A Parliamentary Autocracy

JohnJacques

Banned
Important Legislation of the 41st Congress

The Judiciary Act of 1869

The Judiciary Act of 1869 was a reform of the federal judiciary system. The Act created standing circuit judges for the US Circuit Courts, although it did not remove the "court riding" duties of Supreme Court Justices. The Act expanded the number of Supreme Court Justices to 10, the number on the court before the Judiciary Act of 1866.

The Act weathered criticism from Democrats, as it opened up two immediate nominations by Benjamin Wade and more if retirements were to occur. However, the rule of Henry B. Anthony and James G. Blaine stopped the obstruction of the bill and of the subsequent appointments.

Benjamin Wade appointed William Strong, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and Ebenezer Rockwell Hoar, an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, to these vacancies. Both were confirmed on March 14, 1870.

The Force Act of 1869

The Force Act of 1869 was drawn up specifically to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, which had engaged in violence throughout the Reconstruction South, although it would be expanded to reports of voter intimidation elsewhere.

It made illegal the use of terror, force or bribery in preventing someone to vote. US Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler was instrumental in enacting the legislation, bringing up hundreds of cases throughout the unreconstructed South in the first year alone.

It also enabled the Congressional investigations in Missouri which found that intimidation had been used against Republican voters, black and white, in the election of '68.

The cases brought up under the Force Act were much discussed and saw the debate for more voting rights legislation to be brought forward begin in the Houses of Congress.

The Yara Resolution 1870


On October 10, 1868, wealthy landowner and slaveholder Carlos Manuel de Cespedes made the Cry of Yara (Grito De Yara), ringing the slave bell which signaled the beginning of work on the plantation. He addressed his slaves, declared them free and offered for them to join in a struggle for Cuba's independence.

The Republic of Cuba-At-Arms quickly began to gather newspaper headlines and governmental notice in the United States. Maximo Gomez's small victories against the Spanish, Francisco Vicente Aguilera's fundraising efforts in 1869, de Cespedes's calls for US annexation, all of these thrust the Cuban issue to the fore and garnered praise from many Republicans.

The House and Senate quickly authorized a resolution affirming the right of the Cubans to rebel against Spain. Although Benjamin Wade's Secretary of State Elihu Washburne opposed the measure, the President himself was fully behind it.

Cuban fundraising efforts flocked to the United States and began to find open coffers. The Resolution was clearly the turning point in the struggle for Cuba.

(If you're wondering, the House and Senate did consider such a resolution in 1870. Grant opposed it, and they nixed it.)
 
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JohnJacques

Banned
Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant, the man who had saved the Union, found himself increasingly out of the limelight of the Republicans following 1868.

While he had rejected the nomination as Secretary of War by Andrew Johnson, many Republicans played up his involvement in the elections of 1866, where he had stumped with Johnson. And many of his private statements about the impeachment implied he was not behind the effort.

In 1868, he refused the nomination. "The party is a pack of rabid dogs," he reportedly told one close friend. He didn't talk much with Wade, although he did campaign for him. He thought the party had been whipped up into a frenzy, and he was uneasy about that.

After the signing of the Southern Resolution, he came out in condemnation of it. "Let us have peace. Keeping the South in such a useless toil for statehood is not a peace anymore than a desert is peace," he said in a speech in New York. [1]

The Radicals, of course, criticized him harshly, drawing upon the spectre of Johnson. Some Republicans agreed with his sentiment though, and voted their conscience on later bills pertaining to the South.

Leading Democrats, such as Samuel J. Tilden and George Pendleton approached Grant about the possibility of a nomination. [1] He responded, by their account, "If nominated to the party of disunion, I will not run. If elected by the party of disunion, I will not serve." He argued with them about the matter of Reconstruction, believing it a necessary evil and thinking that the Radicals merely took it too far.

