Union and Liberty: An American TL

[wilcoxchar]

Thanks for the info QuidProQuid, that will be very helpful! I'll try to get some debates answered now. Was going to work on an update tonight, but put off too much work to do it. This weekend I'll definitely have some time though, so you can expect an update fairly soon.


Looking back through my notes, I did indeed mention John Brown during the violence in Kearny. He got himself martyred.

Uncle Tom's Cabin or a book like it probably has been published in TTL, but it hasn't had as big an effect to be mentioned, or won't until later. I mostly didn't include something like it because I couldn't think of a good way for to it to not just be there because it was there in our history. And the Interstate War isn't as much about slavery as OTL.

About Veracruz, I'm still undecided on its fate.

 

[dilbert719]

Wilcox, this is a great timeline. I'm having a lot of fun trying to keep up with it, and I hope there's a new update soon!

Honestly if you have 40 by 1865 and this becomes an ameriwank then you could end up with over 80 states, try to fit that into a flag in an elegant way.

One possibility for an alternate American flag that gives the stars more room to breathe is to invert: put 13 alternating red and white stripes (either horizontal or vertical; it depends on how different you want it to look) in the canton, with the remainder dominated by a blue field of stars. I wish I could make a graphic representation of it, but aside from being at work, I have no artistic talent whatsoever, so it'd come out looking like utter crap. It might turn out interesting, though.

 

[KingByng]

Or maybe extend the blue field in the canton down toward the bottom of the flag? Smaller stars might be needed too.

 

[araraya]

Wilcox, this is a great timeline. I'm having a lot of fun trying to keep up with it, and I hope there's a new update soon!



One possibility for an alternate American flag that gives the stars more room to breathe is to invert: put 13 alternating red and white stripes (either horizontal or vertical; it depends on how different you want it to look) in the canton, with the remainder dominated by a blue field of stars. I wish I could make a graphic representation of it, but aside from being at work, I have no artistic talent whatsoever, so it'd come out looking like utter crap. It might turn out interesting, though.

That's actually a good idea. I was going to make one but I figured one was already made somewhere and I was right.

 

[wilcoxchar]

New update time!

Speaking to History, Section 1: War Between the States

A House Divided:
After the opinion was released regarding Atchison's slavery proposal during the Interregnum of 1862, Chief Justice Abraham Lincoln made a speech in an attempt to calm the spiraling tensions in the southern United States. While the speech was not regarded very well at the time, over the decades it has become one of the most famous speeches of the era. This is mostly because of Lincoln's lines which repeated a portion of Samuel Houston's first Inaugural Address[1].

"As the late president stated when he first entered the office of President half a decade ago, 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' Our nation now stands at the precipice of destruction. This house, where God conceived the noble ideals of freedom and liberty, is on the verge of violent discord ... By the grace of God, our nation is fully capable of surmounting the challenges that face it. We must look to what Unites us instead of that which separates us in order for the Union to be preserved and remain prosperous." Lincoln's speech was futile in preventing the division of the nation, and his words remain a solemn reminder of the perils facing the United States at that time.


Andrew Johnson's First State of the Union:
The words spoken in Andrew Johnson's first State of the Union address in December of 1862 are the most well known of any State of the Union. While the address to Congress normally focuses on the issues facing the nation at that time and would not usually remain in the minds of the public over a century and a half later, Johnson's First as it is now known has stayed on through the years. The most memorable part of his address was the beginning. "As Houston was laid to rest, the troubles of our nation awoke. Now not a year has passed, and these troubles have boiled over. Gentlemen, our country has now entered a state of war. However, it is not an honorable war. Brother fights against brother."

[1] The 'house divided' line most often attributed to Lincoln was first spoken in OTL by Sam Houston in a speech on the Compromise of 1850

 

[Citizen Samuel]

wilcox asked me to bump this so he doesn't look pathetic

 

[Venusian Si]

wilcox asked me to bump this so he doesn't look pathetic

And you've been reported.

 

[wilcoxchar]

Bah, you were supposed to post something constructive!

Anyway... the timeline is now 17th in views and in the top 25 for posts in the Before 1900 subforum. Thanks to everyone who's keeping up with my erratic posting schedule!

 

[Ian the Admin]

wilcox asked me to bump this so he doesn't look pathetic

Don't troll.

 

[lothaw]

And you've been reported.

