alternatehistory.com

Map of the former United States - 1868

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"Following the civil war, Kentucky was less of a nation and more of a demilitarized zone. The people of the state were more angry than patriotic, full of spite toward either side of the war. The Union government was in control, but the military keeping the peace was lead predominantly by the Kentucky Orphan Brigade, a Confederate force. And though officially the Treaty of Lexington granted Kentucky independence for 10 years, the instability of the situation resulted in the 1867 Referendum, not even 2 years after the end of the war. ..

...Generally, most of the Kentucky was sympathetic to the Union, but the utter chaos of the O'Hara Conspiracy and the 4 presidencies that occurred within the year made many hesitant. As for the Confederacy, Kentucky's people were not a fan of Alexander Stephens, who most expected to win the presidency even after Stonewall Jackson secured the Southern Democrat nomination away from him. The referendum, held in October and finalized in December, had the following question: Should Kentucky be admitted as a state of the United States of America or the Confederate States of Amerian? The result was overwhelming in favor of 'Neither', which resulted in waiting the next referendum until 1887, an agreement made binding by the small but vocal number of Kentucky nationalists...

...As a charming anecdote, this is when the Kentucky flag was created. At the time, there was not a set flag for the country. The government had developed a new seal, fusing the Union sigil of a frontiersman and statesman shaking hands with the Confederate motto of 'voce populi'. Theoretically, cities could have used this seal on a banner, as many Union states did. However, in the aftermath of the war, the new Free Kentucky Army was vital to maintaining order. From most forts and towns flew the flag of the Kentucky Orphan Brigade, a red cross with 11 stars on a blue banner. The reason for this was initially practicality; the Orphan Brigade had a number of regimental flags that they place at various major forts to show it was under their control, whereas any flag using the new seal or a different army would require time and resources to make the flag, whereas the Orphan Brigade already had by chance a surplus of their banner. From here, the government decided to formalize the banner as the flag of the entire army. Then, for ease of creation, the stars were striped away in favor of a white outline. Records show this was proposed half-heartedly as a joke by a statesmen who felt the entire discussion was a waste of time, and yet he inadvertently designed his country's flag. For as the years went on, the flag of the army was recognized as a symbol of Kentucky, and after the 1887 referendum was again for independence, the flag was formalized by the government as the flag of the Independent Republic of Kentucky."

"The Marylander Occupation of the Eastern Shore is a travesty that endures to this day! It has no legal basis whatsoever."

"Wrong! The so-called 'occupation' was in fact a lawful purchase. The area was militarily occupied, but that was during the war!"

"Then why was the Eastern Shore not returned after the fact?"

"It was legally under Virginian control! However, the local governments had no connection to Virginia due to damage to the infrastructure and ports. And ensuing treaties over control of the Chesapeake Bay made it so that more Union ships went by than Confederate!"

"That does not give the Union the right to lay claim to the area."

"That is true, but that is not the case for the Maryland government. The State of Maryland offered aid to people in the Eastern Shore, and numerous people left the area, with Union citizens taking residence with the consent of the locals."

"Ah, so she admits to the utter imperialist colonization plot of the Yankee occupiers!"

"What I admit to is that the State of Maryland sent a purchase agreement to State of Virginia, an agreement both states agreed to!"

"But not one either the Union or Confederate governments recognized!"

"Just because they were not aware of it for 5 years does not mean it wasn't recognized. And by then it could not be undone."

"That's utterly ridiculous. I have already claimed in the last round that it was a travesty for the Confederate government to abandon its people, but that does not automatically give the Union claim to the land."

"The Union recognized the claim of the Confederate government to the State of Virginia, and I quote 'as it stands along recognized lines of the armistice'. While this was meant to refer to West Virginia, it was argued, successfully, by the towns of the so-called Eastern Shore, that they were included since the military occupation of the region was not ended by the Union nor demanded by the Confederacy during the armistice."

"That... is true. But the region was still a legal part of Virginia, and the Treaty of Lexington clearly states that 'the admittance of the State of Virginia, barring the territory of the State of West Virginia, into the Confederacy is legally recognized.' See?"

"That section clearly was meant to recognize that West Virginia could never be legally counted as being part of the Confederacy. That section does not actually describe strict territorial borders. Whereas the section I was referring to was explicitly parts used to define legal borders for the country."

"The Copperhead Flag, as some refer to this iteration of the United States flag, was introduced by President George Pendleton. As a firm Copperhead, he felt a change of the flag would firmly show the Union's recognition of the Confederate States. His proposal eventually won out over 6 others, mostly due to the Radical Republicans having their first moment of solidarity with the Copperheads. After a fiery oration by elder statesman Thaddeus Stephens, the Radical Republicans of the were pushed into voting for Pendleton's design.

The reason was simple; Pendleton's design was the only one to remove not just stars, but stripes from the flag. The Radicals were convinced not to take this as appeasement to the Confederates, but a rejection of the traitors. 'Let us tear not just their stars from our sky, but rip away their traitorous stripes, for the states of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia do not deserve to be honored anymore! Fie on the 4 who broke the covenant they helped to forge! Who pissed on their blood oaths! And glory be to the 9 founding states that remained steadfast to this, our perpetual Union!'

This speech did not sit well with the Copperheads, but given the overall minor importance of the issue, they saw no need to argue semantics when they had the votes for their President's flag design. Thus was born the Copperhead flag. 9 stripes of red and white, and 25 stars in a canton of blue, removing the stars of the lost Confederacy but adding the stars of Nevada and Nebraska."

"Territories? It's a hellscape, sir. What I propose is a means for order. Erase the borders that don't exist, and give me and my men the ability to actually try and push back the indians. Or contain them, at least, if you're so damn set on not letting me off my leash."