Part 38: Troubled Beginnings and the Misisipi War
The 1810s for the Republic of Carolina would be known colloquially as the “Decade of Troubles” by commentators of the time. This period being characterized by several domestic and one large foreign troubles that disrupted the domestic shape of Carolina. Each one could be chalked up to economic, social, and political factors.
The Panic of 1811 was an economic recession for the Republic of Carolina, and it was by no means constrained to Carolina. The Panic of 1811 which last three years was the result of an economic slowdown following the war of independence from Spain and also a global downshift coming off of the Napoleonic Wars – in particular the Bank of England was a common thread. The Bank of England had invested in many of the new Latin American countries and was facing insolvency from the financial strains of the Post-War period and the recession.
A second recession would occur in 1816 as a part of the Misisipi War as the economic embargo imposed against and from the Republic of Virginia, and the privateering in the Northern Atlantic. This resulted in lagging trade volumes and commodity prices soared as a result. It would be a push for domestic industrialization in Carolina but again these were seeds which would take additional decades to bloom.
There was also a real estate bubble in Carolina which burst, ravenous land claims by Carolino settlers fluctuating in value. Part of the recession was forestalled by Pre-War infrastructure in the Carolino provinces and the relative intact nature of the public roadworks and canals, but this was not the case in many other Latin American countries which had seen longer and harder fighting. Most of the issues were a result of the new Region administrations attempting to unite preexisting and create new organization arms to encourage their new political and economic sub-unions. With settlement pushing westward investment in new infrastructure, especially canals and roads across the Apalchen and along the Misisipi which saw increased economic value as towns and ports developed in the wilderness. This would also play into the increasing industrialization of Carolina, focused on infrastructure it would be during this period that steamboats began to become a common sight across the Carolino rivers.
Indios were also a new issue for the Republican government, as the territorial independence of Carolina had netted it claimed lands from the Atlantic to the Pacific, thousands of miles of unexplored lands which included tens of thousands of native tribes -many which would only hear of the independence of Carolina when government representatives arrived at their campfire or villages. Relations with these tribes varied greatly. The traditional tribes of Carolina, those inhabiting Moyao and Chattanooga had of course the friendliest relations with the Carolina government-having already been integrated into the framework of the new country.
The Seminole in Florida not formally integrated were able to get good terms on joining Carolina. In the west relations with the Pueblo and Zuni tribes were also very adaptive to the changing political situation. The native tribes of the Tongva and Chumash in Southern California were also open and officials out of San Miguel were able to establish favorable land divides. However, many more tribes were evasive if not outright hostile by attempts to the Carolinos to integrate them, resulting in numerous wars with the native tribes.
For the 1810s the two primary wars would include the Ohio War and the 1st Comanchero War. The first was the result of several tribes among the Miami, Sauk, dissident Shawnee, and Illinois which opposed the increasing settlement of the Ohio and Misispi valleys. The war itself was primarily lead by de Rivilla who was Governor of Ohio who continued to pioneer and fine tune his “la Legion” military concept. Taking republic and local soldiers, he lead the Carolinos in cornering the leaders of the dissident tribes and defeating them in battle. Following the war the tribes were either disbanded and forced to integrate with bands and tribes allied to the Carolinos or forced to accept limited land overturns. The 1st Comanchero War extended into the 1820s and was an on-off conflict between Africano settlers moving westward out of Joseana and Mestizo settlers out of the Rio Medio valley. Not so much a war so much as a series of hit and run raids and kidnappings by some Comanchero tribes opposed to the Carolino government it would last until a peace treaty was signed but would flare up again in the 1830s.
It was these instabilities that saw the eruption of the Misisipi War between the Republic of Carolina and Virginia. Virginia was something of the pariah of the Americas by the 1810s, with a friendly British government in Carolina, the Virginian economy saw worse economic damage than Carolina would see as radical policies by the staunchly Puritan government of the Fillmore administration prevented reconciliation with the British government and opening their economic to a great portion of the world market. Historical Anti-Catholic prejudices of the Carolinos also prevented proper integration with the Carolino economic despite the two sharing an absolutely long border. Most of the economic interaction between the two occurred either in the Republic of Nouvelle Rochelle’s ports or on the Great Lakes where smugglers were commonly active. It was cracking down on the Great Lakes black market that would prelude the invasion by the Virginian government.
Prior to the conflict the Carolino-Virginian governments had three major land disputes between each other. The first, was in the east along the Allghenia (Northern Pennsylvania) and Cristiana (Southern Pennsylvania) borders between Virginia and Carolina. This piece of real estate had shifted back and forth between the English and Spanish in the previous century, settlers crossing the border were routinely harassed on both sides. The second dispute was in the Michigan Peninsula, Carolina claimed the peninsula as part of their territory as it was south of the Great Lakes and for the Virginians it was a possible (and future) springboard against the Carolinos. The final dispute was further west, Virginia claimed the 41st parallel as the southern border west of the Great Lakes through settlement of the Green Bay, Carolina claimed their northern border was the 49th parallel above Lago Superior.
