has a gold rush before it's annexed (that will give them a fair amount of leeway to preserve their independence). Getting the US to step in without being asked will be difficult, if only because of the potential of antagonizing Mexico and / or the UK. And getting California to want to ask the US to step in may take some doing. The number one reason I'd see would be the stability of the Californian government. It will have to deal with a host of issues. I'd imagine a fair amount of tension between establish landowners of Spanish/Mexican descent versus city-dwelling immigrants (be they gold-rushers or not).

And then of course there's the slavery question, unless of course you have California survive outside the US until after you settle it, only to have California collapse as a result of economics of the late 19th century. This in many ways could be the most interesting option, if only because it would be so different. First, the US will be absorbing a country with a much longer history of independence, leading to all sorts of interesting precedents. Second, it may serve as a catalyst for all sorts of issues that arose in the late 19th century (labor unrest, big business, bimetallism, tariffs, immigration).