Plus, what's in Alaska to appeal to them? Trees and snow? They got Siberia.
Now, if the Russians find gold there, that's when it gets interesting.
Diary of the Doofus King II (1850 - )
- Thread starter Alt History Buff
- Start date
Now, if the Russians find gold there, that's when it gets interesting.
Yeah, the writing is kind of on the wall when you are outnumbered 30,000,000 to 700.
Seward's probably right to hold off on Florida for the time being, and that the US can afford to play the waiting game with Spain. Eventually, the US is going to end up with Florida anyhow, because once tempers cool on Spain's side and a more rational ruler comes to the throne, he'll see how terrible Spain's financial situation is and decide that he'll try to get what he can for Florida and improve relations with the US in the process.
I can't see a more rational ruler to take power in Spain, to tell the truth. Spain is so mess up, it's like the Gods made their punching bag to be Spain! All the US has to do is wait for the whole Spanish collapsed into mass open rebellion and walk right in. Besides, if someone more sane do take power, it would be far too late for Spain to save itself.
They never found gold OTL, why should they find it this time? Besides, when the US shows up, those 700 Russians are leaving, no questions ask.
January, 1856
Charleston
Several of the former leaders of South Carolina's gentry met covertly and not for the first time.
The occupation was proving brutal with no end in sight. Rightfully owned slaves now marched up and down the streets of Charleston with an arrogance that would have resulted in a whipping only a year prior. Great men had fallen as the creditors confiscated their land, which lay untilled for over a year for lack of labor. The lazy "Freedmen" refused to work the fields in great numbers even when offered wages to do so.
Perhaps worse was the fact that this situation did not seem likely to change. By best estimation, nearly a third of the slaves in 1852 had since migrated north or west. God-damned "President" Seward had taken to offering land to the west for any slave family which wanted to till their own fields. Some stated this was charity, others a direct attempt to destroy the southern way of life even more than the north already had by removing their labor force. More and more departed west on a daily basis.
Insultingly, over 75,000 Negroes remained in uniform as the white northerners went home. This represented over a third of the US army (reportedly) and over half of those occupying the south. Negroes were also the first hired to construct railroads and other rebuilding efforts as so directed by Seward and the "Freedman's Bureau".
Some white southerners attempted to rebel, to raid. Reprisals were ruthless. Fremont, Hooker and Taylor, the primary Generals occupying the south, hunted down any whom dared retaliate to this state of affairs. Some political leaders of the FSA remained in prison or exile, Bonham unlikely to return any time soon.
Something needed to be done. Something dramatic to reignite the flames of the entire south. It was obvious by the political rhetoric in Philadelphia that the northern peoples (that Slavic and Germanic and Irish mix) would not welcome a return to hostilities and depended upon the Negroes to keep the south in line. Others were, mercifully, rejecting Seward's demands for suffrage of Negroes.
Largely disarmed and occupied by a large army, many hoped that good behavior would result in a lighter Union hand. This proved incorrect.
Enough of the gentry were now convinced that Seward and his ilk were not going to return any form of freedom to the south.
The men began to plot.
Cape Town, Dutch South Africa
The British and Russian fleets, by happenstance, converged upon Cape Town, the dominant city along southern Africa, at the same time. Both convoys were a mix of supply, transport and ships of war. By common accord, the three great powers of Europe (Britain, France and Russia) would be granted visitation and refueling rights at any of their ports per the quiet Treaty of Brussels.
As the Dutch Republic was but a client state of France, the Dutch were forced to comply, not that the largely moribund settlement could not use the money for their coal and provisions. They even built a minor shipyard for use of anyone with currency. The Dutch colony had not grown much in fifty years despite the retreat of several of the larger African tribes. With that damnable illness that felled horses, the inland was still difficult to reach.
The commanders of the respective fleets expressed their mutual admiration in the stilted forms of the day, each vague as to their destination.
