Official "Retrospective History of the United States" Challenge Thread

[Abhakhazia]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

You two should get together.

Oh, totally let's just IGNORE the fact that we live halfway across the world from eachother, have different religions, have never seen each other face to face, etc., etc.

But what do you think of the update?

[Van555]

Originally Posted by Abhakhazia

Oh, totally let's just IGNORE the fact that we live halfway across the world from eachother, have different religions, have never seen each other face to face, etc., etc.

But what do you think of the update?

It was a good one.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Abhakhazia

Oh, totally let's just IGNORE the fact that we live halfway across the world from eachother, have different religions, have never seen each other face to face, etc., etc.

It's funny how this is the second-most important factor.

Originally Posted by Abhakhazia

But what do you think of the update?

I like the story style you're writing in. Change of pace from the history-book style.

[Abhakhazia]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

It's funny how this is the second-most important factor.

And? Your point?

I like the story style you're writing in. Change of pace from the history-book style.

Originally Posted by Van555

It was a good one.

Thanks guys!

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Abhakhazia

And? Your point?

I mean that your listing it second implies that it holds higher priority for you than other things like meeting someone you only know from the internet face-to-face.

[Abhakhazia]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

I mean that your listing it second implies that it holds higher priority for you than other things like meeting someone you only know from the internet face-to-face.

Not really. They aren't listed in order of importance. If so, it's like third.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by Abhakhazia

Not really. They aren't listed in order of importance. If so, it's like third.

How about their being female?

[Abhakhazia]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

How about their being female?

I think that went without saying. And probably most important, I'm already with someone.

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by Turquoise Blue

Trotsky, to avoid potential assassination by the Whites, changed his name to Leo Barnard, and shaved off his moustache and beard. His children had their names changed to American ones, and his wife, Aleskandra, changed her name to Alexandra. He did not go quietly in the good night, and campaigned vigorously at the local stage in New York and at the nation stage for the Socialist Labor Party, and eventually Debs' reunited Socialist Party.

Hell of a way to avoid assassination.

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by Abhakhazia

After nap and a meal, Joseph thought he just might stop by and hear the results.

The night produced more bad news.
President Clay became president once more.

Could they really get the election results that evening that far back? I have no idea how the technological curve works out in that time.

[The Red]

Originally Posted by metastasis_d

Could they really get the election results that evening that far back? I have no idea how the technological curve works out in that time.

Perhaps technology advanced faster?

[metastasis_d]

Originally Posted by The Red

Perhaps technology advanced faster?

I suppose. Does anybody know when we had this ability OTL, and how?

[Turquoise Blue]

Originally Posted by metastasis_d

I suppose. Does anybody know when we had this ability OTL, and how?

Telegrams, as Abhakhazia said, could deliver electoral information that quick.

[Abhakhazia]

Originally Posted by metastasis_d

Could they really get the election results that evening that far back? I have no idea how the technological curve works out in that time.

Telegrams, is what I said. So, yeah. They counted them, and sent them in. I'm pritty sure they had them in the 1840s. I know they had them in the 1850s, so yeah.

[The Red]

SEO: Redverse.

Whilst the Union Army was large, well armed and well fed, her General staff had failed to appreciate it's sheer logistical burden. Northern factories had greatly accelerated production of armaments, it was still not ready to match the number of Union weapons relying on them. Agriculture now had many more mouths to feed, but not the time to feed them. Despite warnings by more experienced generals such as McClellan and Grant, that the offensive should be stalled until these problems had been corrected, the Union spring offensive went ahead with little preparation for continuous resupply, the theory being that the Confederacy would buckle almost immediately.

Instead Confederate troops dug in, checking Union advances and wearing down their supply dumps. The offensive to plant the Union flag in Montgomery shuddered to a halt on the South Carolina border. The war would become a meatgrinder of sluggish advances as the Union economy continued to fail to meet demands of the Army. Corporate corruption began to receive blame from the more radical Republicans, a faction who had been greatly bolstered by the anti-aristocracy rhetoric of the war. The large scale mobilisation of the economy for war had also greatly increased the role of Labour and very soon trade unions began to spring up where they would have been unheard of before, this offered the progressives and socialists of the Republicans a clear base of support. As 1864 rolled around many feared that they would run a candidate against Lincoln, but this was not seriously considered by the group. The object of winning the war was far more important than short term political gains.

