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The American people were splintered. Americans on the east and west side blamed each other for losing the Californian War. Democrats seized on the opportunity to blame the Republicans for the lost war. If anything was certain, all of America blamed Grant. Newspapers ridiculed President Grant for running the war poorly, as well as multiple other scandals during his Presidency. Southern uprisings, although not to the scale of The Butchery, would resume the black-white violence. However, these uprisings would pale in comparison to the North. Riots calling for Grant's resignation, payment to those affected by the war, or a raise in pay. Grant was apprehensive to use military force, fearing rising bloodshed to occur. Ulysses S. Grant would consider resignation, but many Republicans thought it would be underhanded and irresponsible to the nation to give the Presidency to an ill Vice President, so Grant would not do so. The riots would eventually die down, but the Republicans' fates would still be sealed. Henry Wilson would be assassinated by Preston S. Brooks, the son of House of Representatives member, Preston Brooks. It would be ironic that Preston S. Brooks's father would challenge Wilson to a duel to which he refused. The Vice Presidency would not be filled, until the next election.

Many politicians called for the embargo of the Californian Empire, in hopes to restrict their trade to Europe. The building of the Northern Pacific Railway was paused due to the war, but now it was officially canceled. However, this would prove fruitless, as Canada allowed the Empire of California to pass through their territory in exchange for support in funding for their own railway connecting west to east. You see, the Californian War would very much negatively affect the world, especially Canada. Funding for the Canadians' railway was transferred to help the struggling economy. Emperor Norton agreed to help in any way that he could. Grant's Presidency would not better as the former General of the Rio Grande, George A. Custer, would lead a coalition of Californian War veterans and side with the Democrats, calling Grant's inability to rally America and splintering the American people as the reason they lost the way. Although Republicans tried to paint the loss at the Battle of Fort Ketchum as Custer's fault, Custer's opinion would be more prevalent.

As the year passed into 1876, many were eager to see the next election. Both Republican and Democrat National Conventions would take place in June. For the Republicans, one of the possible nominees, Senator Blaine, seemed to be the next successor. With all the mud that the Republican Party was going through, Blaine was untouched by this. In hopes to win back Americans to the Republican Party and hopefully win the election, Blaine was quickly made the nominee of the Republican Party, with Rutherford B. Hayes being made Vice-President in hopes to win over the important state of Ohio. During the Democratic National Convention, the same thing would essentially happen. One of the possible nominees, Governor Tilden, was enthusiastically named the Democratic nominee on the 2nd Ballot, with Thomas A. Hendricks being made Vice-President. There were also other parties that named nominees for President & Vice-President: William Allen with Samuel Fenton Cary for the Greenback Party, Green Clay Smith with Gideon Tabor Steward for the Prohibition Party, & Jonathan Blanchard with Donald Kirkpatrick for the American National Party. However, Blanchard would refuse to run and so the small party decided name James B. Walker, the Mayor of Flint, to be their nominee.

The campaigns between the Democrats and Republicans were very messy. Both sides were mud-slinging against one another. Democrats were giving the Republicans a tough time by blaming the Grant Administration for the failure in the Californian War and the Long Depression. On the other side, we see the Republicans "waving the bloody shirt", trying to sprout up Confederate fears and brought up the atrocities in the South done during the Butchery. However, when the Greenback presidential nominee, William Allen made a statement to an Ohio newspaper: "These Republicans are blaming the Democrats for these horrid atrocities when it was them that was in power, not the Democrats." This simple statement by a separate party had the Democrats spinning The Butchery on the Republicans, which would definitely lose them votes. However, the Southerners would not be blameless in violence in the South. The White League and the newly-formed Red Shirts would break up Republican power in the South with violence, yet there was little Republican support in the South other than freedmen, due to the failures of the Grant Administration during The Butchery.


It would also be a surprise to find the success of the Greenback Party. With both the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates being from Ohio, they would be able to build a base of support there. Rutherford B. Hayes's influence there would actually be hampered, as many saw the Republicans as corrupt and the farmers supported the Greenback Party trying to repeal the Specie Payment Resumption Act, which would cause inflation, allowing the farmers to sell goods at a higher rate and payout their debts, that being the theory. With the Greenbacks taking over rural Ohio and the Democrats being involved, the Greenback Party would be able to make the Republicans lose in Ohio by a slim margin and win the state, as well as being influential enough in Kansas for the Democrats to win. This only made the Republicans look more idiotic, with Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee, Thomas A. Hendricks, calling Hayes a "failed conqueror of Ohio". With all these Republican blunders, in the first time in many years, there would be a Democrat winning the election.



With the end to the Californian War, the Empire of California, setting up their capital at San Francisco, had to quickly change. After the Californian Army assisted in putting an end to the Bannock War, the financial administrator of the Empire, Newton Booth, planned on industrial plans to modernize the underdeveloped areas, which helped bring the empire out of the Long Depression. Generals Davis and Ketchum would be the major administrators over the Empire's territory, basically making a stratocracy under the monarchy of Emperor Norton. However, many international monarchies were still apprehensive. It would help that Brazil and Hawaii recognized Emperor Norton as a legitimate monarch, but many European monarchs were still on the fence. Theories that Norton was the son of former Emperor Napoleon III were ridiculed but opened up to the possibility that Norton had some noble blood, possibly from England, where his parents came from. Although not clear indication that Norton was a legitimate monarch, Norton still claimed the right of conquest over his territories and some religious leaders in the Empire of California made statements that he was given divine right to rule by God, the loudest of them being John Chivington.

With California taking over the west coast production of oil from America, they gain much income from selling their oil to East Asian nations, mostly Japan. Although the Empire took everything over in the Pacific from America, including their navy, the United States refused to change the Treaty of Wanghia, a treaty with China, from American to Californian interests, and the Chinese Empire refused for a recently-independent power to be given access to these western rights in China. Land bought by the U.S, although robbed a naval force, was still U.S land. American missionaries were very much against the Californian supremacy over the west coast. Caleb C. Baldwin was a loud voice against Emperor Norton. However, religious leaders in the Empire of California fired back, saying that the American missionaries "spread the word of God, but do not spread the love of God". Norton and his government made it very clear that Asian immigrants were welcome to immigrate, seeking to populate his Empire, like Oregon and Norton (formerly Washington), especially Utah in hopes to drown out the Mormon population there. By the end of the U.S 1876 election, Chinese workers were personally hired by the government. Many whites were against this, seeing this rise in cheap Asian labor as a way to flush out the white workforce, so Norton made sure that payment to these Chinese by businesses was heavily regulated by the government, and led to the path of these companies practically being government-owned. These reforms allowed the steady stream of Chinese laborers to build up and work in factories without heavily beating out the white workforce.



The Empire of California would also work on its naval capabilities. The Asiatic and Pacific fleets were a start, but not sizeable. With China not taking the Empire of California seriously in its attempts to build influence in the Pacific, Norton sought to bolster the Californian Navy as a potential threat in the Pacific Ocean. The desire for not just more ships, but ones of advanced design. Norton personally thought that ironclads had the potential to be a dangerous force in the waters. Multiple Canadian ship designers were hired, and influenced by Britain, settled for ship designs similar to the new HMS Devastation, but smaller in size to be more mobile and cost-effective, as well as cylinder-shaped boilers. The idea of mastless ships to allow for battery turrets sparked the imagination of Californian naval commanders. Using the money from their recent oil selling to Japan allowed for the first ship to be made in mid-1876.