A More Perfect Union

[Sean McKnight]

During the Revolutionary War, the Native American tribes of what in our timeline, became the Eastern United States, Ontario and Quebec, were largely split in their support for the British or the Americans. The Iroquois were the only ones who had any kind of support for the Crown among its leadership, but by 1775 they were already negotiating with the Americans. Many of the Founding Fathers were supporters of the principles of government drafted in the Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy, and Ben Franklin had used it as a model for his own plan for a continental union in 1754, the so-called Albany Plan.

In May of 1775, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold led the capture of the British fortress at Ticonderoga, and the British and American forces began eyeing the possibility of an invasion of Quebec. As the British prepared their defenses guarding the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence river valley, they rallied 15,000 French-Canadian militiamen and 8500 warriors of the First Nations loyal to the Crown. However, the militia's compliment of mostly French Canadians and tribal leaders were regarded as lukewarm in their loyalty to the British, and Pontiac's War of 1763 had soured most Indians' opinions toward all whites.

Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) were already negotiating with the Americans, but the rest of the Great Council was split as to whether they should side with the Crown or the Congress.

POD: In June of 1775, George Washington tasked Benjamin Franklin to meet with the Great Council at Onondaga and negotiate to bring the Iroquois into the war on the side of the forces of the Second Continental Congress. Franklin, a long time scholar and at times advocate of the principles of government of the Iroquois Confederacy spent several weeks with his translator meeting with the leaders of the Council. He was authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Congress, and made assurances to the more hesitant tribes, that if they contributed their forces to the Continental Army, they would be recognized as an equal State and their territory guaranteed. At the final meeting Franklin added a 14th arrow to a bundle of 13 the envoys had brought with them, and asked Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant) if he would try to break the bundle. Brant, the last holdout on the Council gave Franklin his support, and the Iroquois agreed to side with the Colonies against Great Britain, fielding around 1500 more men to the Americans that would have gone to the British.

In December of 1775 the Continental Army dispatched a two-pronged attack with 3000 men under Maj. General Richard Montgomery moved to take Montreal through the Richelieu River valley, while 1050 men under Arnold would march up through what is now the state of Maine to take Quebec City. Before crossing into Quebec proper 1500 Iroquois warriors commanded by Colonel Joseph Louis Cook, (Akiatonharónkwen) linked up with Arnold's force. Prior to the actual invasion, propaganda letters from Congress, the New York Provincial Assembly, and the Iroquois Great Council were circulated throughout Quebec, promising liberation from the British.

The Battle of Quebec was hard fought, but with help from the Iroquois the Americans were victorious. Taking Canada eliminated any possibility of the British using it as a base to send reinforcements to New England and New York, and was an important factor in turning the French to the American cause. General Montgomery fell during the battle, leaving Arnold to command the whole of the American offensive, propelling him to national prominence. The performance of the Iroquois surprised many in Congress, particularly the actions of Joseph Brant's irregular Volunteer fighters who destroyed British power stores as the American attack began.

The battle of Quebec secured an American foothold in upper and lower Canada, and the Iroquois involvement began a change in the attitudes of many whites toward the First Nations.

 

[timmy_khagann]

Welcome aboard! Been following Second Renaissance for a few years now, and I'm glad you're posting one of your TL's here.

 

[Unknown]

Could you link me to that work, @timmy_khagann?

 

[timmy_khagann]

Could you link me to that work, @timmy_khagann?

Here you go. There's also a wikia for the TL, but I can't find the link right now.

 

[Sean McKnight]

Following the decisive American victory at the Battle of Quebec in 1775, Benedict Arnold is hailed as the Hero of Quebec and is promoted to Major General. Arnold promotes Joseph Louis Cook to the rank of Colonel and tasks Joseph Brant with rooting out any remaining Tory holdouts in Canada and Quebec. The First Nations of Canada and Quebec are quick to join the Patriot's cause under Cook's division of Iroquois fighters, while James Livingston and Benedict Arnold recruit several thousand French-Canadians and Quebecois. Most of the wealthier Tory families flee to the British Caribbean while the poorer Tories that can avoid Brant's irregular forces move north to Rupert's Land or Newfoundland while it remains under British Control.