The election of 1864 was thus left to two major candidates, Lincoln easily held the National Union nomination whilst the Democrats chose to nominate McClellan, a maverick general critical of the war effort. Many of the Democrat criticisms of Lincolns administration were well founded, most prominently the continuing problem of production and the large deficit the war economy was building. However the Democrat insistence on a platform which pledged pace negotiations with the Confederacy doomed any real chance McClellan had of defeating Lincoln. The National Union was elected by a landslide.

Lincoln however, would not live to see the end of the war. His death in an arms factory explosion shortly into his second term would lead to Andrew Johnson ascending to the Presidency, a pro-war Democrat who had been chosen for the ticket for the sake of unity. Illiterate and stubborn, Johnson's time in office would be plagued with accusations of misconduct and corruption over the war effort, accusations that Lincoln had managed to stay above.

The Confederacy collapsed into anarchy in late 1866. The Union blockade which had been in place since 1861 had taken it's toll and forced the Confederacy into becoming entirely self sufficient in armaments and agriculture. Cotton crops had to be replaced with corn and wheat but the plantation owners would refuse to budge, continuing to have a tight stranglehold over much of nations agriculture, continued to grow crops deemed 'profitable'. With the Confederate economy in even more of a shambles than their Northern enemy and no relief from increased agricultural production, famine became a serious threat in the winter of 1865. Preferring surrender to slavery, Confederate troops began to mutiny along with many of their officers. Slave rebellions broke out, aided by the continuously elusive Brown. The Front evaporated in front of the the eyes of Union Generals, who quickly found their role to be peac keepers as much as occupiers.

Celebration was brief. The Union had won the war by outlasting the Confederacy economically, not by outright victory and many of her own problems were beginning to show. The end of the war greatly cut demand for production, unemployment rose and economic growth disappeared.

It was in this climate that reconstruction began.

[Nerdlinger]

Nice update, Red. A few things:

Originally Posted by The Red

The offensive to plant the Union flag in Richmond shuddered to a halt on the South Carolina border.

I'm confused.

Originally Posted by The Red

Lincoln however, would not live to see the end of the war. His death in an arms factory explosion shortly into his second term

What a way to go.

Originally Posted by The Red

Illiterate and stubborn, Johnson's time in office would be plagued with accusations of misconduct and corruption over the war effort, accusations that Lincoln had managed to stay above.

Johnson was illiterate?

[The Red]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

I'm confused.

I meant to say Montgomery, the new Confederate capital after anarchy broke out in Virginia, sorry.

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

Johnson was illiterate?

Allegedly so, he was also a moron, the sort of guy that if you put him in a TL outside of actual reality people would shout ASB.

[Nerdlinger]

Originally Posted by The Red

I meant to say Montgomery, the new Confederate capital after anarchy broke out in Virginia, sorry.

Oh, so you meant the Union drove south through Virginia and North Carolina to get to Alabama? I had thought you meant the Union landed in Charleston or somewhere and worked their way north through South Carolina, but that didn't make much sense to me. Wouldn't it be more efficient to approach Alabama through Kentucky and Tennessee? That way the Appalachians wouldn't present such an obstacle.

[The Red]

Originally Posted by Nerdlinger

Oh, so you meant the Union drove south through Virginia and North Carolina to get to Alabama? I had thought you meant the Union landed in Charleston or somewhere and worked their way north through South Carolina, but that didn't make much sense to me. Wouldn't it be more efficient to approach Alabama through Kentucky and Tennessee? That way the Appalachians wouldn't present such an obstacle.