The British were bound for the Empire of Nippon. They would be shocked that the Russians were sailing the same way.
Charleston
Several of the former leaders of South Carolina's gentry met covertly and not for the first time.
The occupation was proving brutal with no end in sight. Rightfully owned slaves now marched up and down the streets of Charleston with an arrogance that would have resulted in a whipping only a year prior. Great men had fallen as the creditors confiscated their land, which lay untilled for over a year for lack of labor. The lazy "Freedmen" refused to work the fields in great numbers even when offered wages to do so.
Perhaps worse was the fact that this situation did not seem likely to change. By best estimation, nearly a third of the slaves in 1852 had since migrated north or west. God-damned "President" Seward had taken to offering land to the west for any slave family which wanted to till their own fields. Some stated this was charity, others a direct attempt to destroy the southern way of life even more than the north already had by removing their labor force. More and more departed west on a daily basis.
Insultingly, over 75,000 Negroes remained in uniform as the white northerners went home. This represented over a third of the US army (reportedly) and over half of those occupying the south. Negroes were also the first hired to construct railroads and other rebuilding efforts as so directed by Seward and the "Freedman's Bureau".
Some white southerners attempted to rebel, to raid. Reprisals were ruthless. Fremont, Hooker and Taylor, the primary Generals occupying the south, hunted down any whom dared retaliate to this state of affairs. Some political leaders of the FSA remained in prison or exile, Bonham unlikely to return any time soon.
Something needed to be done. Something dramatic to reignite the flames of the entire south. It was obvious by the political rhetoric in Philadelphia that the northern peoples (that Slavic and Germanic and Irish mix) would not welcome a return to hostilities and depended upon the Negroes to keep the south in line. Others were, mercifully, rejecting Seward's demands for suffrage of Negroes.
Largely disarmed and occupied by a large army, many hoped that good behavior would result in a lighter Union hand. This proved incorrect.
Enough of the gentry were now convinced that Seward and his ilk were not going to return any form of freedom to the south.
The men began to plot.
Cape Town, Dutch South Africa
The British and Russian fleets, by happenstance, converged upon Cape Town, the dominant city along southern Africa, at the same time. Both convoys were a mix of supply, transport and ships of war. By common accord, the three great powers of Europe (Britain, France and Russia) would be granted visitation and refueling rights at any of their ports per the quiet Treaty of Brussels.
As the Dutch Republic was but a client state of France, the Dutch were forced to comply, not that the largely moribund settlement could not use the money for their coal and provisions. They even built a minor shipyard for use of anyone with currency. The Dutch colony had not grown much in fifty years despite the retreat of several of the larger African tribes. With that damnable illness that felled horses, the inland was still difficult to reach.
The commanders of the respective fleets expressed their mutual admiration in the stilted forms of the day, each vague as to their destination.
The British were bound for the Empire of Nippon. They would be shocked that the Russians were sailing the same way.
March, 1856
Sea of Japan
The Captain of the HMS George V was looking forward to his next command. Too many of the Royal Navy ships remained ships of sail, virtually useless in his mind against a modern steam ship. Plus sailing ships were resource intensive. It took large numbers of skilled sailors to man a sailing ship from London to Nippon, 400 men toiling for 7 months (and that was a quick journey!). A stream-ship of equivalent size would take less than 1/4 that time and barely 2/3rds the crew, many of which would not need to be sailing professionals as certain steamship positions could be done by any idiot impressed at port (or inland for that matter).
The history of the Royal Navy was the history of the struggle for qualified manpower. If the Navy were to convert entirely to steam, then effectiveness would go up exponentially: more ships as they required fewer men, tasks such as sailing to Asia would take a fraction of the time and therefore require fewer ships or the navy could be ever more useful, ever present on the seas in a way impossible before.