For what? If anything your post is more derogatory and detracts from the thread than his. Don't let me spoil your internet high though.

On subject, since wilcox want's some feedback, it was a good update, if somewhat short. Lincoln just can't stay out of the public limelight eh?

Andrew Johnson speaking in foresight of a war without honor... is that foreshadowing to a horrible, devastating war or an even darker reconstruction? Something had to have made the speech famous.

 

[Citizen Samuel]

This brings up a philosophical issue: is it possible to troll and be truthful while doing so?

 

[wilcoxchar]

On subject, since wilcox want's some feedback, it was a good update, if somewhat short. Lincoln just can't stay out of the public limelight eh?

Andrew Johnson speaking in foresight of a war without honor... is that foreshadowing to a horrible, devastating war or an even darker reconstruction? Something had to have made the speech famous.

The next updates will probably be a series of shorting updates like they were for the Oregon War. And it's Lincoln, he has to make a famous speech.

For Johnson, I was thinking that he was affirming his commitment to keeping the Union together as well as saying that the states in the CSA are disrespecting the ideals of the country's founding by seceding.

 

[araraya]

Good update. I was curious, it seems Lincoln is relatively well known for a supreme court justice. Does this mean he might resign from it and run for president? Or is that even possible?

 

[Venusian Si]

For what? If anything your post is more derogatory and detracts from the thread than his. Don't let me spoil your internet high though.

Wow, really, and I'm the one on an internet high?

Now, back on topic. It was an excellent update Wilcox. A little short, but there's nothing wrong with that. Can't wait to see more.

 

[QuoProQuid]

I hope you update soon. Cannot wait to see what happens.

 

[wilcoxchar]

Huh. Just got another short update finished, while watching the Rockies game and procrastinating on my homework.

Part Thirty-One: Ending the War's First Year

The Winter of 1862: The final months of 1862 saw a lull in the conflict as the two sides settled in for winter. In September, President Johnson authorized the creation of the Provisional Texan Army[1]. This army was an autonomous organization under the authority of the states of Tejas and Houston, and was created with the precedent of the Champoeg Provisional Government. The legislatures of Tejas and Houston met in San Antonio and chose Juan Seguín as Commander of the Texan Army. In late October, Seguín led a small contingent in an offensive which captured the southwestern corner of Arkansaw bound by the Red River. The force moved south along the river but was stopped shortly after crossing the Louisiana border and was unable to reach Shreveport.

The first year of the war also revealed how divided the individual states were. In the western territories, Ferroplano and Oregon Territory declared neutrality in the conflict. In addition, Northern New Mexico Territory had a large population increase during the war, as pro-Union supporters, many of them Dutch immigrants, traveled west after Calhoun joined the Confederacy. Some of these settlers founded the city of Nederland[2] in Colorado in the mountains west of Ferroplano. Mines near Nederland would later launch the Colorado silver boom in the 1880s and 1890s.

The war also brought the first income tax in United States history. In the Revenue Act of 1862 passed by Congress in November, the federal tax was set at 5% for all citizens who earned more than one thousand dollars per year. This tax would help pay for the war and while it was repealed by the Hancock administration in the early 1880s as the country's need for money lessened, the tax paved the way for future income tax laws passed in the 20th century.

[1] Locally, the army was referred to as the Army of the Second Texan Republic due to the greater autonomy granted to Tejas and Houston during the war.
[2] Same place as the Nederland in Colorado in OTL.

 

[othyrsyde]

good to see another update Wilcoxchar. I like how your going into the internal conflicts with the states. Was Grant or Shermen around in your TL?

 

[area11]

good update is it possible that this greater autonomy will be giving to other states making them more like autonomous republics

 

[TNF]

President Hancock? I'm assuming that would be Winfield Scott Hancock, correct? Will he play a larger role ITTL's Civil War than OTL's, or just have better luck at the polls in 1880?

Nice updates, by the way. I can't wait to see how the rest of the war is going to flesh out.

 

[lothaw]

So Seguin doesn't go traitor in this timeline eh? Still, I'm surprised he'd be popular enough to get command of this army as opposed to someone like A.S. Johnson, though I suppose he'd be destined for bigger things than a provisional army being the career officer he is.

President Hancock? Well as the was a Dem OTL, that does imply the South is somewhat more successful in this timeline's Civil War, the Republican monopoly of the late 19th century being broken.

Can't wait to see how this turns out. And long live the Republic of Texas!