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Chapter 1: The First American Rebellion
In 1775 the First American Rebellion was declared in the Thirteen Colonies of North America. Years of smouldering resentment and over taxation had lead some of the more independent minded thinkers of the Colonies to believe rebellion was the only way to ascertain their freedom from the tyranny of Great Britain. Historians have postulated that it may well have been possible for this band of revolutionaries to indeed gain their freedom had they been organized in any coherent fashion.
Although there had been success in the First Continental Congress there had been substantially less in the second. Each of the colonies had their own ideas about government and economics and self defense this lead to substantial disagreement among their leaders over the rights of self-determination and self-government. Some (like the infamous Thomas Jefferson) advocated the loose structure of government and the emphasis on full personal liberty, while others (like Alexander Hamilton) advocated a strong central government as the only way to ensure America’s independence and more importantly as the only sane form of government. And disastrously the Southern colonies wanted little to do at all with either proposed government. The only conclusion reached was the idea of self-governance.
This was followed in 1776 by the Declaration of Independence and the institution of armed hostility against British troops in the Colonies. Against the Empire the Continental Army was established. Though it claimed to be an army it was little more than a band of ragtag militia paired together and armed in poor and diverse manner. What it lacked in cohesion and training it made up for with the strength and charisma of its first leader, George Washington. Washington was an inspiring man capable of rousing great feats of bravery in his troops and inspiring them to march on in the face of overwhelming odds. Sadly bravado does not win a war. Washington was by all accounts an inspiring man but was by no account a great general. After initial successes against British forces throughout 1776-77 he was killed at the Battle of Brandywine by a British sniper. The subsequent American “victory” at Saratoga was merely forcing the British to withdraw from the field. Although it won French support it left much to be desired by Spain who declined to fully support the rebels. Although French money and supplies kept the Continental Army fighting under Nathanial Greene it could not keep it strong. Finally after a series of disastrous defeats, the worst of which was the destruction of Horatio Gates forces in the South and the death of Greene, the rebels were forced to surrender as the British tightened the noose in Virginia.
This does not mean that all rebels surrendered. The bold commander Benedict Arnold (who famously coined the term ‘pulling an Arnold’ in the British language) who was deeply bitter towards his constant pass over for promotion by Congress, vowed he would not give up the fight so easily and led 4,000 battle hardened soldiers and nearly 9,000 civilians fearing the vengeance of the crown out of the colonies and over the Appalachians to continue their resistance.
At this time also many of the ideological fathers of the revolution fled as well. Samuel Adams fled with Arnold alongside Alexander Hamilton. Benjamin Franklin was caught attempting to board a ship to Spain and John Hancock was shot when he and a group of conspirators ran headlong into a British patrol. John Adams successfully escaped to Spain while Patrick Henry and Thomas pain were hung shortly after their capture alongside Franklin. Yet another founding father who managed to escape was Thomas Jefferson who after a long and arduous journey into Louisiana managed to board a ship bound for the Dutch Republic.
Historians cite several reasons for the collapse of the first revolution. The first was lack of support. At its height the revolution barely commanded the loyalties of one third of the population of the colonies and after a string of costly defeats and many raids against loyalists, those perceived as loyalists and the constant foraging and looting done by the retreating Continental Army eventually turned the vast majority of the population against them. Despite good leadership shown by the leaders of the army its political body remained constantly divided. Supplied given to the army were in theory divided up equally among all its members, in practice commanders of various regiments tended to favour their own colonies men over those of other colonies. While those from Virginia could expect to be well fed and well supplied those from Pennsylvania or New York might be overlooked due to favouritism. While this had not been a major issue under Washington, Greene had been unable to prevent it during the later years of the war. The lack of foreign support was also a major factor in the rebels eventual downfall. Since only France recognized the Rebels claims of legitimacy only she could openly provide the rebels with arms and supplies. There was a trickle from other nations such as Spain, but with no formal support there could be no formal assistance, and Spain simply saw a minor distraction to the British, not a major player. Because of this the rebels were doomed. The colonies were again put under the flag of England.