He was rebuffed further by the Wade Administration when he attempted to get Ely S. Parker, a Seneca Iroquois, appointed as Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Benjamin Wade and his Senate allies decided against the Indian. "Funny that he may appoint a black man to the mails, but can't appoint an Indian to the Indians."

The growing rift between Grant and the Republicans was not something which went unnoticed- and it made many Republicans uneasy. Following Edwin M. Stanton's death [3], the position of Secretary of War lay vacant for a time. Benjamin Wade offered the position to Grant, who declined. He believed that the Republicans of the Senate would try and limit what he could say.

The first effort to draw Grant into the fold was an unlikely venture in 1871- the proposed annexation of Santo Domingo. After the vociferous debate on the floor of the Senate, which was not able to muster a majority, Wade formed a commission of three men to investigate the matter.

He chose Andrew Dickson White, the President of Cornell University, Frederick Douglass, the most influential black leader, and Ulysses S. Grant. All three men were sent to Santo Domingo to investigate the possibilities of annexation. [4]

Upon their return in 1872, all three men gave a glowing report of the island and its inhabitants. Grant himself loved the island, and requested an appointment to return there. Following the tough passage of the Treaty of Santo Domingo (1872), which set out the former country as a territory with guidelines for eventual statehood, Grant returned as a Commissioner of the island. [5]

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Excerpted from The Rise of the Congressional Czars

Is it little wonder then that the newly-crowned Congress began to act just as the feared slaveocracy had before the War Between the States? Not when one realizes that these supposed Radicals had taken their offices not for ideals, but for power.

It is only in the quest for power that the annexation of Santo Domingo makes sense. It is only in the quest for power that the attempts to force Cuba from Spain make sense. For the much praised Yara Resolution was only praised with a singular condition- that the Republic-At-Arms greet their American overlords with arms held wide.

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[1] This is approximately what he started saying post-Presidency IOTL
[2] If you're wondering, Grant's statements before 1880 actually did lead Southern Democrats to praise him, and some of them supported a third term for Grant. However weird that may seem.
[3] Slightly later than IOTL
[4] IOTL, it was Wade, Douglass and White.
[5] The big thing that sunk this was Sumner. And no, that is not the last you'll hear of Grant.....
 
Nice to know Grant will return.

Interesting that the US does take on Santo Domingo. I have to imagine the South will not be too happy about that. Indeed, some northern Democrats may object as well. In any case, it will be interesting.
 

JohnJacques

Banned
Nice to know Grant will return.

Interesting that the US does take on Santo Domingo. I have to imagine the South will not be too happy about that. Indeed, some northern Democrats may object as well. In any case, it will be interesting.

Oh, Western Republicans didn't like it, Midwestern Republicans can barely stomach it, and they found odd allies in Charles Sumner's denunciation. Sumner believed that the annexation would end the idea of Black self-governance and be only the beginning of Caribbean expansion.

The Southern Republicans though, rather like it, and sell it at home as being a safety valve for the black population. Much as what Grant and Douglass thought it could serve as. Although only Douglass hopes for the political effects of eventual statehood. "A Black Massachusetts", he said.

Very nicely done JJ.

Thankee. Next up is an update dealing with the absence of an oft-overlooked American figure.....
 

JohnJacques

Banned
Not sure who would be interested but..... I put up a bibliography of it so far. Right here.

Plan on getting the next update soon.... writer's block and a bit of post-Fall Break fatigue.
 
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maverick

Banned
Oh, Western Republicans didn't like it, Midwestern Republicans can barely stomach it, and they found odd allies in Charles Sumner's denunciation. Sumner believed that the annexation would end the idea of Black self-governance and be only the beginning of Caribbean expansion.

The Southern Republicans though, rather like it, and sell it at home as being a safety valve for the black population. Much as what Grant and Douglass thought it could serve as. Although only Douglass hopes for the political effects of eventual statehood. "A Black Massachusetts", he said.



Thankee. Next up is an update dealing with the absence of an oft-overlooked American figure.....

