Empress Charlotte of America (born 1820, r. 1861-1898)
Empress Charlotte of America
(born 1820, r. 1861-1898)
(born 1820, r. 1861-1898)
As the youngest daughter of Empress Wilhelmine, upon her birth, the first-ever rumor to emerge about the future reigning Empress was who her real father could be, as it was a matter of public secret that the Empress had several lovers and that her children were fathered by them. The proof for any of this is, of course, less than admissible, but in any case, it was commonly speculated that Charlotte in particular was the natural daughter of Henry “Black-Horse” Lee IV, a less than reputable member of the Virginian aristocracy who would later become a prominent Republican, friend of Andrew Jackson, and would be exiled by means of being delegated to the American mission in Algeria, where he would spend the rest of his life.
Whatever the case, Emperor Louis recognized Charlotte as his own, named her after Princess Charlotte of Wales, his tragic sister-in-law who had had a broad appeal among both the British and American population. Decades later, some would claim who fateful it was that, after all, a Charlotte would be empress.
When she was born, however, that idea was far from anybody’s mind, as Charlotte was the fourth surviving child and youngest daughter of the Imperial couple. She was one year old when her elder sister departed for Europe, never to return, and 13 years old when her brother, Prince Louis, died, leaving their two youngest siblings alone in line for the throne. And even then, she still had her brother between her and the Crown, with only later, as his marriage produced no heirs, concerns for the future of the monarchy really starting to arise.
Born as part of the fairer sex, and as a youngest child as well, Charlotte’s education never had the same strictness that her brothers had to endure and focused more on stately conduct and on the arts than anything else, although she did learn all the basics of arithmetic and other sciences, as would be expected of a princess. She learned to play the piano and to paint, and was capable enough in both of those, but not quite extraordinary. But she did not be, and there was very little pressure put on her shoulders, despite her status.
The quiet, almost rustic, atmosphere of Havre de Grace in those days also allowed her to live her life with less stress, not being put so thoroughly under the public eye. She could enjoy things in peace and, throughout her youth, she demonstrated an adventurer streak, enjoying to go on long horse rides through the wilder areas of the region and embarking on some adventures that could raise concern. Fortunately, the Princess seemed to be immune to any harm. She was often called a ”tomboy” in the press, when discussing her habits.
Unlike her siblings and cousins, upon reaching adulthood, Princess Charlotte showed no great interest in embarking on an European tour. She had heard the tales of their adventures by her brother and cousins, and of course the stories of her parents and uncles born in Europe and, frankly, she was not particularly impressed. London, Paris, Berlin, didn’t seem like places she would enjoy visiting and much less inhabit for the rest of her days. She already did not care for Baltimore and much less for New York City. The only cousins she actually enjoyed vacationing with at their estate were the Princes Murat in Florida and Louisiana, from which there are even rumors of her not only wrestling alligators, but doing so in the nude, after been caught bathing in their waters.
There was some consternation that the Princess was not travelling as not to get married. If that was the case, then fate seemed to call when, in 1843, a Prince travelled all the way to her. Prince Waldemar of Prussia, youngest brother of King Frederick William III of Prussia, had always felt an urge to visit distant lands and, in the previous months, had been travelling through the Mediterranean and South America. As it was, as he was preparing for his greatest adventure yet, the death of American Emperor Louis lured him to North America, to represent the Prussian court at their cousin’s funeral.
It was there he met Princess Charlotte, who seemed rather impressed by his adventures so far and fascinated with his plans to go further still and explore the East. The Prince too delighted at Princess Charlotte’s boldness, and the two seemed to be very similar in temperament, craving adventure in exotic settings. Princess Charlotte in particular seemed set on going with the Prince on his next adventure and, since there was only one major impediment in the way, she got rid of it by proposing herself in marriage with the Prince.
They married at Havre de Grace and, soon enough, they were departing for their honeymoon, which would be nothing less than a grand adventure to the Orient. They started in Egypt, visiting the court of Muhammad Ali in Cairo, and also the pyramids and many of the ancient treasures the country, which were becoming quite popular in both European and American imagination. They then headed to Iraq, passing by Jerusalem, of course, to witness the sites of so many biblical narratives, but also the rich Arabic culture currently inhabiting those territories. They would then head to India, visiting many of its great cities, starting in Bombay and going to Calcutta, passing by Lahore and Delhi in between, and heading as far inland as Nepal and the Himalaya mountains.
