alternatehistory.com

Well, gentlemen, and ladies, of the Alternate History . Com board, after a few weeks of waiting, It's time to reveal my brand new timeline.

Presenting, for the first time, ever, A Nation, Divided. It's full title, btw, is below; for the name, I decided on a compromise incorporating a few of the name choices that were put out there in that mini-contest I held.

A Nation, Divided:
The Price of War And Freedom, or
How I Learned to Love the Decades of Secession(and Cotton!).


Chapter 1-A Different Campaign.

...It is often said that a single vote, a single controversy, or single line in a campaign speech can have the potential to change the history of an entire nation, and perhaps eventually, even the world.

The Election of 1796 was the first election in which two opposing parties seriously competed with one another, and it was saddled with its share of controversies when it was occurring and is still viewed one of the most peculiar elections of all time in the United States. One of the first significant events of note was when Thomas Jefferson and George Clinton both decided to run for office on Apr. 12, 1796[1], which had been the first instance of competition within a party. Between the 26th and 29th of that same month, a vote was held to decide who would be the candidate for the newly-created Democratic-Republican party. However, though, the electors had come to a deadlock so a tiebreaker vote had to be held on the afternoon of the 29th; That vote went to Jefferson, who was now the candidate of choice for that party. The Federalists, who had quickly caught word of the Dem-Rep campaign, began to comtemplate fielding their own favored candidates; a contest between John Adams and Aaron Burr was held in a similar fashion, with Adams winning by several percent ahead of Burr in early June[2].

On the 4th of July, President Washington announced that he would not be seeking a third term in office, in newspapers across the nation. That, in the eyes of some historians, caused both parties to ramp up their rhetoric. An unfortunate side effect was that what we'd call 'dirty tricks' began to be utilized by both sides. One of the nastiest of these dirty tricks, was the publication of series of documents in late September purporting to be, amongst other things, John Adams' correspondences with the British government promising to declare war on Napoleon in exchange for parts of the Canadas, and a liaison with an English noblewoman. Though there was much misinformation, some perhaps obvious to more astute observers, it mattered little[3]; in November, Thomas Jefferson was elected second President of the United States, with George Clinton as his Vice-President, with 41,562 votes to Adams' 30,489.

Not long after being sworn in on March 4th, 1797, Jefferson's first act was to sign a 10-year peace treaty with Napoleon, in exchange for trading rights in French territories, eventually including, most notably, the area of Nouvelle-Orleans; this aroused the ire of the Spanish thanks the area's loss to France after the successful Rebellion of 1797[4], and soon began to set the stage for things to come.........

[1]This is the first initial POD, as deliberations didn't start until sometime in the summer IOTL.

[2]Burr himself had his share of fans.

[3]Some truth here; Adams, ITTL, had considered negotiating a more steady peace with Britain. Most of the rest of it, however, was pretty much complete baloney, as claimed by Adams's supporters.

[4]Basically a repeat of the one in 1768. The territory of New Orleans, btw, covers an area roughly around OTL's Belle Rose, LA, going east and along the LaFourche Bayou, as well as some parts of the North Bank of the Mississippi as well; the western border is southeast of OTL's Sorrento, LA, and starts a few miles north of OTL's Convent, LA, tracing a 45 degree line leading to one of the creeks leading out of Lake Maurepas, then following it to its mouth. The Spanish, however, have retained control over the rest of the area for now.
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