Still, it was a fine time to be in the navy. Britain's ships were always superior to French. Russia and America were gaining but neither had a great naval tradition. Spain and the Dutch Republic were long dead as powers, REAL powers anyway. The nation that controlled the sea controlled the world. France no longer stood upon Europe's throat. Even the Spanish and Austrians didn't fear them anymore. Britain could and would yet rise higher. If anything, the sailor could not understand why France and Russia were being given such liberties in Indochina and China.
Well, he wasn't a politician.
For the past few weeks, the sailing ship had patrolled about the northern end of Honshu. The Captain was not worried. The handful of steam ships the Yamato possessed had been seized or sunk long ago. The Asiatics had no ships capable of threatening the George V.
Thus it was to the Captain's shock that he witnessed a large number of Russian ships approaching, a mix of warships and freightors. Most passed by but one small frigate sidled up alongside, their flags signifying a request for parley. The Russian Captain rowed aboard in a longboat and brought a bottle of that god-awful potato alcohol (which the Briton took politely though he intended on pouring it over the side the moment the Russians were out of sight. Only that hideous rice wine the Yamato made was worse).
The Russian haltingly inquired as to the state of the war with the Yamato. Uncertain if he was to pass on such information, he merely stated it was going well. This was largely true as reportedly most of Honshu had fallen to the British (well, the Shogun, nominally but the Captain suspected no one on Honshu believed that was true anymore).
The Russian departed with a similar vague answer of his destination being the "northern islands".
Only later would the "northern islands" mean Hokkaido, the northern island claimed by the Emperor of Nippon. Lightly populated with a native people that were only now being demographically overrun by Yamato, Hokkaido had been the domain of a noble serving the Emperor for decades, maybe longer. Britain had not gotten around to invading it and were not happy to see the Russians seizing control of what they considered their rightful (by right of conquest) territory. The Russians stated that they had their own claim to Hokkaido as they did to Sakhalin.
Given that the Russians were granted vast swathes of China to "establish influence", the use of resources on the cold, lightly populated island with no discernible resources seemed odd to many French and British observers. But the Czar had seen the huge gains made by the British, French and Americans in southeast Asia and the Pacific over the years and sought to protect their southern flank and ensure control of ports in the northern Atlantic.
Protests were made by the British, retorts made by the Russians. In the end, the British did not press their luck, not with the rebellion in India, the ongoing conquest of Nippon and the expansion of their "influence" in China all continuing. Besides, France's aggressive reentry into colonialism was making many foreign ministry officials in London nervous and Britain did not desire to alienate yet another power. Their relations with France were always wary, any hopes of some form of alliance with America had been rejected for decades.
Sometimes, keeping any form of peace was worth a bit of sacrifice.
Northern Honshu
The Emperor's Court "Advisors" (really his handlers) had been forced to "advise" the Emperor to retreat north again. More and more nobles were quietly seeking peace with the onrushing British dominated Shogun forces. It was now obvious that the war was lost.
Several nobles began to communicate with the enemy. In return for a guarantee over their privileges, they turned over the court's plan for fleeing further north. The Emperor was captured by a combination of Shogunate and British forces laying in ambush.
By the spring, the Emperor was quietly placed in comfortable quarters far from the center of power on Honshu.
Sea of Japan
The Captain of the HMS George V was looking forward to his next command. Too many of the Royal Navy ships remained ships of sail, virtually useless in his mind against a modern steam ship. Plus sailing ships were resource intensive. It took large numbers of skilled sailors to man a sailing ship from London to Nippon, 400 men toiling for 7 months (and that was a quick journey!). A stream-ship of equivalent size would take less than 1/4 that time and barely 2/3rds the crew, many of which would not need to be sailing professionals as certain steamship positions could be done by any idiot impressed at port (or inland for that matter).
The history of the Royal Navy was the history of the struggle for qualified manpower. If the Navy were to convert entirely to steam, then effectiveness would go up exponentially: more ships as they required fewer men, tasks such as sailing to Asia would take a fraction of the time and therefore require fewer ships or the navy could be ever more useful, ever present on the seas in a way impossible before.