With the northern colonies firmly in hand and the remaining First Nations reconsidering their allegiance to the British Cause, the British attempt an invasion of New York shortly after the Colonies declare independence in July of 1776. The Long Island Campaign proves more difficult for the British than expected, as many of the irregular fighters under Brant's command have been redeployed along with General Arnold to New York. In late August of 1776, the British are ambushed by Brant's Rangers before being routed by General Washington. The ensuing battle ends with the capture of General Howe in what is the first major victory for General Washington during the war. Washington, impressed by the tactics of the Rangers, asks that they assist in the training of the Continental Army's regular forces, and reaffirms his commitment to honoring their status as a sovereign state once the war is done. The defeat of Howe is also enough to convince the remaining First Nations who were either loyal or at least neutral to the British cause to either withdraw from the war or side with the patriots.

In the fall of 1777 James Livingston and the French-Canadian patriots lead an attack on Newfoundland expelling the British and their Tory supporters from Halifax, and securing the last major naval port that could supply the British in the middle colonies. The surrender of Burgoyne's army at Halifax finally secures the French alliance the Congress has so long hoped for, but it will be many months before naval support can reach the American mainland. Meanwhile, General Clinton takes command of the remaining troops from the New York campaign and marches them to take Philadelphia in 1777. With the city largely undefended, the Continental Congress is forced to abandon the city while the Army digs in for the hard winter at Valley Forge. While the Army trains, the Iroquois provide clothes, food, and blankets to Washington's Army after Col. Cook petitions the Great Council for assistance. After the spring thaw the Continental Army returns to duty with an expanded regiment of Rangers trained by the Iroquois.

By 1780 General Clinton's reinforcements are repelled in repelled in South Carolina by a joint assault by the Continental Army and the French Fleet. By August that same year, General Cornwallis surrenders at Camden, South Carolina. Ending hostilities in North America. It will take almost three years of peace negotiations before the Treaty of Paris is finally signed, formally recognizing the independence of the United States and American claims to former British territory East of the Mississippi, including the Quebec Province. With pressure from General Washington and Alexander Hamilton, New York's legislature agrees to honor the provision in the treaty respecting the formal boundary of the Iroquois Confederacy. Loyalists to the Crown are expelled from the country, with northern loyalists are forced to resettle in the Bahamas or British West Indies. This transfer of close to half a million people is hotly opposed by the Bahamas existing population and becomes a major issue of contention between the islands and the Crown. A minority of Northern Loyalists attempt to settle in Rupert's Land, which is directly controlled by the Hudson Bay Company.
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[FillyofDelphi]

Well, I can imagine this is going to result in some... annoyed feelings in New York. Losing so much of their territory, including any outlet to the Great Lakes and Albany, while the British are in a position to spread propaganda through the lower Hudson? That's going to have some impacts. Not to mention "betryal" in the eyes of the Loyalists and British Canadians are liable to lead to... rather anti-Native and anti-American feelings that could come back to bite them in the behind.

 

[Wolttaire]

So is another pod that the americans treated them well and slow them to form their own millitas and own colonial gov because that one of the main reason the lost the battle of Quebec because the candians started a gurrliea warfare against Americans

 

[okmangeez]

So is another pod that the americans treated them well and slow them to form their own millitas and own colonial gov because that one of the main reason the lost the battle of Quebec because the candians started a gurrliea warfare against Americans

I would say the main reason why the Continental Army lost in Quebec was the snowstorm that wreaked havoc on logistics on morale, combined with the fact that the French-Canadians did not treat the Americans as liberators. If the United States guaranteed that French-Canadians would have autonomous status (like most states in the US do), then the French-Canadians might have had more incentive to aid and assist the Continental Army as they stormed Quebec.

