alternatehistory.com

---1864---


BRANDT ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY

FRANKLIN - Acting President Brandt has announced that he will be running for the Presidency in this November’s election. Some had wondered if he would step aside, and others questioned whether he should even be allowed to run, since he has been holding that office as Acting President since 1860 already, the bulk of what had been Hawthorne’s term. However, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was consulted, and after conferring with his colleagues, stated that Mr. Brandt was technically never elected, he should be eligible to run in the 1864 election. The Acting President stated that he feels honor bound to see to it that the nation is rebuilt as soon as possible, and feels that the best way to do that is with continuing stable leadership, not changing who is at the helm at this critical time.

It remains to be seen who, if anyone, will be challenging Brandt come November. It is possible that some Democrats might try to challenge him for the party nomination, but it seems doubtful. Furthermore, the Federalists are in a real state trying to figure out who might replace Ulysses Portman as party forerunner. Portman might have been able to give Brandt a run for his money, but few other Federalists have as much of a national following as he did. And the Republicans...it will be some time before a Republican once again occupies Washington House, if ever. There have been rumors circulating constantly since the War ended that the party may collapse completely.

“Brand Announces Candidacy,” Franklin Observer, January 9, 1864.


Today, Americans take for granted the single entity that is the Kingdom of Borealia for granted as their only northern neighbor. But prior to the 1860s, it was anything but decided upon. British North America had been a going concern since the 1780s, and especially so after territory was ceded to Britain following the War of 1812, in particular the loss of both Michigan and Wisconsin and parts of New York. But these territories were never viewed as a single entity in and of themselves, just several more colonies that made up the Crown that rested on the head of the British Monarch. Michiganians and Wisconsonites were far different from Upper and Lower Canadians.

But things started to change in the 1840s and 1850s, as America expanded and settled farther and farther west. It became clear that the United States would stretch from sea to sea and potentially become a great power one day. This made many in the British North nervous, fearful that America might one day try and reclaim lost land. Anthony Martin, born in 1799 in Upper Canada, and as a young man having made his fortune in Detroit, felt in particular that the provinces of British North America should be combined into a single nation to balance the growing power of the United States. Martin, a merchant, went into business in the 1850s with Wisconsin born businessman-turned-railwayman Joseph Criswell, who also supported this scheme. The two men set up the Western British Railway Company in 1851, working to connect the western end of the Great Lakes with the Canadas, and also looking at the feasibility of linking with Columbia and Vancouver Colonies on the West Coast. Then, in 1860, as the American War Between the States raged to the South, the two began to grow increasingly vocal that British North America needed to unite and work together. They pointed out that when the conflict to the south ended, America will have thousands of men under arms. Maybe a way to reunite the country will be to go and reconquer old territories lost in 1815. To that end, the two men and several of their followers established the Federation Party, with branches in both the Canadas, Michigan, and Wisconsin. They hoped to win enough seats in each Provincial legislature to convince the territories of the need for unification, and to convince the mother country of this as well.

In 1861, Criswell published the book “Vesperia, Land of the North,” as a pamphlet to drum up support for his cause. The book sold rather well, and many people from Milwaukee to Montreal were talking about it. However, most agreed that his name proposal needed work. In 1863, Federation Party candidates made up a majority of the Michigan legislature, and began to call for a “trans-provincial conference” to discuss the idea of creating a single nation out of the British North American provinces. Such a conference would be agreed to, and held in York (now Victoria), in April and May of 1864. What came from that conference was the York Manifesto, which called for the creation of a single nation that would have local autonomy but recognize the British Monarch as its sovereign, and defer to the mother country in areas of international and military affairs, and would stand as a counterbalance to the United States. The British government, for their part, already approved of such an idea, and had included it into the negotiations with the Americans after their war had ended with British assistance in 1863.

Bingham, Christopher, Dr. Birth of Borealia: 1864-1874. Victoria, BCD: Vesperia Press, 2011.


MICHIGAN BUSINESSMAN SEEKS UNIFIED BRITISH KINGDOM IN BNA

DETROIT - Michiganian businessman Anthony Martin, who together with his business partner Joseph Criswell of Wisconsin is one of the wealthiest men in British North America, and possibly all of North America, is going on the campaign trail throughout the British provinces to our north, seeking support for the so-called “York Manifesto,” a document adopted last month in York, Upper Canada, which calls for the creation of a single British Kingdom to be created out of the various independent provinces of British North America. The delegates at York agreed that once all of the provinces sign on to the Manifesto, Martin and others will go to London to make a formal proposal to the Queen’s government.

“Michigan Businessman Seeks Unified British Kingdom in BNA,” Boston Eagle, May 21, 1864.


HAMILTON ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR NEW YORK CITY

MANHATTAN - Special State Administrator Alexander Hamilton III announced today from his headquarters at Clinton Castle that a plan for the reconstruction and revitalization of New York City has been approved by his office and the State government. Hamilton unveiled the plan to politicians, businessmen, and the press at an event this morning. Showing off drawings and models of what he calls the “rebirth of New York.” The plan calls for the creation of a large, central avenue that will be the spine of the island, with several other major thoroughfares connecting different parts of the city, along with the creation of at least two large parks, one in the middle of the island, the other at the southernmost tip, near the approximate location of Clinton Castle. There are places included for public squares, schools, churches, hospitals, museums, and theaters.

