~Our Fair Columbia~
"
Those who stand for nothing fall for everything."
--King Alexander I, House of Hamilton
"We have it in our power to begin the world over again."
--Thomas Paine, Common Sense
"Why was the Revolution fought, if not for our freedoms, if not for our liberties, if not for the escape from the boot of imperialist tyranny? Why, then, have we allowed a monarch to sit on the Throne of America?"
--Thomas Jefferson, A Declaration of Disgust
"I am not only retired from all public employments but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk and tread the paths of private life with heartfelt satisfaction.… I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers."
--Prime Minister George Washington
"The Americans spoke of liberty, but then turned around and put a pretender king on a throne at the shores of the Potomac. This is hypocrisy at its finest, and their dynasty is laughable at best."
--King George III, House of Hanover
Lady Columbia, defend us in battle, be our protection against the storm of war. May General Washington guide us, and Sir Thomas Jefferson advise us, as we humbly pray for the manifestation of our destiny; and do thou, O Goddess of Infinite Wisdom, by the Power of the Eagle, cast into Hell our foes who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of Our Fair Columbia.
[Traditional Pantheon Prayer, c. 1850s]
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Monarchs of the United Empire of Columbia (1839-Present Day)
Emperor Charles I, House of Saratoga (1839-1850)
Emperor Henri I, House of Saratoga (1850-1883)
Empress Esmeralda I, House of Saratoga-Yamato (1883-1934)
Emperor Alexander II, House of Saratoga-Yamato (1934-1986)
Empress Rochelle I, House of Saratoga-Yamato (1986-2013)
Empress Esmeralda II, House of Saratoga-Yamato (2013-Present)
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Presidents of the United Empire of Columbia (1837-Present Day)
Henry Clay (1837-1845) (Patricians)
Samuel Houston (1845-1855) (Whigs)
Vacant (1855-1865) (Executive Helmed by Caesar Abraham Lincoln during the Columbian Civil War)
John C. Fremont (1865-1873) (Imperial Union)
Schuyler Colfax (1873-1881) (Imperial Union)
Ulysses S. Grant (1881-1889) (Imperial Union)
Theodore Roosevelt (1889-1905) (Manifest Destiny)
Woodrow Wilson (1905-1913) (Imperial Union)
Warren G. Harding (1913-1921) (Manifest Destiny)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1921-1933) (Imperial Union)
Al Smith (1933-1941) (Manifest Destiny)
Henry Wallace (1941-1945) (Imperial Union)
Ernestine Russell (1945-1949) (Manifest Destiny)
Vacant (1949-1953) (Executive Helmed by Caesar Dwight D. Eisenhower during the Columbian Warlord Period)
John F. Kennedy (1953-1969) (Grand Alliance)
Shirley Chisholm (1969-1977) (Manifest Destiny)
Ronald Reagan (1977-1985) (Manifest Destiny)
Michael Dukakis (1985-1989) (Grand Alliance)
Yulia Tymoshenko (1989-1993) (Grand Alliance)
Arianna Huffington (1993-2001) (Manifest Destiny)
Elaine Chao (2001-2009) (Consulate)
Yulia Tymoshenko (2009-2013) (Grand Alliance)
Ralph Nader (2013-Present) (Manifest Destiny)
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Everyone has a favorite alternate history subject. Some people enjoy dystopias, others like Central Powers or Axis Powers victories, and still others prefer
Pax Napoleonica. My hands-down favorite AH topic is a version of the United States that has turned monarchist (and an exorbitantly extravagant monarchy at that) and utterly obsessed with their national identity, so much so that they create a half-baked religion based on their myths and legends. Think Columbia from
BioShock Infinite, but applied to most of North America. This is that world.
In this timeline, the United States of America has had a tumultuous existence. The Revolution took a dark turn, with George Washington failing time and time again in the opening years of the war, fleeing from New York to Virginia after a series of defeats. Still, the Union manages to keep the good fight going, but Washington's status as a living legend is tarnished a bit as a result of his successive losses. Instead, his one time right hand man, Alexander Hamilton, gains the notoriety Washington could only dream of, after he goes against direct orders and engages with the British at the Battle of Williamsburg, the turning point in the war as the Americans bounce back against the Redcoats, and his ensuing Canadian Campaign to secure the most of the rest of British North America one compared to another Alexander of equal historical footing. But by this point, the fight had been far too brutal for the original ideals the Revolution championed to survive. The Articles of Confederation and its weak federal government were assailed on all sides, taking the blame off of Washington's shoulders for the defeats, and many political thinkers, including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, began to question if a republic was really the best way to go. Perhaps a leaf should have been taken out of Caesar's book instead of Romulus'.