In between their travels, as they travelled around Syria in fact, a most wonderful yet burdensome news came to the young couple, that the young princess was in fact pregnant. The expert advice was, evidently, to turn back, but Princess Charlotte was unwilling to give up their only chance to see the world and so they pushed forward, continuing their travels on a leisurely pace.
During their travels in the Indian subcontinent, however, war broke out between the British and the Sikh Empire, conditioning severally their plans. This war caught them somewhat off guard, with Princess Charlotte being heavily pregnant at the time as well. The Princess was quickly ushered to the safety of British Calcutta, while her husband and his companion, personal physician and childhood friend, Werner Friedrich, went to witness a battle of the campaign, which resulted in Werner being fatally hit by a bullet, which immediately had the British commander demand that Prince Waldemar retreat to safety.
When Prince Waldemar arrived at Calcutta, he met his newborn son, whom they named Prince Frederick Warner in memory of their lost friend. The British were anxious to have the three princes leave India as soon as possible, but the delicate health of the Princess after giving birth prevented them from doing so just yet. Then again, as soon as she was deemed fit to travel, the Princess wanted to hear nothing about travelling back home – she was determined to go all the way East now that she had found her pacing. Her husband, never wanting to disappoint her, agreed, and the young family continued on their way east.
Although Prince Waldemar’s heart was entirely with his wife’s exploratory desires, however, his health was not so much and, as they travelled through the Malayan straits, his health took a toll. The Prince would become bedridden soon after in the city of Malacca, to a distraught Charlotte.
Soon after, Princess Charlotte would receive a letter from her brother, sending for her to come back home to Havre de Grace and prepare to assume the role of heir to the throne. As it turned out, her brother and his wife were seemingly unable to have children of their own and so he had decided it was time Princess Charlotte began assuming the position of heir or, at the very least, be somewhere else than Southeast Asia to answer the call when it arrived. Not particularly in the mood for further adventures, after they cost her husband’s life, Princess Charlotte returned obediently to the court at Havre de Grace.
The city had changed much since she had last been there, growing to be a greater focus of social life for a rising American political elite, under the guise of Empress Amalia. It was no longer essentially a country town secluded from the damages of modernity. Or at least, this appealing aspect was on its way out. The capital city was becoming a true city, and, although this wasn’t as abhorrent to the Princess as it had been in her youth, she still found the court life to be rather dull, even though, having travelled farther and seen further than most men, and more so women, could ever dream of, she would have been quite the celebrity in the United States, even if she hadn’t been the heir to the Crown.
To find some refuge from all of that, Princess Charlotte would purchase an estate for herself, Aspen Hall in Martinsburg, Virginia, a smaller town in the Shenandoah Valley, whose natural beauty the Princess greatly appreciated and would visit often, going on walks and horse rides and enjoying the calmness that it provided from the stress of life at Havre de Grace, while still being only a train ride away from the capital city, should they need her.
For a Virginian town, Martinsburg was awfully abolitionist, or more precisely, it was bitterly divided between abolitionists and advocates of slavery and known to be a hub of the Underground Railroad that helped slaves to escape to the North for freedom. Princess Charlotte’s Aspen Hall was rumored to serve as a safehouse for many such fugitives, taking advantage of the fact that the police was not at all willing to try and search her estate. Then again, some historians do point out that the Princess’s contribution to the Underground Railroad was inflated by later legend, even if she was an open opponent of slavery, the only firm political opinion she seemed to hold at the time.
Remarriage was never a question, and not even her brother dare ask. The Princess wore black for the rest of her life, her reign included, to mark her grief for her Prince Waldemar. In any case, it hardly seemed necessary. Prince Frederick was always a healthy and happy baby and grew up to be quite the sturdy lad who would never even get sick or break a bone, no matter how hard he seemed to try, and his uncle and aunt doted on him and were always sure that, one day, he would be inheriting their throne. At a level of deep political agitation, the core of the Royal family lived a period of remarkable serenity among themselves.
