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The assumption in scenario #1 would appear to be that France has limited resources for foreign intervention, and thus cannot support two foreign rebellions at once and would prefer Mexico's. I also question this, because France would be much less interested in providing real assistance to...

The Empire did break up into three states in 258 (Crisis of the Third Century). Aurelian reunited them in 270-274. To say the facts of the Battle of Naissus are disputed is polite understatement, but assume for the sake of argument that it was big, it was important, and it happened the way...

Given that Davis commanded a volunteer regiment during the Mexican war rather than a regular one, and a regiment outfitted at his personal expense, being expelled from West Point doesn't slow down his rise to Colonel, oddly enough. That, in turn, probably means he still easily wins a Senate...

Yes, we can. No Crawford voter would consider switching to Clay or Adams...Adams is a tariffs-and-improvements Yankee, Clay is a tariffs-and-improvements backwoods upstart, while Crawford was the conservative southern "farmer" in this race and the one endorsed by Jefferson and Madison. Calhoun...

John Calhoun continues his campaign to be President and doesn't agree to be anybody's VP (or goes back on that agreement). He carries Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia (Crawford's OTL carries plus Calhoun's home state). The $64,000 question is whether he can take North Carolina away from...

Have a look at Lucas Alaman, Marquis de San Clemente. His life was well-documented enough that you should be able to find tidbits about his family and properties too.

I can't imagine how Austria could have been MORE prepared for that war; they didn't know exactly when it was coming, to be sure, but the Austrian army had been operating under the assumption that the Pragmatic Sanction meant nothing and that the realm would have to fight for its life on...

Napoleon III decides to back down and accept the German candidate for King of Spain. No Franco-Prussian War. If you're using a standard American curriculum for year 10 it's pathetically light on everything pre-Renaissance (because they were supposed to get the Classical and Medieval stuff in...

Judah Benjamin in prison...is going to be interesting. He makes a very tempting candidate for domestic malcontents to rally around, never mind that he'd likely have nothing to do with them by choice. But when such an active and facile mind is forced to do nothing but read and write all...

A little better party discipline in Massachusetts, a little better party discipline in Maryland, and John Jay issues a Shermanian declaration (implausible) or becomes medically unfit for the office (plausible enough). Adams would resign, Jefferson would claim the office, the SCOTUS would find...

Yes, a community with access to hyenas but not dogs might try and make use of hyenas. The wolves I'm personally familiar with are at a high enough latitude that they don't have the luxury of synching their activity to the sun. They hunt when they're hungry or sense a good opportunity and...

You have to have a pretty prosperous and stable community before the concept of "pet" arises. Dogs were domesticated as hunting and tracking partners, then as herd tenders. Hyenas are less effective than dogs at both roles. The core problem is that (as the pictures above illustrate) hyenas...

Surely the newspapermen and agitators are guilty of sedition, not treason? Wade and company will likely be disappointed by the outcome even if they get their way and have such trials. Not sure of the exact wording of the confiscation and proscription laws, but it seems wildly unlikely that...

You have a remarkably positive view of Ferdinand (as we always tend to of those who die before their time, I suppose). Conversely, I always figured the Empire dodged a bullet with him. Leopold was able to identify the best men for the job and appoint them upon his succession, precisely...

Morris would still have declined the position in favor of Hamilton. But Franklin and Hamilton don't have anything like the full trust and confidence in each other that Washington and Hamilton did; I think Franklin would still find Hamilton's arguments in favor sound and compelling, but I agree...

There was no real demand for such an instrument in the USA up to this point, they were starting to be popular in the 1870s, and if ever there was a time to attempt something of questionable constitutionality and see if you get away with it, this is it. We're agreed it will be novel, but it has a...

A little, but the vibe I got was Lucius Cornelius Sulla.

Because he escaped, was acquitted, or never tried? (choice 3 seems improbable without choice 1). Acquittal seems most interesting and most likely - he doesn't seem the sort to try and escape. Means his sons weren't imprisoned, so two of them live and Louis-Philippe is both less cautious...

Even violating the two-term tradition, FDR would have crushed Willkie as easily as his handpicked successor Cordell Hull did. The perception that the Republicans had destroyed the country and obstructed attempts to fix it while the Democrats had rolled up their sleeves and got to work was simply...

Guangdong was (and is) one of the most densely populated provinces of China. One reason it would have a disproportionate number of emigrants is simply because it had a disproportionate number of Chinese in the first place. Another: Remember the Taiping Rebellion? Started in Guangdong. Lots of...