Still, it was a fine time to be in the navy. Britain's ships were always superior to French. Russia and America were gaining but neither had a great naval tradition. Spain and the Dutch Republic were long dead as powers, REAL powers anyway. The nation that controlled the sea controlled the world. France no longer stood upon Europe's throat. Even the Spanish and Austrians didn't fear them anymore. Britain could and would yet rise higher. If anything, the sailor could not understand why France and Russia were being given such liberties in Indochina and China.
Well, he wasn't a politician.
For the past few weeks, the sailing ship had patrolled about the northern end of Honshu. The Captain was not worried. The handful of steam ships the Yamato possessed had been seized or sunk long ago. The Asiatics had no ships capable of threatening the George V.
Thus it was to the Captain's shock that he witnessed a large number of Russian ships approaching, a mix of warships and freightors. Most passed by but one small frigate sidled up alongside, their flags signifying a request for parley. The Russian Captain rowed aboard in a longboat and brought a bottle of that god-awful potato alcohol (which the Briton took politely though he intended on pouring it over the side the moment the Russians were out of sight. Only that hideous rice wine the Yamato made was worse).
The Russian haltingly inquired as to the state of the war with the Yamato. Uncertain if he was to pass on such information, he merely stated it was going well. This was largely true as reportedly most of Honshu had fallen to the British (well, the Shogun, nominally but the Captain suspected no one on Honshu believed that was true anymore).
The Russian departed with a similar vague answer of his destination being the "northern islands".
Only later would the "northern islands" mean Hokkaido, the northern island claimed by the Emperor of Nippon. Lightly populated with a native people that were only now being demographically overrun by Yamato, Hokkaido had been the domain of a noble serving the Emperor for decades, maybe longer. Britain had not gotten around to invading it and were not happy to see the Russians seizing control of what they considered their rightful (by right of conquest) territory. The Russians stated that they had their own claim to Hokkaido as they did to Sakhalin.
Given that the Russians were granted vast swathes of China to "establish influence", the use of resources on the cold, lightly populated island with no discernible resources seemed odd to many French and British observers. But the Czar had seen the huge gains made by the British, French and Americans in southeast Asia and the Pacific over the years and sought to protect their southern flank and ensure control of ports in the northern Atlantic.
Protests were made by the British, retorts made by the Russians. In the end, the British did not press their luck, not with the rebellion in India, the ongoing conquest of Nippon and the expansion of their "influence" in China all continuing. Besides, France's aggressive reentry into colonialism was making many foreign ministry officials in London nervous and Britain did not desire to alienate yet another power. Their relations with France were always wary, any hopes of some form of alliance with America had been rejected for decades.
Sometimes, keeping any form of peace was worth a bit of sacrifice.
Northern Honshu
The Emperor's Court "Advisors" (really his handlers) had been forced to "advise" the Emperor to retreat north again. More and more nobles were quietly seeking peace with the onrushing British dominated Shogun forces. It was now obvious that the war was lost.
Several nobles began to communicate with the enemy. In return for a guarantee over their privileges, they turned over the court's plan for fleeing further north. The Emperor was captured by a combination of Shogunate and British forces laying in ambush.
By the spring, the Emperor was quietly placed in comfortable quarters far from the center of power on Honshu.
May, 1856
Philadelphia, Provisional Capital of the United States
President William Seward was getting tired of dealing with this nonsense. He'd spent the past week at the Whig Convention in New York only to see his party organizers agree to keep the bumpkin as Vice-President. Seward didn't bother to say "nominee" as there was no way that the Democrats would win a quarter of the electoral vote. At least Lincoln hadn't voted against the administration on the three votes that, surprisingly, required his tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
The first had been an extension of the purview of the Freedman's Bureau, both in time and depth of their power. Seward had not been certain of Lincoln's position on this area. Well, he supposed he could have asked but the New Yorker hated talking to the Illinois lawyer.