Who? Horace Greeley? Sumner? Nathaniel Prentice Banks? Fremont? Thaddeus Stevens? Hamlin, chase or Butler?

Running out of people:p

BTW, This is really good, keep it up!
 
Who? Horace Greeley? Sumner? Nathaniel Prentice Banks? Fremont? Thaddeus Stevens? Hamlin, chase or Butler?

Running out of people:p

BTW, This is really good, keep it up!

I was wondering if it might be Schuyler Colfax or one of the folks who OTL became embroiled with the Credit Mobilier scandal (which actually includes Colfax).

I second Maverick's praise. On with the decline of checks and balances!
 

JohnJacques

Banned
Who? Horace Greeley? Sumner? Nathaniel Prentice Banks? Fremont? Thaddeus Stevens? Hamlin, chase or Butler?

Running out of people:p

BTW, This is really good, keep it up!

Even more overlooked than that. Delayed a war by 5 years, just by his presence.

Now then, the rest of those are going to be mentioned. And Butler "The Beast" is, as mentioned above, attorney general and his reputation in the South is going to get worse. Colfax. meanwhile, lost his House seat.
 
Even more overlooked than that. Delayed a war by 5 years, just by his presence.

Grover Cleveland? Garret Hobart? -- assuming the war is the Spanish American War. Of course I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't that war...hmm, maybe it's the War of the Pacific?

I'm on pins and needles to say the least, though.
 

JohnJacques

Banned
Grover Cleveland? Garret Hobart? -- assuming the war is the Spanish American War. Of course I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't that war...hmm, maybe it's the War of the Pacific?

I'm on pins and needles to say the least, though.

I almost feel like I've hyped you up a bit too much.

Its a war that occurred in the 1870s and would happen earlier if not for this figure. He never held a very high office, and only served for a short amount of time.
 

maverick

Banned
Unless you're counting one of the Indian wars, I guess this is a foreign war, right?

Apparently there were three indian wars in the 1870s...
 

JohnJacques

Banned
(Fuck the war update.)

A Black Massachusetts (1872-1877)

"The ideal of black self-governance is now forever dead. In lifting the yoke of governance from the Dominicans, we have placed a yoke of inferiority to replace it. And in time, all the lands that are blacks' by right of possession shall fall under this yoke."-Senator Charles Sumner

"What the honored Senator fails to recognize.... is that Santo Domingo shall be a black sister of Massachusetts. The administration of the island shall become an incontrovertible fact of racial ambiguity."- Frederick Douglass, 1st Territorial Governor of Santo Domingo

The annexation of Santo Domingo yielded immediate changes in the governance of the island and, for the Negro community at large.

It is estimated that in the first year (1873) more than 10000 Negroes took up the call to "the black Massachusetts". Most of the emigrants came from border states, where their numbers were smaller and where they could not exert political pressure upon the un-Reconstructed States. Texas contributed the most, with some estimates ranging as high as 3000 from the Lone Star State alone.[1] Many came also from the Northern states, skilled freedmen who would find new opportunities in Douglass' heralded "land of racial freedom". After the states were readmitted to the Union, Redeemer government would often bully freedmen out of close districts, and this yielded another wave in 1875.

Naturally, the transition of the government from the Santo Domingo government to US administration had its pitfalls. Many in the Parti Azul considered the annexation to be a corrupt plot by the President at the time, Buenaventura Baez. (Baez did get an appointment as the customs inspector of Santo Domingo, the city)

Gregorio Luperon, the man who had led the Restoration of the Republic following Spanish annexation in the 1860s, began openly talking of a coup to depose Baez and resist the annexation efforts. In the details of the plot which have been found, Baez was to be deposed and Ulises Francisco Espaillat, a personal friend of Luperon, was to be installed as President.

However, the plot dissolved after the landing of US Marines in December of 1872. No large scale military action was taken by either side until 1876. Only in the countryside was it dangerous to be an Anglo, whether white or black, a reputation the rural areas of the island would keep for decades.

Frederick Douglass, one of the most outspoken supporters of the annexation, was appointed territorial governor by outgoing President Wade [2] in February of 1873. He would serve until 1885.

Douglass' administration was criticized for its paucity of native Dominicans and especially, its focus on appointing freedmen from the States. Douglass found many enemies within the Catholic Church on the island, as he taxed many of the remaining Church estates, ended public funding of the parochial schools and encouraged missionary efforts by freedmen on the island.

However, Douglass did develop an almost idolatrous relationship with the native blacks of the country, who idolized him and the policies they felt favored them. He also encouraged the freedmen populace to learn Spanish and required the publication of all laws in both English and Spanish.

Douglass guided the territory through economic expansion during the 1870s. The early years saw heavy expansion of plantation style industry on the island, and attempts to transplant the southern practice of liens and sharecropping. He pioneered the ban on such contracts in 1875, a move that would later be followed by Republicans in the South.

In 1876, he personally went before Congress demanding that more of the territory's tariff funds go to the island. He used the tariff funds as well as the island's other taxes to fund a series of schools all across the island. Education became one of the paramount functions of the Santo Domingo government.

He endorsed Ulysses Grant, who had served in numerous Administration posts, in 1876 and campaigned for him in the South and North, leaving most governing duties to the Lieutenant Governor, Ulises Heaureaux of the Parti Azul.

During Frederick Douglass' absence, there was an attempted coup led by Ulises Heaureaux which led to the killing of US soldiers, freedmen and a retaliation into the countryside. Much of the territorial militia sided with Heaureaux. Numerous properties were seized over the coup, with many falling into the hands of white businessmen or corrupt freedmen. The insurgency sparked by Heaureaux would last into 1877 and would become an embarrassment for President Grant.

Heaureaux himself was executed in November of 1876, following Frederick Douglass's return. Douglass exercised few functions as governor while the island was under martial law. Mj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer authorized numerous brutal tactics during the insurgency, earning himself a damned name in the entire territory. [3] However, the insurgency was mostly over by 1877 and Custer was being praised in the states, by Republican and Democrat alike.

1877 seemed to Douglass to be an end to his bright dreams for the territory, but he would continue to faithfully serve for 8 more years. "[The territory] is a great weight upon my shoulders," he wrote in a letter to President Grant, "but as Jesus bore his, so shall I bear mine. It is not too heavy a burden for me..... I hope that it may yield a resurrection for this island."

[1] Texas is one of the last states to be Reconstructed as well, due to a partisan frenzy whipped up during the early 1870s.
[2] You read it right.
[3] Custer makes himself rather unpopular with the administrations (Wade, ?, Grant), and so gets stuck in Santo Domingo. "A puckered black asshole," he is recorded as calling the post.
 
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JohnJacques

Banned
Will Santo Domingo become like Liberia with conflicts between immigrant blacks and native blacks?

Not quite.

It should be noted that "blacks" are technically a minority in the Dominican Republic. Most people prided themselves on being mestizo and therefore, not black.

Under the rules of the US, they're all black. But to themselves- they're not.

Frederick Douglass has more problems among those who consider themselves to be mixed than among blacks. Most of the blacks are wary of him at first, and then become convinced that he is the greatest man ever. That he is just as much "their" man as the freedmen's. It should be noted that Douglass would be the first black to govern over the former Dominican Republic. All before him were white or mestizo, trying to hide it as Taino.

That said, most freedmen should not leave the city. The rural areas hate the "occupation", for the most part.

However, Douglass did develop an almost idolatrous relationship with the native blacks of the country, who idolized him and the policies they felt favored them. He also encouraged the freedmen populace to learn Spanish and required the publication of all laws in both English and Spanish.

Its a land of racial ambiguity, as Douglass said. After Douglass, politics are going to divide by the odd racial makeup of Santo Domingo.
 
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