Buaaaaa the King's name is Gilbert! Why Gilbert? And why is it a king? *cries in a corner*
So, you went with king after all eh? I guess tradition won out there.
Bugger me right up the bum, I can't believe I missed that. How did I miss that? I swear to God, I wrote First Prince
at some point when making this. GAH! Although yeah, his name will be Gilbert, in no small part because it's pronounced Jill-bear in the French form, and I like the idea of American's being triggered out of their minds when people mispronounce it in English.
@Schnozzberry
I'm guessing that the "American Diaspora" is all the passionate Republicans leaving America for greener pastures. Could some of the people involved in this diaspora end up filibustering new republics out of the lands they settle in the Americas? Would it be possible for Walton to take control of Florida from Spain? Seeing as it'd only have a population of about 30,000 fifty years in the future I'd think that Florida would be sparsely populated enough to take easily.
Hm, I wonder if this American Diaspora will see the OTL Republic of West Florida, only as an independent republic perhaps under British protection founded by American Republicans.
Oh boy, do I have a treat planned for Florida.
Did somebody say EMPIRE?
And with everything else, I'm going to keep my mouth shut until I get a bit farther along. I've got at least five updates planned to get the various thread's I've got laying around to January 1st, 1789, and then from there, the story shall proceed at my usual slowness. But, by then, I shouldn't be working 10-12 hour shifts literally every day of the week, so I'll be able to update more regularly. But, anyway, enough with the chit-chat, I've got a new update and, I've made a map. It might not be the best, but it should show a bit of the political situation in early 1788.
"To hell with finding quotes, half of this update is quotes. I'll do it next time."
--Schnozzberry
“Despite the expectations that either New York or New Jersey were believed to be the states to swing the vote, it was Massachusetts which would actually cast the seventh vote for monarchy.
This was entirely unexpected across the United States. After all, less than a year ago Massachusetts had been under the control of a radical republican government and now it was abandoning republicanism entirely. This change in Massachusetts was representative of the changes across the whole Union. While the lower classes continued supporting republicanism, the upper, middle and mercantile classes had abandoned their support for a limited republic in the hopes that a strong monarchy would protect them from the lower classes.”
--Ishikawa Yoshiteru, The History of America Book VII: The Early United States
Almost immediately after Massachusetts voted for a monarch, the fighting started. At 3:00 in the afternoon, Christmas day celebrations in Boston were interrupted by the sounds of gunfire. The Second Revolution had begun, and while the republicans lost in Boston they had not yet begun to fight. Within a week, the government of New Jersey had split into two, with the monarchists fleeing north to Newark, while the republicans stayed in control in Trenton and south New Jersey. In Massachusetts, the western towns revolted once more, the flag of the Regulators flying once more, and in New Hampshire the government dispersed with pro-Union republicans and monarchists holding the coastal towns, and anti-Union republicans taking over the inland territories. In New York City, the republicans rose up, and despite losing to local militia, they were successful in forcing the Constitutional Congress to flee south, while in upper New York towns began to revolt and join the republican movement.
“Whether or not the fear of the lower classes was justified prior to the abandoning of republicanism, after the states voted for monarchy the lower classes justified the fears by rising up once more. Across the northern states, republicans flying the Patriot’s Banner began seizing towns and clashing with state militias. However, despite the overwhelming popular support for republicanism to continue, the winter weather prevented a complete takeover of the north by republicans. During the two month stretch before the spring, the General “Mad” Anthony Wayne emerged as the leader of the republican movement. Under Wayne’s command were between ten and fifteen thousand militiamen, who would assemble in New Haven to prepare for a march to New York City in the spring.”
--Ishikawa Yoshiteru
On January 23rd, the majority of members of the Confederation Congress arrived in Philadelphia, allowing the Confederation Congress to resume. The first order of business for the C. Congress was to put down the rebellions and restore order. Many within the C. Congress supported the appointing of a new Emergency Executive, no individual was able to achieve sufficient support for the position to be revived. Instead, James Clinton was pulled out of retirement to serve as Commander in Chief of the United States. Although reluctant, Clinton accepted on February 14th and departed to New York to prepare for the republican invasion. On the same day, what remained of the government of New York ratified the Constitution.
“During the winter, western Pennsylvania, Maryland and northwestern Virginia saw a series of small scale clashes between republican and monarchist militias. While neither side gained an advantage over the other, reports of cruel acts occurring by republicans in the frontier conflict drove the wavering Pennsylvania and Maryland into full heartedly supporting the monarchists. However, while this was a boon for the monarchists, the conflict also emboldened the natives in the Northwest territory and likely is what allowed for the Indian Protectorate of Charlotina to come into existence.”
--Ishikawa Yoshiteru
On March 11th, the Republican Army of America marched from New Haven, making a beeline towards New York. Three days later at Yonkers, the Republicans unexpectedly ran into Clinton’s army. After an initial confused skirmish, the Republicans quickly regrouped and began pushing back the numerically inferior monarchists. The battle was a grueling affair, soldiers fell in masses to the point that one account describes physically climbing over a wall of fallen comrades. As day faded into evening, the monarchists seemed to be on the verge of retreat when the unexpected happened. A force of five thousand monarchist soldiers under Edward Hand was spotted approaching the Republican lines from the rear. Realizing victory was lost, Wayne ordered a retreat. The first full battle of the Second Revolution had ended, and the monarchists had come out on top.
“The Battle of Yonkers set the trend for the first phase of the Second Revolution. The republicans lost the majority of military engagements, but they were always able to retreat and escape to the next town over. Meanwhile, despite the repeated victories by the monarchists, the war seemed to be going nowhere. Any gains made by the monarchists seemed to melt away after Clinton and his army left the vicinity. By June the monarchist army was exhausted and Clinton ordered a retreat to New York. With the monarchist army out of commission, republican delegates would assemble in Albany to discuss a plan for fighting the monarchists. However, a glimmer of hope was on the horizon as the man who was appointed the monarch of the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in New York on June 24th.”
--Ishikawa Yoshiteru
After the C. Congress had appointed Clinton the Commander in Chief, they set about another far more important task, appointing a monarch. While technically, the C. Congress didn’t have the power to do so, the C. Congress had by this point been playing somewhat fast and loose with their powers. As such, the debate proceeded with only one congressional member making note of the illegality of the situation. Initially, two candidates Louis Stanislas Xavier of the French House of Bourbon and Frederick Henry Louis of Prussia emerged as leading candidates. However neither candidate proved popular enough for the C. Congress to send an invite. On a cold morning in January 21st however, a new candidate was named: the Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette was received far better than either Louis or Henry, and on January 24th, the C. Congress approved of inviting Lafayette to be the King of the United States of America. The invite didn’t reach Lafayette or any of the American delegates in France until March 16th. The news shocked and surprised Lafayette and the American delegates who frequented his home in Paris. News that America had actually abandoned republicanism had yet to reach them, and the invite was the first they had heard of it. Thomas Jefferson described the end of republicanism as (amongst other things) “the abandonment of all principals [sic] of liberty, the death of freedom, and the abolishment of all the good things of the American peoples.” Despite his numerous critiques of the direction America was heading, Jefferson was first and foremost in encouraging Lafayette to accept the post, supposedly telling Lafayette that “I know of no man who when granted such a lofty position would stay true to the principles of Liberty.” Thus, after sorting out his affairs, Lafayette would depart for America on April 2nd. While on the trip, Lafayette would record in a personal journal that he was uncertain of what to do when he arrived, but at the same time he also recorded fears that if he didn’t accept, the Union would fall under the sway of a tyrant.