With the defeat of the revolutionaries in America life continued. The British however, were swift to ensure that their authority was unquestioned and that no one would dare challenge their dominance again. The execution of all captured founding fathers was swift and anyone who had served above the rank of captain in the Continental army was also executed if caught. Militias were always placed under the authority of the army. Loyalists were rewarded while those known to support the rebels had land confiscated and were forced to pay fines for the damage caused by the war. While many of the Northern Colonies chafed there were no overt acts of rebellion.
The occasional act of civil disobedience did crop up and any sort of Republican political movement was outlawed in the wake of the revolution. The most violent act was the Philadelphia riots of 1782 when rebels were forced to pay fines. This sparked similar protests but none as violent as the riots which resulted in street fighting between former rebels and loyalists until British troops were able to place the city under control again, this resulted in the death of 30 British soldiers and 97 citizens of all political stripes. It was also the largest disturbance after the First Rebellion.
However, the colonists did gain some advantages. Land was parceled out to locals rather than be at the mercy of land holders in England as loyalists were now rewarded with it. After 1783 taxes were eased as industry picked up and the colonies began paying for themselves. In 1785 the restrictions on west ward expansion were lifted and colonists were finally allowed to move past the Appalachians.
The reasoning for this was twofold. The first was to relieve pressure built up by angry Americans while the second was very practical. Throughout this time Benedict Arnolds “Army of the American Republic” continued to launch guerrilla raids against settlements and British outposts. To the horror of London they had been confirmed to make alliances with Indian tribes hostile to British influence. Even more concerning was the fact that these rebels were building independent towns and villages across the Appalachians. This gave Arnold and his army a place to launch raids from and resupply allowing them to continue this guerrilla war. It was resolved that to crush them they would be driven deeper into the wilderness. Firstly the British made used their allies in the Iroquois Confederacy to drive away the tribes that supported the Americans. The Iroquois who had nearly fragmented during the revolution were all too eager to both punish the dissident members of their tribes and the Americans who had plagued them so. Arnold by this point had gathered nearly 20,000 to his banner as former rebels fled the justice of the British. Many chose to settle close to Louisiana and seek the support of the French while others continued to build independent settlements and fight in the guerrilla war against the British. Thus did the major expansion of the West slowly begin. At first merely military expeditions bent on destroying the support for the Army of the Republic and then permanent settlers to cement British control of the region. This was of course a slow process that would take many years to begin as the majority of the settlers chose to travel to the Canadian provinces or New England states.
This did however force Arnold and his people deeper into the interior where they continued aggressively raiding forts and settlements while weathering raids by the British and Iroquois. While they received marginal support from France they remained mostly on their own. The villages and farmsteads that comprised this “country” were clustered very close to the Southern colonies and Louisiana in order to maximise their support. This ebbed away at Arnolds support but due to a combination of his ruthless policies of control and his ability to protect the slowly growing numbers of malcontents under his command this ‘army’ would continue to be a thorn in the British side.
Though London continuously predicted that this movement would simply wither and die by 1788 it seemed to be intent on doing none of the above. Though by 1789 things would change dramatically.
In the Southern Colonies they were increasingly pleased as their place as the dominant area of British North America. Though the institution of slavery continued to drive the economy much to ire of a growing movement in England they would continue it unimpeded. Though slowly but surely this system became overshadowed by the industrializing North.
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My reaction to watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwAtNILh6uY
Ok sere here we have version 2.0!. For those of you who don't know it is a TL I've devised after watching the above video some time ago. For those of you who do I'm hoping to improve upon the lack of butterflies in my previous version. I've been doing some re-writing and I'm posting the first two chapters again with minor edits and changes, the bigger ones will be coming along later. But once again heres my attempt at re-working the world without the US (as we know it) and giving a few more countries a nicer spot in the world. So what you can expect to see is:
1. A few different American revolutions after OTLs fails
2. A much different French revolution (this time really!)
3. A much more powerful Germany
4. Mexico will actually become relevant on the world stage.
5. A socialist South America
So here's the first chapter comments, criticisms, and just as importantly suggestions are extremely welcome!