A Long and Flowing Whig: Addendum

Welcome to the home of the remake of my timeline A Long and Flowing Whig. I have several projects in the work right now, and the rewrite of this timeline has been one of them. I know I said that I would release my rewrite of The Commonwealth of North America before this rewrite, but certain events in my life have forced me to work more on this timeline because it is much easier to improve on what there is already so much of rather then what there was so little of. I am not giving up on CNA, it is my next project, but at the moment my most popular timeline deserves some attention.

This timelines style will be a hybrid between the two timelines that inspired it, Union and Liberty by wilcoxar and Dominion of Southern America by Glen, along with the style of its previous incarnation.

This rewrite will also cover more non-political/war topics such as technology and culture. It will also cover more foreign events, and in greater detail then its previous incarnation. Along with this it will also cover the political/war events in more detail.

The timeline will go in generally the same direction as it did in the previous incarnation, however exact events may change. I also plan on not using any historical character born after the PoD in thie timeline. I may use alternate versions of OTL characters (example: OTL Theodore Roosevelt = TTL Charles Roosevelt). And of course my name thread for this timeline will come into use sometime after TTL's civil war.

So before I begin posting this timeline I would like you to tell me what in particular you would like to seen covered in this timeline that I may have not included in this introduction post. Anything in the Previous incarnation you didn't like or thought was ASB. Tell me.

Without further ado, welcome to the new home of A Long and Flowing Whig: Addendum.
 
What turns a colony into a great empire? That is what historians have been asking for over a century about the United States. There have been many authors who have written on the subject, and even those who have explored the question through works of fiction, exploring an alternate history parallel to our own. Many have attempted to tell the story of how our republic became one of the most powerful, prosperous, and free nations in history. I will attempt to tell this story myself. It all starts with a huffed up painter…

A Long and Flowing Whig: Addendum

Volume One: Antebellum

People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them. ~James Baldwin
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It's here! :D I'm most definitely anticipating this starting over again, and with more detail! Good luck with everything!
 
Chapter One: What Hath God Wrought

The Death of Andrew Jackson


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Richard Lawrence was born in England in 1800. He moved to England in his early adulthood, by this time he was already considered mentally insane. Once in the United States he got a job as a painter. Back in the early 19th century paint was made from different materials then today. These paints would emit fumes that modern health standards would not allow to be near a person, let alone paint a dwelling in. It is suspected that these fumes disoriented Richard Lawrence even more, adding to his mental incapacity. By the 1830s he was unemployed and under the delusion that he was King Richard III of England. At this point his behavior changed dramatically. He originally dressed conservatively, but he began to dress more flamboyant and grew a mustache. He believed that the US government owed him a large sum of money, but President Andrew Jackson was preventing him from receiving it. He believed that when he finally did receive the money he could take up his rightful place as King of England. He also blamed Andrew Jackson for the death of his father, who had died in England 9 years prior.

He made the decision to shoot President Jackson. He purchased two pistols and began following the President. On January 30th, 1835 President Jackson was attending the funeral for congressman Warren R. Davis in South Carolina. As Jackson left the funeral, Lawrence stepped out from behind a pillar he had been hiding behind and fired two shots at the President. The first shot was aimed at Jackson’s back, but it misfired. Jackson turned around after he heard the failed shot, and when he did Lawrence fired his second shot, hitting him in left breast. Lawrence would be tackled to the ground and Jackson rushed to a hospital, but it was too late. He would die of a punctured lung.

Lawrence would be brought to trial on April 11, 1835, where the prosecuting attorney happened to be Francis Scott Key. After an hour of deliberation the jury found him guilty. There were arguments put forth for letting him off on accounts of insanity, but it would not pass. He would be executed in May of that year. This case would serve as precedent for over a hundred years in the American legal system to justify the use of capital punishment on criminals who are mentally ill.

Before the trial there was a much bigger issue at hand, who would succeed the President. Until this point, no President had ever died in office, let alone be assassinated. There were legal disputes in the Constitution that had not been addressed because it was seen as unnecessary. The conflict was whether or not the Vice President became president or simply assumed the duties of the President until an election could be held. The succession of 1792 did not apply because it covered an event if both the President and Vice President were incapacitated. But the succession act of 1792 was being called, but the position of President Pro-Tempro was unoccupied at this point. As soon as he heard, Vice President Martin van Buren rushed to Washington D.C. to assume the responsibilities of the President. When he got there Jackson’s Secretary of State John Forsyth was attempting to acquire the presidency for himself. Van Buren would confront Forsyth and the rest of the cabinet on February 9th. After an angry debate Van Buren fires Forsyth, preventing the Secretary from subverting him.

The cabinet decided to support Vice President Van Buren. He went before congress and spoke of the constitutional conflict. Constitutionally Congress had the authority to select which officer becomes president until a new election could be held. There was enough opposition in congress for Van Buren to not be the first choice for assuming the presidency. At that session of congress calls for a constitutional amendment were made, and one would be passed by the time of Richard Lawrence’s trial. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution would make it so that if the office of president becomes vacant, the Vice President shall assuming the role of Acting President. A Presidential election would be held during the next even numbered election year. This would mean that Vice President Martin van Buren would serve as Acting President until an election could be held in 1836, the next scheduled election year. Martin Van Buren would receive the nomination of the Democratic Party in 1836, with Richard Johnson selected as his vice President. Martin Van Buren would win the election of 1836, running largely on Jackson’s reputation.