“The New York of old,” Hamilton told those gathered to hear the announcement, “was a city of haphazard growth and development. The New York of tomorrow, however, will be one that has been planned, developed, and nurtured into greatness.” Much applause was given to his remarks. Construction on the new avenues is expected to start soon, and Hamilton’s office is already looking for new investors to start private construction of homes and businesses across the island. Of the more than 600,000 people that once lived in New York before the war, most have now emigrated either to Brooklyn, Queens County, or Bronxland, and it remains to be seen how many of them would like to venture back to Manhattan. There is the Friends of New York Society that was established in 1863 in Westchester, and that group’s president, Horace McKnight, spoke highly of the new plan from Hamilton.

“Hamilton Announces Plan for New York City,” Brooklyn Standard, July 4, 1864.


FEDERALISTS NOMINATE ROLAND

CONCORD, NH - Members of the Federalist Party gathered this week in the former capital of the Confederation to have their party convention to decide who would run against Acting President Brandt in November. Several candidates had put their name forward, including Boston Mayor Neil Smart, and New Hampshire Governor Charles Olmstead. In the end, however, Governor of Connecticut Victor Roland received the nomination, with New York Senator Charles Dickson being nominated for Vice President. Many are skeptical of Roland’s chances against Hugo Brandt in the coming election. Brandt has national name recognition and has been leading the New Union since 1860. Many outside of New England also see just about any Federalist as too radical for their tastes. The late Ulysses Portman likely could have defeated Brandt, but we will never know that for certain now.

“Federalists Nominate Roland,” Boston Eagle, July 20, 1864.


The election of 1864 could have been quite explosive had Ulysses Portman lived to see it. However, with his premature death from the flu in December of 1863, the Federalists were unable to come up with a challenger truly suitable to match Acting President Hugo Brandt on a national stage. Brandt was a household name, and Victor Roland was a virtual unknown outside of his native Connecticut. The third challenger, Republican Horace Keeting, Governor of Virginia, and his running-mate Jacob Fillmore, Senator from Maryland, were non-issues. Keeting would only end up carrying his home state of Virginia, and only barely, and only receiving a few electors from one other state, Maryland.

No, the big showdown, if you could call it that, was between Brandt and Roland. And the two had very different visions for the country. Roland wanted to see southern plantations broken up and given to the Freedmen’s Improvement Office to be redistributed. Roland also did not support dividing up the Upper Louisiana Territory, especially since it had seen a rush of former Slavers heading out west. Brandt, on the other hand, did not want to widen the power and purview of the FIO, and he was all about westward expansion. Brandt also hoped that most of the South could be readmitted into the Union by the end of the next presidential term, whereas Victor Roland felt that a good decade or more out in the political wilderness would be the perfect way to purge unwanted elements from the South.

McCoy, Jace, Dr. Rebirth of Nation. Franklin, DW: UUS Press House, 1998.


BRANDT WINS!

FRANKLIN - Hugo Brandt has won the most electoral votes in the nation’s first postwar election, taking 181 electors to Roland’s 160. Mr. Keeting of the Republican party took only 11 electors, a historic low for the party, but unsurprising since most of the “Republican heartland” remains under military occupation and unable to vote. Still, Brandt is three votes shy of an absolute majority required since the passage of the 20th amendment, and so will have to convince Keeting to give him his 11 electors. This seems a foregone conclusion, since the Republicans, while not liking everything supported by the Democrats, have far more in common with that party than they do with the Federalists, who clearly have it out for the South. At any rate, there is no way Roland could win with only 11 more electors, so this seems to be the inevitable outcome.

“Brandt Wins!” Brooklyn Standard, November 9, 1864.


DEMS TAKE PRESIDENCY, FEDERALISTS CONGRESS

FRANKLIN - While Democrats across the country congratulate themselves on retaining Washington House and guaranteeing Hugo Brandt’s continued rule until 1871, the Federalists have won a worthwhile consolation prize: control of both houses of Congress. Returns show that Federalists will now have 173 seats in the new House, compared to the Democrats’ 144 or Republicans’ meager 11. So while the President will be a Democrat, his First Secretary will be a Federalist. And in the Senate, Federalists now control 22 seats, versus Democrats’ 13 seats and Republicans’ 3 seats. Not a bad turnout for a party that only lost the Presidency by 24 electoral votes.

“Dems Take Presidency, Federalists Congress,” Boston Eagle, November 20, 1864

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Some notes:
- Borealia vs. Vesperia: Both names are popular in the initial debate. Enough non-Canadians speak up that, although proposed, Canada is dropped as the national name. In the end, British officials will end up liking how Borealia matches with Australia, and that tips the scales. However, Vesperia never totally fades away, as referenced in the title of the publishing company, Vesperia Press.

- Brandt's win here was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Name recognition, plus success as a leader in the war years and immediately afterwards, leads to a "don't rock the boat," mentality. However, it will lead to a movement to create a system where by if a person becomes "Acting President," or a VP takes over a President's slot early in the original president's term, that that person will not be eligible to run for office.

ALSO, after the discussion with The Gunslinger, I'm going to go back and edit that the US will help out with an infrastructure package that includes several projects, not just the Milwaukee-Mississippi Canal.