These claims would come to ahead as the increasing importance of the Misispi River became evident, as the river was a major highway for people and goods through the center of North America. Whoever controlled or had access to the river would very likely become the preeminent power not just in North America but the Americas if not the globe. Demands by the Virginians to settle the border disputes grew through the early years of the 1810s, growing to encompassing more territory south of the 41st territory and the source waters of the Misisipi river. Carolina officials refused to budge on recognizing any Virginian control of the region, and very soon both powers were constructing forts in the disputed territories around Lago Jose/Lake Michigan. The issue was forced when an attack by Carolino aligned tribes of the Miami (following the Ohio War) attacked trader posts around the Virginian fort of Fort Arlington (roughly Chicago). When pursued by the Virginians soldiers from an opposing Carolino fort prevented the Virginians from following and eventually in argument both sides fired on each other.
War was declared in March of 1816, the Carolino and Virginian governments blaming each other for what would be known as the Arlington Incident. Both sides blocked off trade with one another and soon privateering between independent captains on the Northern Atlantic saw ships flying opposing flags fighting one another, seizing ships and goods and returning to Cristiana or Virginian Avalon. The United Communes of Nouvelle Rochelle (Nouvelle Rochelle having obtained independence from the United Provinces following the Napoleonic War on amicable terms) was in particular caught in a difficult position, as owing to its position of neutrality it did not prevent ships from Carolina or Virginia from visiting its ports-however this policy opened to political conflict as privateers would use Nouvelle Rochelle’s territorial waters to skirt and launch raids on opposing shipping lanes or seek safe haven. The Nouvelle Rochelle navy was particularly overburdened by the large number of disputes until eventually forbidding any captains with a letter of marquis from entering their waters.
De Rivilla having retired from his governor ship in Ohio was elected as the commander of the Carolino Legions, despite his age he was more than willing to take command. That he was intimately familiar with the terrain that much of the fighting would take place in would be a major asset to the Carolinos. With much of the northern Carolino border still heavy with snowfall from that winter, de Rivilla elected to shore up Carolinian defenses around Cristiana and Toledo. He looked westward to Detroit where the Virginian attack would fall, in this he was surprised when instead the Virginian army under General Francis deWitt instead launched an attack further west out of the western shore of Lake Michigan. DeWitt had ported a sizeable force of the Virginian army across the Great Lakes and attacked down the Misisipi River toward Las Colinas (St. Louis) which he managed to take before wheeling his army down the Ohio river just as another Virginian offensive did erupt from the Michigan border.
The Ohio region however was de Rivilia’s backyard, and he was able to defend the Carolinian settlements from attack, stalling deWitt long enough for reinforcements from Joseana to travel north along the Misisipi and cut off deWitt’s supply lines. It was after this phase of the conflict, surprise and the impressive maneuverability of deWitt and the Virginian army became ineffective for the Virginians as the differences between the Carolino and Virginian armies became increasingly apparent. The Carolino army, la Legion, was a professional military force having the advantage in military training and well-developed supply lines and increasingly in numbers. The Virginian army however was one based on militia that were inducted from across Virginia on one hand giving them maneuverability as they could maneuver through heavy wooded terrain and take supplies from the land they passed through but lacking in uniform cohesion and training. On the field of battle de Rivilla or his commanders could grind down the Virginians, taking the field and forcing them back time and time again. By the end of 1817 deWitt’s forces had been ousted from Carolina territory and the Carolinos had gone on the offensive.
Carolino forces swept along either side of Lake Michigan/Lago Jose, a short naval battle on the lake giving the Carolinos superiority to march on Green Bay and Detroit. Meanwhile, further east Carolino forces out of Cristiana had forced the Santa Anna river (Susquehanna), using the Nouvelle Rochelle border to cover their right flank the Carolinos and were advancing fast on the city of Taylor (Scranton). An failed counter-offensive by the Virginians seeking to surround Toledo following an ill prepared amphibious landing was defeated and ended the war effort for the Virginians as the moderate William Carroll was elected to head of the Virginian government and promptly sued for peace. The 1818 Treaty of Nouvelle Rochelle saw the majority of Carolino land claims granted, the Michigan peninsula and all land claims south of the 49th parallel west of Lake Michigan was ceded to Carolina. Further in the east, the border was fixed at the 41st parallel and the 80th meridian, giving Carolina the majority of the Apalchen mountains and plateau. In return the Carolino government paid reparations to the Virginians of the Arlington Incident and gave a payment for the eastern territories.
Though taking the eastern territory would see a short lived insurgency by indignant Virginian settlers who refused to obey the Carolino government the victory of the Misisipi war was important for the future of Carolina. Besides setting the border with Virginia, it gave Carolina what would be undisputed access to the Misisipi river. Native tribes along the Misisipi river would soon bow to the authority of Carolina agreeing to integrate into Carolina. It would also solidify the confidence in the Carolina government of the 1810 Constitution by Carolinos and even new immigrants. With threats in the east dealt with Carolina could look westward across the continent from sea to shining sea.