Charlotte was caught by surprise, in Martinsburg, when news came of the death of the Imperial couple. Returning to Havre de Grace was a priority, to say the least, and already the morning after the Princess headed to the town’s train station, when she herself was almost the victim of an assassination attempt, at the hand of a sixteen-year-old girl from the town, named Belle Boyd and whose family was of known republican sympathies. The girl didn’t miss, but rather the princess was protected at the cost of the life of her bodyguard before the girl was apprehended. She was later questioned, as authorities were convinced she would have been a conspirator of the unknown regicide, but it seemed that the girl truly was acting on her own, even if inspired by the slaying of the monarchs. She would be later executed for the attempted assassination.
Upon arriving at Havre de Grace, she found herself in a very complicated situation. General Winfield Scott had been called to ensure the security of the city and of the palace grounds, a job he did thoroughly to safeguard the lives of Charlotte and the Prince Frederick, while Congress prepared to meet to discuss the matter of succession. Over the following days, Charlotte met with Nationalist leaders, who were the foremost supporters of her claim to the throne, and also with prominent Know Nothings who ensured the party would stand with her as well. There was an attempt to bring to the fold some less republican-minded Republicans, but most, such as Stephen Douglas or Andrew Johnson, called for the Crown to promise beforehand to lessen its intervention in the political sphere, in particular in regard to slavery, and to dismiss Secretary Sumner from the Cabinet above all else.
Ultimately, the Nationalist-controlled Congress crowned Charlotte as the first reigning Empress of the United States of America, despite an unprecedented opposition from the delegations of most Southern States, and a few other republican delegates from the North. So it was quite clear that matters were not settled, and so much was confirmed when, starting of course by the South Carolina State legislature, a litany of State legislatures, those of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee and the mightiest of them all, Virginia, declared the Crown forfeit and proclaimed an American Republic, that would free the whole country from the tyranny of monarchy, restoring Jefferson’s ideals to the forefront. The Republic of Texas also quickly declared itself an ally of these States and that, upon the victory over the monarchy, it would ask to accede to the new American republic.
The first bullet was fired, as again would be expected, in South Carolina, in Charleston more precisely, against Fort Sumter by Republican forces. This turned what was a tense yet still peaceful dispute into a full-blown military conflict, and the Imperial government had no quarrels with calling the States to field tens of thousands of volunteer troops and to prepare for open war.
Fortunately, the Crown was served by very competent servants, both on the military and on the civil aspects of the war. On the military front, General Scott carried out his Anaconda Plan to strangle the Republic while taking control of the Mississippi River. The only major interference from the civilian government in this regard was in demanding a direct attack against Richmond, in the hopes of winning the war with a single blow, leading to the defeat at Bull Run and to the conscientization that the war would not be short or without major bloodshed.
Instead, the Sumter Cabinet focused on conducting the political, economic and diplomatic parts of war, which would prove crucial in the years ahead to achieve victory. A major concern of the Sumter Cabinet was to explain the war politically to the North. In every single declaration from Southern legislatures, neither the matter of secession nor that of slavery had been mentioned – the argument was that theirs was a struggle against a monarchy that had overstepped its constitutional bounds and was headed towards autocracy, relying on some of the more unpopular pretensions of the deceased Emperors to make their point.
This had proven to be a matter of urgency, as already in May, Missourian republicans were able to capture the St. Louis Arsenal and its 40,000 rifles and muskets, threatening to capture the State, whose governor was a republican himself. In this, they were supported by the city’s German population. Mostly members of the 48ers, Europeans who had fought in the revolutions in their home countries only to be defeated and come to America to find political refuge, many of these immigrants had found themselves aligned to the Republican Party; despite their dislike of slavery, they were not comfortable with the monarchism of the Nationalist Party nor the nativism of its coalition partner, the Know Nothings. In their understanding of the matter, a republican revolution, similar to the ones they were veterans of, was taking place and they were helping the republican side.
Fortunately, Missouri had been retained by imperial forces, although the capture of the St. Louis Arsenal would still prove a significant defeat. But it was becoming clear that, if it was allowed for the rebellion to claim to be fighting for republicanism against autocracy, then it would have, within the North, hosts of allies and sympathizers, both American and foreign.