The Confederation and the United States of America lasted only as long as the Revolution did, and only because it would be too hard to reorganize the government during wartime. So when the guns stopped firing in 1788, everyone agreed it was time to go back to the drawing board. At the Constitutional Convention, the most hotly-debated issue was over if the new government should be a strong republic or a medium-rate monarchy. Outside pressure from France (who had just finished putting down a rebellion of their own, courtesy of the Marquis de Lafayette and a few cannons at the Bastille), the new nation's closest ally, skewed the results in favor of the latter, and the deal was sealed. The Constitutional Convention officially created the United Kingdom of America (the UKA for short), with the by that point legendary Alexander Hamilton being named their first king.
For a while there, things were going great in the UKA. King Alexander I was competent and knew his boundaries, and a line of Prime Ministers including Washington, Jefferson, and Adams all ensured the Congress got what it wanted. As time went on, believe it or not, some people wanted more democratic ideals inserted into the Constitution. So began the Great Troubles, when Sir Andrew Jackson, Commanding General of the Army of the United Kingdom of America, sided with these protesters, declaring a military coup and putting a bounty on the Royal Family's head as they fled to France. For nine years, from 1828 to 1837, Jackson ruled most of the old UKA with an iron fist. Though he talked a lot of talk about democracy and the republican ideal, he never put his money where his mouth was, as is the case with most dictators. Almost a decade of empty promises later, and the people of America had had enough. The Second American Revolution began in 1837, spearheaded by Henry Clay, a master statesman, and Winfield Scott, a battle born prodigy military commander who was the only general capable of standing up to Jackson. With significant aid from their French and now Austrian allies, the Americans overthrew the government that had just overthrown their former government, proclaiming the creation of the United Empire of Columbia. Frenchman Charles Ferdinand, the Duke of Berry and member of the House of Bourbon, was invited to take the helm as the new Emperor of America, which he graciously accepted, founding the new House of Saratoga in 1839. Henry Clay was elected president soon after, a position of great honor as the voice of Congress to the Emperor and vice versa.
The United Empire of Columbia is set up very differently from the OTL US, or even the UKA. There are three main levels to its system of government, these being the States, the Kingdoms, and the Empire. The States and the Empire function mostly the same as the OTL State and Federal governments, but the Kingdoms are new, as a sort of in-between step from State to Empire. There are eight Kingdoms (Canada, New England, Atlantia, Dixie, Sylvania, Aztlán, California, and the Caribbean), each of which are run by one royal family or house (Bourbon, Adams, Hamilton, Lee, Rockefeller, Iturbide, Kalākaua, and Kennedy). Every decade, the denizens of these Kingdoms elect a member of their royal family to represent their Kingdom in the third part of the Legislative Branch, the Council of Kings. In addition to the States and Kingdoms, there are also a few areas run by First Nation peoples, largely left alone but at the consequence of having no say in domestic or foreign policy. There are also many American colonies around the world (called "Overseas Territories" to make them better than they actually are), most prominently in Indonesia, Indochina, West Africa, and the Pacific.
The UEC is also home to a rather unique religion, the Columbian Pantheon. While the Empire isn't theocratic on paper, the Pantheon has significant sway over the proceedings of the American government, with their leaders, the Consul Triumvirate, regularly interfering in politics. The Pantheon is technically an offshoot of Christianity, though it has as much in common with it as it does Buddhism. The Holy Trinity of Uncle Sam, Lady Columbia, and George Washington are said to rule the heavens, with Washington coming to Earth to free the colonies from British tyranny as was divinely ordained. His string of military losses were merely tests of American willpower, and the rise of Hamilton to the highest seat in the land was Washington's doing. Each member of the Triumvirate is believed to hold within them either the spirit of Sam, Columbia, or Washington, and as such are to be treated as gods. (The holder of Washington's spirit is determined to be the greatest general of the day, and is therefore always held by the Commanding General of the Army.) The other Founding Fathers, like Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, and Hamilton, are treated as demigod-saints, dubbed "Patriots."
This is a map of the world as it was in 1909. The United Empire of Columbia is one of the most powerful nations on Earth, and is allied to France, Austria, Portugal, Peru, the Ottomans, and (through constant intermarrying between the Saratogan and Yamatoan Royal Families) Japan. Their chief rival is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, not to mention other such enemies as Russia, Prussia, Brazil, Venice, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia.