Franklin Pierce was the last president of the United States of America. His country was split. Some places, like New England and the Great Lakes, had begun to unite. However, he knew peace would not last. In his new home country of New England, Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine had refused to unite. For Vermont, they loved to be a free country. Maine just didn't like Massachusetts. Connecticut wanted to maintain free trade between two powerful nations, New York and New England. Manifest Destiny, America's ultimate dream, had been her demise. He watched as power players got elected to high position. In Dixie, Jefferson Davis was the new President. Stephen Douglas, William Seward, and Sam Houston inherited large power as well. The District of Colombia was set to return to Chesapeake and Virginia soon.
Certain conflicts seemed inevitable. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna seemed bent on taking back lands controlled by prospectors, Mormons, and worst of all Texans. Connecticut was in a hot zone. Already, New York City and New Orleans began to see secession movements. Peace seemed to be an option for some, as well, Leaders in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the Chesapeake where planning on meeting in Philadelphia to unite as the Confederation of the Delaware. As Franklin Pierce walked down the hallway toward the front doors of the Executive Mansion, he saw frames of presidents beside him. Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, James Knox Polk, John Tyler, William Henry Harrison, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and finally George Washington. All fourteen presidents had build up the nation. Now, just two tore it down. There was a very good reason Andrew Jackson was the last two term president. Congress and Pierce agreed that it would be better to dissolve the US rather than go to war.
Internationally, the demise of the US was seen as the end of the great experiment. Mexico's dictator saw this as an expand or die situation. Dissolving ideologies could spread south, and the only way to survive would be to annex states. Santa Anna had his eyes on leader-less New Mexico. In order to save Mexican land, Sam Houston, Peter Burnett, and Brigham Young met in Santa Fe. Texas regained all of its land before joining the United States. California got pieces of an area called Arizona. The remained joined the Republic of Deseret.
In the South, states realized they couldn't survive alone. Slave revolts where common in Georgia, Florida, Dixie, and Carolina. Virginia had the largest ones of all, being very costly to put down. Leaders of these countries met in Charleston to unite their countries on a realistic level. The capitol was chosen to be Charleston, and they formed the United States of Dixie, commonly referred to as just Dixie to not confuse with the former Republic. However, secession movements did exist. Large native populations demanded freedom. Coal miners in the Western part of Virginia sought their freedom as well. And in Louisiana, the government in Baton Rouge increasingly couldn't control New Orleans, which demanded her independence. Louisiana gave New Orleans her independence, hurting the state's economy and population.
Up north, great powers where emerging. The New England war started after three states refused to join the Commonwealth of New England. They attempted an invasion of Maine, Vermont, and Connecticut, but only made progress in Connecticut. When New York intervened on the side of New England to gain land, New York City revolted. Vermont, despite it's citizens desperate want for freedom, lost because of manpower shortages. Maine was holding up well however. After a long war that lasted into 1855, leaders met in Trenton, New Jersey to discuss the solution to their problems. New York City would gain independence, with a generous border connecting the Philadelphia and Connecticut border. Connecticut would be split between New York City and New England. Vermont would be split between New York (state) and New England. A white peace with Maine would be achieved. Finally, New York City renamed herself the Long Island Republic and New York renamed herself the Confederation of the Hudson.
When the Philadelphia convention arrived, Chesapeake, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania agreed it was in their best interests the unite. The name of choice was the Confederation of the Delaware, as the river border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania and one of the two founding states of the Chesapeake was called Delaware, so the name stuck. Choosing a capitol was harder. The Chesapeake proposed Baltimore and Washington D.C., Pennsylvania wanted Philadelphia to become the capitol. Washington D.C. was ultimately chosen because it had the infrastructure and very few American countries really would attack the city due to it's sentimental connections.
As for the Great Lakes, they saw swaths of unincorporated Indian Territory as free real estate. Iowa was willfully annexed. The Great Lakes annexed a region called Minnesota, and began to move into traditional Dakota Territory. Missouri, Texas, and Oregon made similar land gains and the next thirty years was widely known as the Indian Wars in this region. The new capitol, Columbus, was only temporary. Chicago was seen as the most realistic capitol for the new nation.
Stats for the New Nations (Capitols, Populations, and Heads of State)
- Dixie Capitol: Charleston Population: 7 million Head of State: Jefferson Davis
- Great Lakes Capitol: Chicago Temp. Capitol: Columbus Population: 4.7 million Head of State: Stephen Douglas
- Delaware Capitol: Washington Population: 3.5 million Head of State: William Bigler
- Hudson Capitol: Albany Population: 2 million Head of State: William Seward
- New England Capitol: Boston Population: 1.6 million Head of State: Henry J. Gardner
- Manhattan Capitol: New York City Population: 1.2 million Head of State: Jacob Westervelt
- Missouri Capitol: Jefferson City Population: 682, 000 Head of State: Austin King
- Maine Capitol: Augusta Population: 570, 000 Head of State: John Hubbard
- Louisiana Capitol: Baton Rouge Population: 401, 000 Head of State: Paul Herbert
- Texas Capitol: Austin Population: 215, 000 Head of State: Sam Houston
- Arkansas Capitol: Little Rock Population: 210, 000 Head of State: Elisha Baxter
- New Orleans Capitol: New Orleans Population: 116, 000 Head of State: Joseph Walker
- California Capitol: Sacramento Population: 95, 000 Head of State: Joseph Briger
- Deseret Capitol: Salt Lake City: Population: 31, 000 Head of State: Brigham Young
- Oregon Capitol: Salem Population: 12, 000 Head of State: John W. Davis