And so it was that, on June 19 of 1861, Empress Charlotte issued an Imperial Proclamation that accused the Republicans of being not true fighters for the liberal ideal, but rather a class of aristocrats desperately seeking to retain the dominance of Slave Power over the country at the cost of all other civilization. She called on citizens to rally not for the Crown, but for the values of the United States and for the future of civilization and democracy against the true tyrants of the South. She then concluded by announcing that, for purposes of waging the war against slaveholders, in her position as Commander-in-Chief, she declared the emancipation of all slaves hailing from the rebel States, and called on Congress to work towards the emancipation of all slaves in the country.
The goal of the document was clear – to make the war about slavery rather than republicanism. It was printed in multiple languages to reach the various liberal exiles who might find the republican cause appealing, and spread throughout European capitals as a denouncement of any attempts to support the rebels. And at that, it was quite effective, bringing many 48ers to enlist in the imperial forces, or at least form anti-slavery militias that went South to emancipate slaves, and also bringing many slaves in occupied Southern territory to take up arms for the Crown.
The following year, the Crown saw itself in another debacle, as Robert E. Lee and his forces advanced and occupied much of Maryland, coming threateningly close to the capital city. There were calls for Congress and the Imperial Government to abandon Havre de Grace, but the Empress refused to allow either herself, her son or her Cabinet to retreat. In a way, this was a smart move, as Havre de Grace was a virtual fortress at the moment, manned by General Scott and his forces, while the roads themselves were not too secure. But it was also a bold display of confidence and fearlessness, one that swayed the hearts of many Americans.
The point of highest tension came in 1863, with Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania and attempt at encircling the capital, which posed a real threat to the safety of the Royal Family. Fortunately, the great victory that year on the Battle of the Hanover Junction brought that threat to an end, as Robert E. Lee himself was captured and his army fled, broken, back to Virginia.
Two further years were necessary to conclude the victory over the South, as General Sherman had to march to the sea and burn Georgia on his way there and the soldiers had had to endure nine months of trench warfare around Petersburg, Virginia, before Richmond could be captured, leading to the surrendering of the various Republican forces throughout the South and a cease-fire with Texas.
The war having been won, now came the matter of the peace. The institution of slavery and the greed and despotism of slaveholders was blamed for the rebellion and so, in two great amendments, Congress and the States announced an end to slavery in all the United States and the equality of men regardless of race.
This latter point did not come without contention. Although, during the first years after the war, the rebel States remained under strict military occupation and, thereby, without their usual representation rights in Congress. During this period, as the Know Nothings had joined the Nationalist cause during the war, and the Republican Party had all but been destroyed, as had its wartime shadow, the Peace Party, the National Party was the sole party operating in the country, but internally, factions had begun to emerge arguing furiously as to the future of the country. And, for many Nationalists, Secretary Sumter was proving too radical in his push for racial equality and restructuring of the South.
The truth of the matter was that, at the end of the day, the country’s economy depended on the Southern production of cash crops, especially cotton, to supply Northern mills. Many Nationalists had opposed Slave Power and its anti-industrial tendencies more than slavery in itself, and as, in the chaos of emancipation, the Southern fields went untilled and their mills went without raw materials, they began agitating for some restoration of the natural order of things.
In the end, a solution could be found where everyone seemingly had their cake and ate it. On the one hand, full emancipation and voting equality were granted to the freedmen, but on the other, the economy of the South was much restored, with now free (if often indentured) sharecroppers taking the same positions they had once held as slaves, often to the same bosses, rather than masters. And regarding voting equality, one must remember that, at this point, suffrage was restricted by property qualifications that ensured only a small percentage of the male population could vote and, in the aftermath of slavery, that percentage was even smaller among blacks, giving the Southern States a perpetual white voting majority that served to satisfy them and, as their States were restored fully, to the rise of the Conservative Party.
This shift in policy from the National Party was represented by a change in leadership. Internal elections were held at their Bingham Building headquarters at Havre de Grace, where Sumter was given instructions to resign as Secretary and to recommend as a replacement Nathaniel Banks who, always proficient in dealing with factionalisms, would play an important role in establishing the postbellum consensus in his second government.
