Hello there!
I've been a big fan of alternate histories (I love The Man in the High Castle), though I've never really created one myself. That said, I'm working on a roleplay setting set in an alternate history where a second American Civil War had been fought somewhere around the 60's and 70's, and had resulted in the USA fracturing into a number of nation-states. Here is the basic concept I have, so far:
-- Instead of Lyndon B. Johnson, JFK chooses "an until-then-unknown politician several years his senior" as his running mate. After JFK's assassination, his Vice President succeeds him. This is the main point of divergence.
-- JFK's successor pledges to guide America into becoming a nation free of injustice, and also moves for a policy of friendliness toward the USSR and Maoist China. This being the McCarthy-era, of course, results in accusations from certain elements within American society that the President is secretly a Communist, or, at worst, an agent of the Soviet Union.
-- The Civil Rights Act is passed, with a modification that forced white communities to pay taxes to improve the quality of life of America's non-white communities. This sparked outrage, particularly in the southern states, and many white communities in the South refuse to pay the new taxes, calling them "reparations."
-- The protests were dealt with, more often than not, quite harshly, and had resulted in the formation of certain political groups in the South that were opposed to the so-called "Reparations Act," as the Civil Rights Act had been nicknamed. Many of these groups begin to arm themselves.
-- After the President's re-election, the federal government lobbied for stricter gun control in response to the rise of the so-called militias, which many lobbyists and senators within said government then condemned as unconstitutional. Regardless of the government's success in bringing stricter gun control into law, the militias continued to arm themselves. Fearing for the stability of the country, the President eventually called for the National Guard to deal with the militias that were coming out of the woodwork.
-- Attempts to deal with the militias in the South and elsewhere across America result in heavy bloodshed, as they were better armed than first realised. Meanwhile, several states (mostly concentrated in the South) begin to assert their authority over the federal government in their regions, so they could abolish laws that they did not support.
-- Seeing a repeat of history, the President and his government attempt to reassert federal authority, by force if necessary, a political decision that would eventually lead to a second American Civil War.
-- Fast forward to current year, and decades since the end of ACWII the United States as we knew it has broken into several independent nation-states. The USA still exists in some form, albeit as a rump state that is basically just Washington DC and the parts of Maryland and Virginia that it still controls. As for the other 'Divided States,' I've yet to really decide on the details, but I was thinking that there is a successor to the old CSA, a Republic of Texas, perhaps a Deseret-like nation and a military dictatorship based on the east coast.
And that's all I have so far. Nothing is set in stone about this AH, so I would love to hear some advice from you guys. Does any of it make any sense? Was there a real-life politician that better fit the bill as JFK's successor, or could I get away with using a fictional character? What advice could you give me on how my ideas for the Divided States come to be?
I look forward to hearing your feedback and your suggestions.
I've been a big fan of alternate histories (I love The Man in the High Castle), though I've never really created one myself. That said, I'm working on a roleplay setting set in an alternate history where a second American Civil War had been fought somewhere around the 60's and 70's, and had resulted in the USA fracturing into a number of nation-states. Here is the basic concept I have, so far:
-- Instead of Lyndon B. Johnson, JFK chooses "an until-then-unknown politician several years his senior" as his running mate. After JFK's assassination, his Vice President succeeds him. This is the main point of divergence.
-- JFK's successor pledges to guide America into becoming a nation free of injustice, and also moves for a policy of friendliness toward the USSR and Maoist China. This being the McCarthy-era, of course, results in accusations from certain elements within American society that the President is secretly a Communist, or, at worst, an agent of the Soviet Union.
-- The Civil Rights Act is passed, with a modification that forced white communities to pay taxes to improve the quality of life of America's non-white communities. This sparked outrage, particularly in the southern states, and many white communities in the South refuse to pay the new taxes, calling them "reparations."
-- The protests were dealt with, more often than not, quite harshly, and had resulted in the formation of certain political groups in the South that were opposed to the so-called "Reparations Act," as the Civil Rights Act had been nicknamed. Many of these groups begin to arm themselves.
-- After the President's re-election, the federal government lobbied for stricter gun control in response to the rise of the so-called militias, which many lobbyists and senators within said government then condemned as unconstitutional. Regardless of the government's success in bringing stricter gun control into law, the militias continued to arm themselves. Fearing for the stability of the country, the President eventually called for the National Guard to deal with the militias that were coming out of the woodwork.
-- Attempts to deal with the militias in the South and elsewhere across America result in heavy bloodshed, as they were better armed than first realised. Meanwhile, several states (mostly concentrated in the South) begin to assert their authority over the federal government in their regions, so they could abolish laws that they did not support.
-- Seeing a repeat of history, the President and his government attempt to reassert federal authority, by force if necessary, a political decision that would eventually lead to a second American Civil War.
-- Fast forward to current year, and decades since the end of ACWII the United States as we knew it has broken into several independent nation-states. The USA still exists in some form, albeit as a rump state that is basically just Washington DC and the parts of Maryland and Virginia that it still controls. As for the other 'Divided States,' I've yet to really decide on the details, but I was thinking that there is a successor to the old CSA, a Republic of Texas, perhaps a Deseret-like nation and a military dictatorship based on the east coast.
And that's all I have so far. Nothing is set in stone about this AH, so I would love to hear some advice from you guys. Does any of it make any sense? Was there a real-life politician that better fit the bill as JFK's successor, or could I get away with using a fictional character? What advice could you give me on how my ideas for the Divided States come to be?
I look forward to hearing your feedback and your suggestions.