After the death of Andrew Jackson, the Liberty Bell was rang in Philadelphia. It rang so loud that the bell cracked. The Liberty Bell with a crack in it would eventually be depicted on the seal and flag of the state of Jackson.* After the funeral of President Jackson members of congress became concerned about the safety of the President. In the Spring of 1836 the Executive Security Act was passed by congress. This act created a special security unit who’s sole job was to protect the President. At first this unit consisted of only 6 men who would be within eye sight and ear shot of the president at all times. Over the years this force would be expanded upon until there were thousands of these agents, most of whom would never even talk to or shake the presidents hand. The security force would receive its own cabinet representative in the early 20th century.
 
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First posting

Hello, I have been a reader of alternatehistory.com since May, and finally got around to membership today. Of the many histories I've read the previous "A Long & Flowing Whig" was one of my favorites. I am delighted to see an Addendum version emerging!
Just some thoughts early on in the 1835-1837 time span of potential consideration. Last time around I was hoping to see something like
1) (although never conclusively attributed) There is a long standing story that the Liberty Bell cracked in 1835 during ringing for the death of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall,... I thought it quite fitting to perhaps to have the crack result during the ringing following President Jackson's death.
2) A different outcome of the Toledo dispute between Michigan and Ohio, Michigan getting the strip to its south, but not compensated the Upper Peninsula ... and then when copper and other industrial metals are discovered in the 1840's or slightly later, Wisconsin, or whatever the territory gets named ITTL controls the wealth, Detroit would remain important but some industrial developments might change.
I'm sure I had some other questions but those are my starters,... Subscribed!
 
Hello, I have been a reader of alternatehistory.com since May, and finally got around to membership today. Of the many histories I've read the previous "A Long & Flowing Whig" was one of my favorites. I am delighted to see an Addendum version emerging!
Just some thoughts early on in the 1835-1837 time span of potential consideration. Last time around I was hoping to see something like
1) (although never conclusively attributed) There is a long standing story that the Liberty Bell cracked in 1835 during ringing for the death of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall,... I thought it quite fitting to perhaps to have the crack result during the ringing following President Jackson's death.
2) A different outcome of the Toledo dispute between Michigan and Ohio, Michigan getting the strip to its south, but not compensated the Upper Peninsula ... and then when copper and other industrial metals are discovered in the 1840's or slightly later, Wisconsin, or whatever the territory gets named ITTL controls the wealth, Detroit would remain important but some industrial developments might change.
I'm sure I had some other questions but those are my starters,... Subscribed!

Some of these changes will be made.

BTW, I just made an edit to the first post of addendum.
 
Kaiser, I liked the first incarnation of your TL. Though I didn't followed it closely as I probably should have.

I would not commit that sin again. Consider me fully subscribed and following.
 
Chapter One: What Hath God Wrought
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The First Mexican-American War
(Part One:Texas)

Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, and formed a Federal Republic out of most of what was once New Spain. After the war the country was essentially bankrupt. With little money for the military the Mexican government encouraged settlers to form their own militias to defend against the Indians. 24 Empresarios settled in Tejas on the land granted to Stephen F. Austin. Out of the 24, only one came from the Mexican interior, the other 23 all came from the United States. It wasn’t long before the Mexican born settlers were outnumbered by those born in the United States. To Address this Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante implemented several measures. Chief among theses was a prohibition on further American settlement of Tejas. There were also Taxes and other similar measures put on the American immigrants.

In 1835 when the government of Mexican switched from a federalist model to a centralist one, the Americans in Texas began forming their own committees of safety and correspondence in reaction to what they saw as an assault on their autonomy. In October of 1835 the Texans would revolt against the Mexican government. After the battle of San Jacinto, the Texan rebels captured Santa Anna and forced him to sign the Treaty of Velasco. The treaty recognized Texas’ independence and guaranteed Santa Anna’s safe return. While he was gone the Mexican government deposed of him in absentia, making Santa Anna no longer qualified to represent and negotiate on Mexico’s behalf. The Treaty of Velasco would never be ratified by the Mexican government.

August of 1837, James Freeman, the Texas Ambassador to the United States, submitted an annexation proposal to President Martin Van Buren. Texan President Sam Houston lead the controlling faction within Texas that favored annexation. The Democrats favored annexation, but President Van Buren was afraid that the annexation of Texas would lead to war with Mexico, who hadn’t recognized the independence of Texas. Van Buren was confronted by several Southern Democratic Congressmen at the White House. There is no official record of what the Congressmen said to Van Buren, but it is suggested that they threatened his presidential nomination in 1840, along with threatening to derail any plans he had for his term. Fearing the internal conflicts within the Democratic Party this would cause, he approved of Texas’ Annexation Proposal.

On October 1st, the Treaty of Houston was presented to the US senate, and was passed by a margin of 34 to 19, all 29 democrats in favor, and 5 southern Whigs voting yes. The treaty was then approved by the Congress of Texas on October 24th. It stated that Texas would be fully annexed by January 1,1838, and would receive full Statehood by February 1st. In Texas, the Nationalist Faction led by Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, condemned the passing of the treaty, and even attempted a coup-de-tat over Houston. The Coup attempt was thwarted, and Lamar and the Nationalists fled from Houston to Austin, declaring that they were the real government of Texas, and therefore all the laws and legislation passed under Sam Houston were null and void. News of Texas annexation reached Mexico City by Mid November. Mexico, under President Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera, declared war on the United States. Just as Van Buren feared, Mexico did declare war. This would be a costly war, and with Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar going to war against Houston, this created a three sided war: Mexico, The United States, and the Texan Nationalists.
 
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