Banks’ own second tenure would last for seven years, until 1873, due to his continued attempts, all of them failed, at having the United States expand, be it by annexing Canada, the Dominican Republic, the Danish West Indies or Cuba, or by purchasing Russian America, and due to his split with the pro-business wing of the Party over worker rights, having already passed legislation mandating 12 hours workdays for men and 10 hours for women and children. This would greatly propel the early labor movement in the country and would start the demand for 8 hours days universally. He would be replaced by John Sherman as Secretary.
The tenures of these governments, and the way they were selected, maintained and dismissed, through internal party decisions leading to a formal suggestion to the Crown, rather than through Crown appointment, would ultimately shape the postbellum relationship between the Crown and its government. While previous monarchs had appointed and dismissed governments at their will, as was their right by the Constitution, Empress Charlotte forsook this right and assented to the Secretary that was brought before her by the ruling Party, a custom that would be adopted by all future monarchs of the United States.
With royal interference in political affairs having been the casus belli of the Republicans in 1861, it is often remarked that, by setting forward this tradition of the Crown distancing itself from political appointments, the Republicans had their supposed goal achieved, even if after military defeat and abolition of slavery.
The Empress’s most noteworthy involvement in politics of any sort after the war was something very characteristic and personal to her, when in 1872, Ferdinand V. Hayden, a geologist, came from the Yellowstone region of the western Dakota Territory, which he had explored, documented and now presented to Congress for the sake of taking out of public auction and preserving for the sake of its natural beauty. In the face of Congressional opposition, Empress Charlotte held an exhibition of the paintings and photos of the region in the Imperial Palace and, captivated by what she saw and heard, decided to take matters into her own hands and, using the Crown’s own funds, purchased the land that Hayden hoped to preserve, making it royal property and swearing to protect it herself.
In this huge estate, Empress Charlotte had the Yellowstone Palace built, and she would visit the area and stay at the palace in 1880, during a first-ever royal excursion to the American West. She quite enjoyed the area, and took great efforts to preserve its natural beauty, persecute poachers, negotiate peaceful relations with the Native tribes that made use of its lands, allowing them to stay under her protection, and beginning to allow the region to fulfill touristic purposes, opening it to the people to enjoy as well. Royal patronage would protect and fund Yellowstone for decades until the National Park Service took up that role in 1917.
Empress Charlotte’s later reign was deeply affected by the tragic death of her son, Prince Frederick, at age 42, ten years before his own mother. Fortunately, as it was, this didn’t quite threaten succession, as the Prince already had a son of his own, who would succeed his grandmother, but it nevertheless scarred the nation, and in particular the Empress, seeing the last remnant she had of her husband fade from the world like that. This also brought on a huge wave of sympathy for the Empress, whose son had always been a favorite son of the United States and who was deeply mourned nationwide (although some parts of the South might have been less saddened, but even then, they didn’t make themselves too loud).
Never having had made much of a public presence, the Empress retreated ever more into her estates after the death of her son, spending her last decade surrounded by family, memories and by nature, spending much of her time away from Havre de Grace and leaving governing to the Government itself, as she had always done before, and to the younger generations of her family, who very much enjoyed the opportunity to shine.
Empress Charlotte passed away at the ripe old age of 77, just a few weeks shy of her birthday, after an impeccable reign of 37 years, the longest the United States had ever faced. She presided over decades of change, with the country turning away from slavery at the beginning of her reign (almost as the occasion for it, really) and industrializing thoroughly in the decades after. Six Secretaries of Treasury served under her, the most that ever had until that point too, and who ruled over very different political arenas as well, despite being still firmly in the age of Nationalist dominance.
Empress Charlotte was always beloved, at least since the Civil War. She was admired as an Emancipator by the freedmen and as a Democrat by the political class, having overseen the abolition of slavery and the transitioning of the monarchy to its more institutional position which it is renowned for today. The nation jubilated her triumphs and suffered her losses. Despite her lack of public appearances, but perhaps because of it, she was admired and beloved except the most unpleasant of unredeemed Republicans.
Calling her the greatest American monarch is not, at all, out of bounds
