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American Civil War (1851-1861): The Wrong Man in the Wrong Place
Sorry it's been a while. I got busy with real life stuff and spending time with my little sisters.
In any case, on with the story. I'm going to be covering the American Civil War ITTL, which happens earlier. Once this 'block' is completed, then it will move to the "world at large" block that will cover 1851-1884, the first decade of which involves the US Civil War. We'll get to see what other nations are doing while America is at war with itself.
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Part 1: The Wrong Man in the Wrong Place
Soon after the start of the Pan American War, when the extent of the territories to hopefully be acquired was still unclear, the question of whether to allow slavery in those territories polarized the Northern and Southern United States in the most bitter sectional conflict up to this time. When the war ended and only Texas - a slave state - was acquired, the confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North came to a vicious head. [1]
The Democrats were now political poison in the wake of a costly war under the Democrats, and many turned to successful war hero Zachary Taylor and the Whigs to lead the nation in the aftermath. Unfortunately, Taylor would be the wrong man for the job. Many in the south had assumed that, being a slave-owner himself, he would understand their demands and seek compromise. The opposite turned out to be true.
Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States
As President, Taylor kept his distance from Congress and his cabinet, even as partisan tensions threatened to divide the Union. Despite being a Southerner and a slaveholder himself, Taylor did not push for the expansion of slavery, and was somewhat untenable to compromise. Texas, having lost the majority of its claimed territory, threatens to leave the United States if they did not press their claims in New Mexico on their behalf. [2]
Taylor holds to the previously agreed upon compromise of Missouri as the standard for the future admissions of states. Taylor favoured legislative compromise, but found it odd that slave states were now arguing for a changing of the rules they had previously agreed upon. The bulk of new states would have to come from the large unorganized western territory. As the threat of Southern secession grew, Taylor sided increasingly with antislavery northerners such as Senator William H. Seward of New York, even suggesting that he would sign the Wilmot Proviso to ban slavery in federal territories should such a bill reach his desk.
William H. Seward, New York senator and abolitionist
A new compromise was proposed that would see the unorganized territory be settled and have the settlers decide the slavery question via "popular sovereignty." Tensions flared as Congress negotiated and secession talks grew, culminating with a threat from Taylor to send troops into Texas to prevent them from pursuing further violence with Mexico, with himself leading the army. Taylor also said that anyone "taken in rebellion against the Union, he would hang ... with less reluctance than he had hanged deserters and spies in Mexico."
The Union was at its breaking point. Texas ran the risk of open conflict with the federal government, and all eyes were on pro-slavery statesman John C. Calhoun and his Nashville Convention. The convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 3 to 11, 1850. It's purpose was to consider the course of action for the south in the wake of recent events, particularly how to respond to "northern aggression."
A total of 176 delegates from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee convened at the McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville and spent over a week coming up with a plan and a platform. After heated debate, the southern moderates had been overruled. The delegation had agreed that if the United States did not renegotiate the Missouri Compromise and allow new slave states north of the 36°30′ parallel, then the South would secede from the Union. [3]
John C. Calhoun in 1849
President Taylor, staunch as ever, held firm in his uncompromising stance that the South should honour its agreements. He also threatened to personally shoot any who went through with such actions as traitors. With a distant and intransigent President, radicals on both sides preventing compromise, and a South fearing future disadvantage, it came as little surprise when South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1850. By the end of January 1851, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had all followed suit.
The aforementioned states agreed to form a new federal government, the Confederate States of America, on February 4, 1851. As they began to take control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, they encountered heavy resistance from Taylor's government. The situation only worsened when roughly one fifth of the U.S. Army—the entire garrison in Texas—was surrendered in February 1851 to state forces by its commanding general, David E. Twiggs, who then joined the Confederacy. [4]
Major General David E. Twiggs
In the wake of these events and seizures of federal property, President Taylor called for a 75,000-man militia to serve for three months following the seizures and loss of federal troops in Texas. In the wake of this call, several of the border slave states refused to send troops against their southern neighbours, with the result being that Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia, the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. Now the United States found their capital on the edge of the Confederacy.
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[1] The Compromise of 1850 was a result of a victory in the OTL Mexican-American War. With no substantial territorial gains other than a good chunk of OTL Texas, there's no real avenue for a compromise.
[2] Texas is basically as much an instigator of secession ITTL as South Carolina was OTL.
[3] At the OTL version of the convention, moderates had prevailed and the secessionists were stymied. ITTL, that changes due to previous TL changes and now we have an earlier civil war.
[4] He did this in OTL, and he's still in charge of the military wing in Texas ITTL since this just happens earlier but his feelings on the matter are the same.