The war wasn't very well planned at all from the Unions side, due to a more pacifist US history. Hence why they won by attrition rather than the glorious victories of OTL. I'm no expert on the Civil War to be honest though, I'm using it as a tool to create the conditions for the socialist era. If there's anything too ASB from a military viewpoint I'll try and change it.

[jpj1421]

SEO: JPJverse


Vice Presidency of John Adams
John Adams entered the Vice Presidency with a determination to leave his mark on the office. From his communications with the previous occupant, John Jay, he had an idea of how far he could push before receiving a backlash. In his first year in office, Adams became active in debates, often finding middle ground between differing Senators. By 1794, Adams would begin recommending legislation before the floor of the Senate, such as legislation for the relief of sick and disabled seamen and legislation committing to internal improvements; the latter of which would not pass through the House until the first year of the Adams Presidency. Adams would form a working friendship with Speaker Muhlenberg, in an attempt to settle differences between House and Senate legislation.

In the first few years of Adams’ Vice Presidency, Washington mostly kept Adams at arm’s length, not looking for his advice or help. This continued until late 1795 when, after careful negotiations between the United States and Britain, the Jay Treaty had been agreed to, but needed the approval of the Senate. There was vocal opposition from the Democratic-Republican faction, with such leaders as Thomas Jefferson and John Rutledge denouncing the Treaty. Washington asked Adams to use his influence in the Senate to pass the Treaty, and help get the House on board with the legislation needed to enforce it. Adams was able to secure the passage and enforcement of the Treaty in both chambers, with a handful of votes. For the remainder of his Presidency, Washington would discuss matters of the nation with Adams.
After Chief Justice John Rutledge resigned over his vocal opposition to the Jay Treaty, and then committed suicide, John Adams became a bit more reclusive. The Vice President reportedly convinced Rutledge to resign, and his death seemed to have hit Adams particularly hard. When he was nominated for President by the Federalists in 1796, he wrote to his wife of his ‘dark mood’ and ‘extreme reluctance’. In the end, John Adams was elected over Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson, who would succeed him as Vice President.

Adams solidified the role of Vice President, as having a significant role in the Senate and the business of Congress. In future administrations, the Vice President would become the President’s advocate for treaties before the Senate, but would also be an independent voice encouraging policy and legislation. These precedents would be under dispute during Thomas Jefferson’s time as Vice President, as he was in opposition to the President and the Senate. But after the passage of the 12th amendment, combining Presidential tickets, the Vice President would re-enforce this role, eventually becoming leader of their party in the Senate, though in some cases this was a De Jure position. While the Vice President would not be seen as the second most powerful person in the country, that distinction would be held for the Speaker for many years, they began to be seen as the third.

United States presidential election, 1796
The United States presidential election of 1796 was the first contested American presidential election and the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets. The ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution made such a result unlikely in the future.

With incumbent President George Washington having refused a third term in office, incumbent Vice President John Adams from Massachusetts was selected as the Federalist Party candidate for President, with former Governor Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina as the intended Vice President. Their opponents were former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson from Virginia along with Senator Aaron Burr of New York on the Democratic-Republican ticket. Without the party tickets associated with Presidential elections today, each man was to be considered on their own.

While a few states cast protest ballots in the previous elections, there had been a foregone conclusion. This was the first partisan election, with each party campaigning for their choice for President. Foreign policy became the starkest and meanest point of contention, with Federalists tying the Democratic-Republicans to the anarchy and violence of the French Revolution, and the Democratic-Republicans accused Federalists were British sympathizers, accusing the Jay Treaty of being too lenient. The Democratic-Republican cause was not helped when the French Ambassador to the United States publicly endorsed their candidacy.

Each party had planned to prevent a tie in the Electoral College, by ensuring that several Vice Presidential candidates received votes. This plan failed, when moderate Samuel Adams received more votes than Aaron Burr and Thomas Pinckney, but less than Thomas Jefferson. As such, John Adams was elected President with 75 electoral votes, and Thomas Jefferson was selected with 63. By comparison, Samuel Adams received 42 electoral votes, with Burr and Pinckney receiving 27 and 26, respectively.