Second, Lincoln approved Tamaulipas' entry into the Union along with New Leon (though many were considering changing the name to simply "Leon" when the territory became a state). At least here, Seward was sure of Lincoln's agreement. Both President and Vice-President had been adamant on altering the Whig party's solicitation of Catholic support. This past failure had cost the party much in the past and Lincoln wanted to rectify that oversight. As it was, the party was getting in early on the Latins of the south and the new wave of Slavs emerging from the Russias. Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians - Seward wouldn't know they from Adam but they all had the vote and the Whig operatives were meeting them at the waterfronts to "help" them settle and direct them to Whig meeting halls to register with the Party. The Democrats had done this with great success with the Germans and Irish of the past. Many had switched to the Whigs during the war but Seward didn't want to lose that momentum.
Third, Lincoln managed to cast the final vote to approve the continued buildup of the navy. After battling the Spanish at sea, it was obvious that the United States had the capacity to be a world power at sea, if only the nation could emerge from her self-imposed isolation. The appropriations were offset partially by the semi-regular discharge of obsolete sailing ships as the new steam ships were commissioned.
In all, it had been a generally productive spring and Seward had won more battles than he lost with Congress. The occupation of the South would continue until the rebel stated understood the new reality. He doubted that would occur soon. As is, tens of thousands of Negroes departed the south every month for the west, the north (not that these northern states wanted them), Africa or Brazil. The net result was the permanent destruction of the old plantation system. As the land confiscation of southern plantations had been haphazard at best, this seemed the best solution.
The downside of this was that the south was becoming increasing white and therefore likely to be staunchly Democrat when the occupation ended. Not that this would happen soon.
Now if only he could get Congress to make a decision on the new capital.
Charleston
"We have to move by the election."
"Won't that make the Whigs stronger?"
"The Yankees will elect a Whig no matter what. What we need is chaos. We have more friends in the north than may think. Turns out no one likes having thousands of Negroes squatting in their cities."
"Very well, it is agreed."
Philadelphia, Provisional Capital of the United States
President William Seward was getting tired of dealing with this nonsense. He'd spent the past week at the Whig Convention in New York only to see his party organizers agree to keep the bumpkin as Vice-President. Seward didn't bother to say "nominee" as there was no way that the Democrats would win a quarter of the electoral vote. At least Lincoln hadn't voted against the administration on the three votes that, surprisingly, required his tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
The first had been an extension of the purview of the Freedman's Bureau, both in time and depth of their power. Seward had not been certain of Lincoln's position on this area. Well, he supposed he could have asked but the New Yorker hated talking to the Illinois lawyer.
Second, Lincoln approved Tamaulipas' entry into the Union along with New Leon (though many were considering changing the name to simply "Leon" when the territory became a state). At least here, Seward was sure of Lincoln's agreement. Both President and Vice-President had been adamant on altering the Whig party's solicitation of Catholic support. This past failure had cost the party much in the past and Lincoln wanted to rectify that oversight. As it was, the party was getting in early on the Latins of the south and the new wave of Slavs emerging from the Russias. Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians - Seward wouldn't know they from Adam but they all had the vote and the Whig operatives were meeting them at the waterfronts to "help" them settle and direct them to Whig meeting halls to register with the Party. The Democrats had done this with great success with the Germans and Irish of the past. Many had switched to the Whigs during the war but Seward didn't want to lose that momentum.
Third, Lincoln managed to cast the final vote to approve the continued buildup of the navy. After battling the Spanish at sea, it was obvious that the United States had the capacity to be a world power at sea, if only the nation could emerge from her self-imposed isolation. The appropriations were offset partially by the semi-regular discharge of obsolete sailing ships as the new steam ships were commissioned.
