alternatehistory.com
Part Twenty-Nine: A House Divided
Next update done. Another short one, and I have no clue if this makes sense or not. 
Things probably moved too fast than would be realistic, but I wanted to have the limitation that if no president was chosen by March 4th, the usual inauguration day, the president pro tempore of the Senate would become the next President.
I'll probably post a few alt. speeches surrounding this event if I can come up with some good ones.
Part Twenty-Nine: A House Divided
A House Divided: After a week of discussion, the Emergency Presidential Selection Committee narrowed the candidates down to three men: President pro tempore of the Senate David R. Atchison, Andrew Johnson, Speaker of the House, and Secretary of State William Seward. As the committee debated and drew ballots, speculation on who would be the new President of the United States spread across the nation. A rumor quickly grew in the southern states that Lincoln would veto the appointment if Seward did not get the presidency. Of course, this infuriated many southern slave-owners as Seward was a well known Republican and abolitionist. After the second week of debate, Francis W. Pickens of South Carolina, a member of the committee, walked out and refused to participate, and was quoted as calling the committee 'undemocratic' and 'and affront to the ideals of our republic'. It is not known what cause this outburst, but up until that moment the committee had met in secret, with the only news reaching the public being a statement at the end of each day's proceedings.
Two days after Pickens walked out, the situation escalated. A convention in South Carolina issued a declaration of secession similar to Declaration of Independence, listing the grievances the state held with the federal government. Georgia followed soon after. Upon news of the secession reaching Washington, the committee chastised the leaders of the secession movements for what was termed their hotheaded and rash action. That days ballot count saw a plummet in the support for Atchison, but still no majority had been reached. With the bid to maintain slavery in the United States and his own presidential bid closing fast, Atchison issued an executive order to allow slavery on the basis of the right to property. With many New England states now threatening to secede, this order was quickly challenged in the Supreme Court, and in a decision that took only two days of deliberation Chief Justice Lincoln published the decision declaring the order unconstitutional on the grounds that Atchison did not have the authority as he did not hold the office of President of the United States.
This decision by the Supreme Court tipped many other states over the edge. Mississippi and North Carolina seceded on the day after the decision was issued, with Florida following the next day. Reacting to the news that more states had seceded, the committee was prepared to vote Seward as President. However, still a majority could not be gained for Seward as some members of the committee from southern states still in the Union had abstained from that day's vote. As papers reported this, many people in the south assumed that Seward would become the President in a few days time. Violence soon erupted in many southern states and Louisiana, Alabama, and Virginia became the next states to secede. On the 26th of February, 1862, the independent states formed a loose federation, the Confederate States of America. Three days later, on March 1st, the committee confirmed Andrew Johnson as the next president of the United States. The day after, Arkansaw had defected to the CSA. On the 3rd, Virginian troops in Alexandria proclaimed that Alexandria was part of the state of Virginia and thus part of the CSA. One of the officers fired a shot across the Potomac to signify Virginia's sovereignty. This became known as the shot that broke the Union.
Things probably moved too fast than would be realistic, but I wanted to have the limitation that if no president was chosen by March 4th, the usual inauguration day, the president pro tempore of the Senate would become the next President.I'll probably post a few alt. speeches surrounding this event if I can come up with some good ones.
Part Twenty-Nine: A House Divided
A House Divided: After a week of discussion, the Emergency Presidential Selection Committee narrowed the candidates down to three men: President pro tempore of the Senate David R. Atchison, Andrew Johnson, Speaker of the House, and Secretary of State William Seward. As the committee debated and drew ballots, speculation on who would be the new President of the United States spread across the nation. A rumor quickly grew in the southern states that Lincoln would veto the appointment if Seward did not get the presidency. Of course, this infuriated many southern slave-owners as Seward was a well known Republican and abolitionist. After the second week of debate, Francis W. Pickens of South Carolina, a member of the committee, walked out and refused to participate, and was quoted as calling the committee 'undemocratic' and 'and affront to the ideals of our republic'. It is not known what cause this outburst, but up until that moment the committee had met in secret, with the only news reaching the public being a statement at the end of each day's proceedings.
Two days after Pickens walked out, the situation escalated. A convention in South Carolina issued a declaration of secession similar to Declaration of Independence, listing the grievances the state held with the federal government. Georgia followed soon after. Upon news of the secession reaching Washington, the committee chastised the leaders of the secession movements for what was termed their hotheaded and rash action. That days ballot count saw a plummet in the support for Atchison, but still no majority had been reached. With the bid to maintain slavery in the United States and his own presidential bid closing fast, Atchison issued an executive order to allow slavery on the basis of the right to property. With many New England states now threatening to secede, this order was quickly challenged in the Supreme Court, and in a decision that took only two days of deliberation Chief Justice Lincoln published the decision declaring the order unconstitutional on the grounds that Atchison did not have the authority as he did not hold the office of President of the United States.
This decision by the Supreme Court tipped many other states over the edge. Mississippi and North Carolina seceded on the day after the decision was issued, with Florida following the next day. Reacting to the news that more states had seceded, the committee was prepared to vote Seward as President. However, still a majority could not be gained for Seward as some members of the committee from southern states still in the Union had abstained from that day's vote. As papers reported this, many people in the south assumed that Seward would become the President in a few days time. Violence soon erupted in many southern states and Louisiana, Alabama, and Virginia became the next states to secede. On the 26th of February, 1862, the independent states formed a loose federation, the Confederate States of America. Three days later, on March 1st, the committee confirmed Andrew Johnson as the next president of the United States. The day after, Arkansaw had defected to the CSA. On the 3rd, Virginian troops in Alexandria proclaimed that Alexandria was part of the state of Virginia and thus part of the CSA. One of the officers fired a shot across the Potomac to signify Virginia's sovereignty. This became known as the shot that broke the Union.
- wilcoxchar
- Word Count: 650