 

[Wolttaire]

I would say the main reason why the Continental Army lost in Quebec was the snowstorm that wreaked havoc on logistics on morale, combined with the fact that the French-Canadians did not treat the Americans as liberators. If the United States guaranteed that French-Canadians would have autonomous status (like most states in the US do), then the French-Canadians might have had more incentive to aid and assist the Continental Army as they stormed Quebec.

k thank for the clarification because you were right that was one of the main reason second question how are we going to integrate Iroquois?

 

[EnglishCanuck]

I would say the main reason why the Continental Army lost in Quebec was the snowstorm that wreaked havoc on logistics on morale, combined with the fact that the French-Canadians did not treat the Americans as liberators. If the United States guaranteed that French-Canadians would have autonomous status (like most states in the US do), then the French-Canadians might have had more incentive to aid and assist the Continental Army as they stormed Quebec.

The biggest reason was the poor state of the force that made the invasion, and the poor communications and means of resupply with the Continental Congress. The reliance on former New Englanders (like James Livingston and Moses Hazen) to help with recruitment and coordination meant that from the start there was a failure of the Continental force to establish good relations with the local population. David's Wooster's term of service acting as the governor of Montreal was a further disaster since he was abusive to the local population by locking up former Tories and militiamen and simply stealing supplies when his limited funds ran out. These abuses were remembered, and general mistrust due to Contiental outrage over the Quebec Acts and hostility to Catholicism meant that there was never much hope for fertile recruitment in the Province of Quebec. Coupled with the arrival of Burgoyne's army in the spring, it was a military disaster which would prevent any chance of the Quebecois from joining the Americans had they even wanted to.

In a general sense, even had Arnold succeeded in taking Quebec he has little chance of holding it.

As an aside, handing over all of northern New York to the Iroquois is...well its going to raise some rather angry eyebrows at least! That will be an interesting assimilation.

 

[Wolttaire]

Yah you need to redo the scenario or some major edits and much more about how they are going to take Quebec

 

[Sean McKnight]

China was a powder keg at the turn of the 20th century, as European sphere's of influence ran up against a growing Republican movement from the Tongmenghui. On the year of the Xinhai (辛亥), 1911, the Chinese Republicans staged a violent overthrow of the Qing dynasty, sending the country into civil war as competing warlords and revolutionaries fought for control of China, and to expel or ally with the Great Powers.

With Republicans and even Radials threatening their leased ports, Britain, France, German, and Japan all moved in to secure critical interests. What was to be a continuation of the loose alliance that put down the Boxers years earlier, quickly turned into a competition over the carcass of the Qing dynasty. By 1914, a tenuous armistice was declared, rather than risking a wider war as German and Japanese forces risked direct confrontation the French and British, who were themselves attempting to avoid creating further animosity with the United States, who were sympathetic to the Republicans and their cause. China was partitioned by the Great Powers with the largest piece going to the British protectorate of the Hongxian Dynasty.

No one seriously expected the situation to last, and indeed the aftermath only turned Germany and Japan from rivals to allies. Just four short years later, Japan would formally join Germany in the Great War, and begin a cycle of conflict that would not end in Asia until the fall of Tokyo in 1946.[/QUOTE]

 

[TheDetailer]

Are there more going to be more updates?

 

[Sean McKnight]

The United States is a federal republic of 62 states, a federal district, six territories and several uninhabited island possessions. The states and territories are the principal administrative districts in the country, the largest by population being Texas and the smallest being Newfoundland. During its expansion the US sought to expedite statehood by treating with the First Nations, the precedent for this being Iroquois who's role in the First Revolution and Shay's Rebellion proved how vital the native peoples of America would be to the country's future.

The District of Columbia is a federal district that contains the capital of the United States, Washington DC. The US has a system for birthright citizenship, and citizens of the United States over the age of 18 choose the President of the United States. Each citizen casts their ballot for President on the first Tuesday in November, and if no candidate receives a majority of the vote a runoff election is held on Monday after the second Wednesday in December between the two top candidates.