In all, it had been a generally productive spring and Seward had won more battles than he lost with Congress. The occupation of the South would continue until the rebel stated understood the new reality. He doubted that would occur soon. As is, tens of thousands of Negroes departed the south every month for the west, the north (not that these northern states wanted them), Africa or Brazil. The net result was the permanent destruction of the old plantation system. As the land confiscation of southern plantations had been haphazard at best, this seemed the best solution.
The downside of this was that the south was becoming increasing white and therefore likely to be staunchly Democrat when the occupation ended. Not that this would happen soon.
Now if only he could get Congress to make a decision on the new capital.
Charleston
"We have to move by the election."
"Won't that make the Whigs stronger?"
"The Yankees will elect a Whig no matter what. What we need is chaos. We have more friends in the north than may think. Turns out no one likes having thousands of Negroes squatting in their cities."
"Very well, it is agreed."
God, South Carolina is full of fucking idiots. So listen to this amount of stupidity, your state is under military occupation for an indefinite time period because of the fact that you rebelled against the national government for fucking slavery, IN A TIME OF WAR. Your armies got owned on almost all front, your economy is in the shit, and the people you formerly enslaved now have guns and can retaliate. Now with all of these fucking conditions what do you do, piss of your occupiers by launching some bullshit conspiracy. WHHHHYYY??????? I mean seriously, let's say they go the route of Booth and assassinate Seward, do they really fucking think that's going to make their situation better? The North outnumbers you 4 to 1 and their economy is still pretty fucking intact. Even if Lincoln the compromiser comes to power, that isn't going to stop the Whigs from staying in power. There's nothing South Carolina can do that can eliminate the entire parties leadership and politicians. This means the Radical Whigs becoming the majority faction and Democrats are forever discredited as the party of slavery and treason. Fuck 19th Century South Carolina! Both OTL and TTL.
Booth thought an assassination would restart the war. He proved to be wrong but also note that "southern honor" would need to be sated. I'll get more into this in future chapters. Preston Brooks' assault on Charles Sumner was a gentlemanly act against a Yankee barbarian.
July, 1856
The South
For over a year, the Union Army had slowly disintegrated only to be rebuilt with greater numbers of Negroes. These men were passionate in their intention to aid their fellow freedmen. The white officers commanding the occupying Union armies were of varying support of these goals. Sometimes the officers cared. Sometimes they didn't.
When the "raiders", masked men attacking newly freed Negroes, became common. The Union soldiers, mainly Negroes but with some supportive whites, retaliated.
Former great men, usually plantations owners, continued to lead their fellows. A Negro settlement (sometimes formed from the bones of an old planation) was burned? The next night, a former Federal General or Senator's fine plantation was torched.
A Negro merchant or blacksmith was murdered in the night, whipped to death (the whip being the symbol of the old guard)? The local gentry would discover one of their owned hanged by "black shadows in the night, draped in Union blue". The noose became the symbol of radical Freedmen.
The whip versus the noose. While Seward demanded that all "Federals" be relieved of any arms beneath a hunting shotgun, there were more than enough weapons to go around. The Freedmen were armed with the latest weapons, often those "lost" by the Union army. New Sharpes and Winchesters were commonly found in the most humble of Negro hovels, held by men and women. Violence was alternately blamed in northern newspapers on one group or another (southern newspapers heavily suppressed unless endorsed by the government).
Freedmen's Bureau facilities were burned. A blood toll was demanded in revenge. Democrats began blaming the Whigs for placing Negroes "above their race" and used this violence as a campaign point.
Manila
Colonel Andres Novales was getting tired of the Madrid's insistence that all officers and lead placemen be Peninsulars. The Creole Filipina had served the Empire for thirty years from North America to South to Africa to Timor.
Still, Novales was banned from serving in any capacity higher than Colonel or taking a responsible position in his homeland.
Novales had been in the Spanish Australian colony of Folgueras when the Americans conquered it. He witnessed that the Spaniards, Negroes and Filipinos were almost instantly treated with more respect than by the Spanish government itself.