In any case, on with the story. I'm going to be covering the American Civil War ITTL, which happens earlier. Once this 'block' is completed, then it will move to the "world at large" block that will cover 1851-1884, the first decade of which involves the US Civil War. We'll get to see what other nations are doing while America is at war with itself.
----------
Part 1: The Wrong Man in the Wrong Place
Soon after the start of the Pan American War, when the extent of the territories to hopefully be acquired was still unclear, the question of whether to allow slavery in those territories polarized the Northern and Southern United States in the most bitter sectional conflict up to this time. When the war ended and only Texas - a slave state - was acquired, the confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North came to a vicious head. [1]
The Democrats were now political poison in the wake of a costly war under the Democrats, and many turned to successful war hero Zachary Taylor and the Whigs to lead the nation in the aftermath. Unfortunately, Taylor would be the wrong man for the job. Many in the south had assumed that, being a slave-owner himself, he would understand their demands and seek compromise. The opposite turned out to be true.
Zachary Taylor, 12th President of the United States
As President, Taylor kept his distance from Congress and his cabinet, even as partisan tensions threatened to divide the Union. Despite being a Southerner and a slaveholder himself, Taylor did not push for the expansion of slavery, and was somewhat untenable to compromise. Texas, having lost the majority of its claimed territory, threatens to leave the United States if they did not press their claims in New Mexico on their behalf. [2]
Taylor holds to the previously agreed upon compromise of Missouri as the standard for the future admissions of states. Taylor favoured legislative compromise, but found it odd that slave states were now arguing for a changing of the rules they had previously agreed upon. The bulk of new states would have to come from the large unorganized western territory. As the threat of Southern secession grew, Taylor sided increasingly with antislavery northerners such as Senator William H. Seward of New York, even suggesting that he would sign the Wilmot Proviso to ban slavery in federal territories should such a bill reach his desk.
William H. Seward, New York senator and abolitionist
A new compromise was proposed that would see the unorganized territory be settled and have the settlers decide the slavery question via "popular sovereignty." Tensions flared as Congress negotiated and secession talks grew, culminating with a threat from Taylor to send troops into Texas to prevent them from pursuing further violence with Mexico, with himself leading the army. Taylor also said that anyone "taken in rebellion against the Union, he would hang ... with less reluctance than he had hanged deserters and spies in Mexico."
The Union was at its breaking point. Texas ran the risk of open conflict with the federal government, and all eyes were on pro-slavery statesman John C. Calhoun and his Nashville Convention. The convention was held in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 3 to 11, 1850. It's purpose was to consider the course of action for the south in the wake of recent events, particularly how to respond to "northern aggression."
A total of 176 delegates from Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee convened at the McKendree United Methodist Church in Nashville and spent over a week coming up with a plan and a platform. After heated debate, the southern moderates had been overruled. The delegation had agreed that if the United States did not renegotiate the Missouri Compromise and allow new slave states north of the 36°30′ parallel, then the South would secede from the Union. [3]
John C. Calhoun in 1849
President Taylor, staunch as ever, held firm in his uncompromising stance that the South should honour its agreements. He also threatened to personally shoot any who went through with such actions as traitors. With a distant and intransigent President, radicals on both sides preventing compromise, and a South fearing future disadvantage, it came as little surprise when South Carolina seceded from the Union on December 20, 1850. By the end of January 1851, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had all followed suit.
The aforementioned states agreed to form a new federal government, the Confederate States of America, on February 4, 1851. As they began to take control of federal forts and other properties within their boundaries, they encountered heavy resistance from Taylor's government. The situation only worsened when roughly one fifth of the U.S. Army—the entire garrison in Texas—was surrendered in February 1851 to state forces by its commanding general, David E. Twiggs, who then joined the Confederacy. [4]
Major General David E. Twiggs
In the wake of these events and seizures of federal property, President Taylor called for a 75,000-man militia to serve for three months following the seizures and loss of federal troops in Texas. In the wake of this call, several of the border slave states refused to send troops against their southern neighbours, with the result being that Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, and North Carolina declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. To reward Virginia, the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond, Virginia. Now the United States found their capital on the edge of the Confederacy.
----------
[1] The Compromise of 1850 was a result of a victory in the OTL Mexican-American War. With no substantial territorial gains other than a good chunk of OTL Texas, there's no real avenue for a compromise.
[2] Texas is basically as much an instigator of secession ITTL as South Carolina was OTL.
[3] At the OTL version of the convention, moderates had prevailed and the secessionists were stymied. ITTL, that changes due to previous TL changes and now we have an earlier civil war.
[4] He did this in OTL, and he's still in charge of the military wing in Texas ITTL since this just happens earlier but his feelings on the matter are the same.
- Coyote Knight
- Word Count: 1.1k