Introduction
Thanks to @SargentHawk for making the titlecard!
Our Fallen Heroes: The Story of an Alternate America
In 1783, the United States of America was still young, fresh out of a victory in the Revolutionary War. However, in that short two year span, the fledgling nation had already been tested. The economy was in shambles, exacerbated by the weakness of the federal government. Each state was deep in its own personal debt, and the Articles of Confederation had no ability to alleviate them, leaving the states to find their own ways to deal with the collapse.
Maryland was, like most southern states, close to ending their debt, but needed one last push to put it over the edge. So, the state government in Annapolis chose to impose a land tax on the citizens, requiring them to pay in gold [1]. While this was little more than in inconvenience to the plantation owners in the state, the rural subsistence farmers were outraged.
Dissent spread through the lower farming class like a wildfire, and in July an armed uprising sprung arose near the western settlement of Hagerstown. Led by Revolutionary War leader Mordecai Gist, the force was mainly comprised of farmers and war veterans who planned to gather what meager supplies they could and march on Annapolis. Despite the force’s rather small size, both the state and federal government were shocked at such an event, and in their panic, asked General George Washington of nearby Mount Vernon to intercede on the force and ask them to stand down.
On July 20th, General Washington and his token force mainly consisting of Maryland and Virginia militiamen, met “Gist’s Rebellion” outside of the town of Rockville, Maryland. The specific details of what ensued are scarce, but it is known that one of the farmers from the rebel side grew increasingly nervous, and mistakenly his musket into the General’s troops. Chaos followed, as foot soldiers on either side found themselves thrown into a conflict they were not prepared for. In the storm of bullets, few found their targets. However, one would strike true, and pierce into the General's torso, lodging itself between his ribs. He was quickly taken home to Mount Vernon, though shortly after arrival there he died. It was July 23rd, 1783 [2].
After the Battle of Rockville, the rebels returned home, disheartened by the mess they had created. The rest of the nation felt similarly, shocked by the sudden and tragic loss of their most beloved figure. Through the mourning however, some in the government also saw this tragedy as an opportunity to change the already failing Articles of Confederation. Within a few months, a new and secretive Constitutional Convention was called in Philadelphia, with many of the same big names as before drawn in. It would be here that the United States Constitution [3] would be drafted, and later ratified by all of the states.
This new constitution called for wave of new things, but the most significant was a uniting figure to head the government; the President. And with the nation’s most beloved and unifying figure gone, the field of candidates was wide. Men like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and George Clinton all ran for the position, but in the end it would fall to a rather unsuspecting fellow; the recently returned Minister to France and revered statesman Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. Thanks to spending much of the past six years in France, Franklin was above many of the conflicts and petty squabbles of the other men, and had had no time to tarnish his sterling reputation with the issues of the day.
Due to the fact that New York and North Carolina had not ratified the Constitution at the time of the election in 1784, and Rhode Island couldn’t agree on electors to represent them [4], none of those states got a say in the election, meaning that states that may have given Clinton or Jefferson more power were left from the vote. Per the Constitution, Ben Franklin was elected to be the first President of the United States, with the runner-up John Adams as his Vice President.
It wouldn’t be until March of 1785, nearly two years after the death of Washington, that Ben Franklin would be inaugurated as President. At the age of 79 years old, he remains the oldest President to date. With the first national election complete and the Constitution ratified in all of the states, the United States of America was finally ready to step away from the Articles of Confederation, and head into a new day.
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[1] This is an invented tax, as well as the POD. In practice, it is an earlier and southern version of the Massachusetts state tax that led to Shays’ Rebellion.
[2] While the tax was the divergence point, this is the big deal. With Washington dead in ‘83, the shape of the nation changes forever.
[3] This would be the same Constitution written in OTL, for simplicity’s sake.
[4] These are the states than in OTL didn’t vote in 1788. I didn’t include them here because I couldn’t find how many votes they would get, and didn’t want to use 1792 numbers for 1784.
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So this isn't very long, and as a whole I don't think the updates will be, just to keep it manageable for myself. This could very easily get out of hand with everything I've got going on.
Anyway, this is a TL I've been working on for a little while now, that essentially started with the concept of Ben Franklin becoming the President of the US. Originally, this was going to be the election game that I ran after the one I have going now over in Shared Worlds, but I decided I could have a better time with this idea if I let it be all me. But, it will be in that general style, with an update on the President's term followed by an election update followed by a term, etc. Its going to be fairly "normal" in how it goes, so no crazy dictatorships or anything. A changed, but recognizable, US.
The early chapters are going to be very textbook-y as I work to get into a flow of how I want to write this and so I can set everything up as best I can, but as we go one I plan to have things in different styles, hopefully to lighten up the reading a bit.
But yeah, I'm just gonna start this now with the hope I can update it semi-regularly. Of course, if there is anything that anyone feels the need to point out as wrong or incorrect or whatever, please do! I have a fair amount planned out, but everything is subject to change, if someone can convince me it should be!
(Oh also, if anyone can tell me how to put in those update markers, it would be greatly appreciated!)