Returning to Manila, Novales realized the depth of the resentment was no less here than in parts of New Spain (he adamantly refused to call it "Tierra Fernada"), Granada, Peru and Chile, though most had begun taking over at least SOME local power. Still, Spain was as incompentent a master as a tyrannical one.
Something was brewing and Novales, after 30 years of service, was willing to hear what the protesters had to say.
Philadelphia
President Seward was elated that the Czar had accepted his offer of 10,000,000 dollars for Russian America. Oh, America didn't have money to spend but this was still a bargain if only to get another European power off the continent. Besides, these lands may serve as a springboard to Asia even if the land itself was useless.
Seward approved the treaty without demur. Oh, some Senators mocked it as "Seward's Folly" but there was doubt of the treaty's passing. Most Americans were happy to have the land, even though most would never see it.
Everyone liked a larger America.
By August, both parties would have signed the treaty (the Czar having already done so). Russian America would be just "America" soon enough.
The South
For over a year, the Union Army had slowly disintegrated only to be rebuilt with greater numbers of Negroes. These men were passionate in their intention to aid their fellow freedmen. The white officers commanding the occupying Union armies were of varying support of these goals. Sometimes the officers cared. Sometimes they didn't.
When the "raiders", masked men attacking newly freed Negroes, became common. The Union soldiers, mainly Negroes but with some supportive whites, retaliated.
Former great men, usually plantations owners, continued to lead their fellows. A Negro settlement (sometimes formed from the bones of an old planation) was burned? The next night, a former Federal General or Senator's fine plantation was torched.
A Negro merchant or blacksmith was murdered in the night, whipped to death (the whip being the symbol of the old guard)? The local gentry would discover one of their owned hanged by "black shadows in the night, draped in Union blue". The noose became the symbol of radical Freedmen.
The whip versus the noose. While Seward demanded that all "Federals" be relieved of any arms beneath a hunting shotgun, there were more than enough weapons to go around. The Freedmen were armed with the latest weapons, often those "lost" by the Union army. New Sharpes and Winchesters were commonly found in the most humble of Negro hovels, held by men and women. Violence was alternately blamed in northern newspapers on one group or another (southern newspapers heavily suppressed unless endorsed by the government).
Freedmen's Bureau facilities were burned. A blood toll was demanded in revenge. Democrats began blaming the Whigs for placing Negroes "above their race" and used this violence as a campaign point.
Manila
Colonel Andres Novales was getting tired of the Madrid's insistence that all officers and lead placemen be Peninsulars. The Creole Filipina had served the Empire for thirty years from North America to South to Africa to Timor.
Still, Novales was banned from serving in any capacity higher than Colonel or taking a responsible position in his homeland.
Novales had been in the Spanish Australian colony of Folgueras when the Americans conquered it. He witnessed that the Spaniards, Negroes and Filipinos were almost instantly treated with more respect than by the Spanish government itself.
Returning to Manila, Novales realized the depth of the resentment was no less here than in parts of New Spain (he adamantly refused to call it "Tierra Fernada"), Granada, Peru and Chile, though most had begun taking over at least SOME local power. Still, Spain was as incompentent a master as a tyrannical one.
Something was brewing and Novales, after 30 years of service, was willing to hear what the protesters had to say.
Philadelphia
President Seward was elated that the Czar had accepted his offer of 10,000,000 dollars for Russian America. Oh, America didn't have money to spend but this was still a bargain if only to get another European power off the continent. Besides, these lands may serve as a springboard to Asia even if the land itself was useless.
Seward approved the treaty without demur. Oh, some Senators mocked it as "Seward's Folly" but there was doubt of the treaty's passing. Most Americans were happy to have the land, even though most would never see it.
Everyone liked a larger America.
By August, both parties would have signed the treaty (the Czar having already done so). Russian America would be just "America" soon enough.
Weird, I thought Booth was just trying to avenge the South.
Which is hilarious, as the South's reaction to his assassination, let alone planned assassinations, was pretty basic.
Yeah, South Carolina has always been the "special" state in the Bible Belt area.
I thought his intent was that Lincoln's assassination would restart the war.
September, 1856
Manila
Colonel Andres Novales was astounded to discover his brother, Mariano, at the pseudo-secret meeting of dissidents. He had spent so much time abroad that he had not heard that his brother, a creole like himself, had been removed from office in Manila.
Other disaffected and disappointed grandees, along with some lower class rabble-rousers, had arrived to spew their various complaints.
What Novales did not hear was a plan to act.
He quietly realized that this group had no leader. He was perhaps the man for the job.
Northern Honshu
The British, at last, reached the northern coast of Honshu. There they found several Russian ships docked within sight of the new British...well, whatever the foreign office determined to call their new colony. The island of Hokkaido had fallen to the Russians. Diplomats would bargain but the locals didn't care much about Hokkaido, it being a wasteland. Was this any more important than Russians controlling much of Northern China?
The Russian and British relationship had mended somewhat in recent years but the Russians were still uncomfortably close to India with their base at Basra. Rumor had it that the Russians were seized any usable base around the Arabian Peninsula as well. Whether this was for protection against the British in India or the French in Egypt (their canal was due open any day), no one knew.
What was certain was that South Asia, like East Asia, was a three-way dogfight and no one knew how long it would last.
Southern China, British Zone of Influence
The alliance of Chinese Warlords, many Muslim, had been crushed, leaving the coast to the British. Slowly, the Britons would move inland as the warlords turned upon one another.
Philadelphia
President Seward was elated. St. Louis would be the new capital of the United States.
Some fools like Lincoln protested that this would turn people against the Whigs before the election, much like the new laws creating a secret police in the south or the Alaska purchase, but Seward did not believe that refusing to act ever did any good. Best to get your legislation through and move on to the next. Political enemies bitched. That is what they did. Just give them something new to bitch about.
Charleston
The conspirators rode together through Virginia then divided before hitting Pennsylvania, each to this own assignment.
Manila
Colonel Andres Novales was astounded to discover his brother, Mariano, at the pseudo-secret meeting of dissidents. He had spent so much time abroad that he had not heard that his brother, a creole like himself, had been removed from office in Manila.
Other disaffected and disappointed grandees, along with some lower class rabble-rousers, had arrived to spew their various complaints.
What Novales did not hear was a plan to act.
He quietly realized that this group had no leader. He was perhaps the man for the job.
Northern Honshu
The British, at last, reached the northern coast of Honshu. There they found several Russian ships docked within sight of the new British...well, whatever the foreign office determined to call their new colony. The island of Hokkaido had fallen to the Russians. Diplomats would bargain but the locals didn't care much about Hokkaido, it being a wasteland. Was this any more important than Russians controlling much of Northern China?
The Russian and British relationship had mended somewhat in recent years but the Russians were still uncomfortably close to India with their base at Basra. Rumor had it that the Russians were seized any usable base around the Arabian Peninsula as well. Whether this was for protection against the British in India or the French in Egypt (their canal was due open any day), no one knew.
What was certain was that South Asia, like East Asia, was a three-way dogfight and no one knew how long it would last.
Southern China, British Zone of Influence
The alliance of Chinese Warlords, many Muslim, had been crushed, leaving the coast to the British. Slowly, the Britons would move inland as the warlords turned upon one another.
Philadelphia
President Seward was elated. St. Louis would be the new capital of the United States.
Some fools like Lincoln protested that this would turn people against the Whigs before the election, much like the new laws creating a secret police in the south or the Alaska purchase, but Seward did not believe that refusing to act ever did any good. Best to get your legislation through and move on to the next. Political enemies bitched. That is what they did. Just give them something new to bitch about.
Charleston
The conspirators rode together through Virginia then divided before hitting Pennsylvania, each to this own assignment.
