Alternate American Civil War: A Federal South vs. Confederate North

What if, instead of the Southern, slave-owning states seceding from the union, it was the other way around? I could totally see something like a Confederation of Northern States or a Federation of New England seceding in response to a tumultuous event like a vehemently pro-slavery, pro-filibustering (in the pre-contemporary sense) being elected President. Maybe someone like John C. Breckenridge or even William Walker?
 

TFSmith121

Banned
There's this thing called Congress...

What if, instead of the Southern, slave-owning states seceding from the union, it was the other way around? I could totally see something like a Confederation of Northern States or a Federation of New England seceding in response to a tumultuous event like a vehemently pro-slavery, pro-filibustering (in the pre-contemporary sense) being elected President. Maybe someone like John C. Breckenridge or even William Walker?

There's this thing called Congress...:rolleyes:

Best,
 
Here's my idea!

What if, instead of the Southern, slave-owning states seceding from the union, it was the other way around? I could totally see something like a Confederation of Northern States or a Federation of New England seceding in response to a tumultuous event like a vehemently pro-slavery, pro-filibustering (in the pre-contemporary sense) being elected President. Maybe someone like John C. Breckenridge or even William Walker?

I'd think it'd have to take a pretty substantial set of PODs, but I suppose it could be done.

Here's one way it could possibly play out(warning-there's a good chunk of text ahead):


It starts out like this-William Harrison survives past his OTL death date of 1841, perhaps similar to Robert Perkins's "What Hath a Warm Overcoat Wrought?" scenario.

Unfortunately, here, Harrison turns out to be far more mediocre than some Whigs might have hoped.

The problems within certain parts of Mexico go just a little differently here: the Californians decide to try to begin breaking away a few years earlier than OTL, though it's a more gradual process, similar to the lead up to the Texas Revolution some six years earlier. The Texians do support their comrades in California on an ideological basis, but can't afford to really give much material support; they will have to allow for only token volunteers....much of the rest of it will have to come from the U.S.

Meanwhile, some more militant anti-slavery Yankees realize that this may be the perfect opprotunity to try to curb the influence of the so-called "Peculiar Institution", and to keep it from spreading west.....by 1846, about 20,000 pro-abolitionists and other Free Soilers have braved the trek to California, much of it now out of Santa Anna's control; many of these folks are from the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, but a good number are Midwesterners, even including some Missourians, with a token representation of a few Southerners who themselves aren't exactly enamored of the planters. The California Revolution starts in April, 1846, right around the time the Bear Flag Revolt occurred in our reality; by this time, the anti-Mexican forces have occupied most of the important parts of the territory.

Meanwhile, Harrison manages to win in 1844, mainly thanks to a poor campaign by James K. Polk; but since John Tyler had perished in an accident involving a Navy ship's cannons in February, Harrison had to pick a new VP: and his choice was none other than the popular three term
Senator from North Carolina, William P. "Willie" Mangum.

Harrison's health had begun to decline by then, and is gravely ill by December 1845; one of his last acts will be to annex Texas into the Union on the 29th of that year.

Late in April, a major incident along the border between Texas and Coahuila involving Natives and escaped slaves, leads to the invasion of the Mexican state; Mexico soon responds with an incursion of their own, sending tensions sky high. Harrison, under increasing stress, buckles over from a massive heart attack on June 2nd, and dies late that night; two days later, President Mangum declares war on Mexico.

Santa Anna, realizing that he now has a major war on his hands, reluctantly decides, after being convinced of such by one of his saner advisors, to settle a quick truce with the rebels in California; by September, the fighting comes to an end there, so that the Mexicans can focus on defending their home territory.

The war does not go terribly well for the Americans, and by the summer of 1847, draft riots have erupted across much of the north, with the Independence Day riots in New York and Chicago ending with dozens of deaths. Partly thanks to the growing unrest at home, Mangum is forced to pull out of Mexico in April, 1848; the Mexican victory, however, is a Pyrrhic one: Pretty much everything from the northeast border on west is gone altogether and federal control over Sonora and northern Chihuahua is badly weakening by the month; the Californians have already begun trying to send filibusters there to increase their influence.

Willie Mangum *does* eventually win office again, but only because of a three-way split between him, Northern Democrat Lewis Cass, and former President Martin Van Buren, running on the Free Soil platform. The Southern Democrats, angry at yet another loss, decide that they can no longer rely on "damn Yankees" to work with their every wish and whim.

Meanwhile, as the revolutionary era comes and passes in Europe, many tens of thousands of Europeans flee to the United States. Although the Germans are usually welcomed, many of the Italians, French and Eastern Europeans do begin to notice some notable prejudice upon arriving. President Mangum, hoping to keep the Whig brand name fresh, decides to welcome "all white men of good character" to the shores of America. But, already, a nativist movement begins to grow rapidly within the U.S., as some are dissatisfied with these new arrivals.....

As the 1850s dawn, the more liberal and otherwise egalitarian portions of the American public begin to worry more and more about the possibility of one of the "Fire Eaters", the increasingly influential hardcore pro-slavery Southerners, taking office soon; even former President Andrew Jackson, himself a slaveowner, begins to express disdain for them, fearing that their shenanigans may destroy the Union.....unfortunately, his concerns may indeed be realized, and sooner than many think.....

The Democrats, banking on dissatisfaction with 12 whole years of Whig rule, decide to go for broke, and go for a truly fanatical combo: John C. Calhoun, the former Vice-President and South Carolina firebrand, whose desires to seize California have become almost universally known.....and David Rice Atchison, the Missouri senator known for his extreme hatred of Mexico, and, increasingly, his interest in filibustering operations, mainly sparked by California's ambitions in Sonora.

The 1852 elections end up being just like 1824 all over again, with the Democrats, Free Soilers, and the Whigs all vying for influence.....as well as the brand new North American Party, dedicated to all things nativist. But although no party earns an electoral majority, and the Free Soil party under Charles F. Adams manages to win more popular votes than anyone else.....to the sheer horror to virtually every liberal in America, and many in the relative center, the victor ends up being none other than John C. Calhoun, thanks to some deals struck in Congress and elsewhere: to many, it's as if the "Corrupt Bargain" has been reborn.

But just as the pro-slavery men begin to celebrate, John C. Calhoun is assassinated on Inauguration Day, in front of thousands, including his VP, David Atchison. In a desperate attempt to find the killers, the Marshals follow a (dubious) tip that leads them to a hotel in D.C. itself, where a prominent black abolitionist, William Wells Brown, has been staying; Brown had been very strongly opposed to Calhoun's election, and was planning to organize a protest in the city later in March. He was arrested, and soon put on trial; despite no solid evidence connecting him to the killing, he is convicted anyway, and executed on the last day of March, along with his wife(many more critically thinking Americans immediately suspect that Brown was framed).

The new President, David Atchison, promises swift vengeance on the "dangerous anti-American radicals", and throughout the next five years, thousands of them, mainly outside of New England, and New York, New Jersey, and Michigan, are jailed on trumped-up, and even totally bogus, charges, and others are forced into exile. A few of them, namely John Russwurm, are outright murdered by crooked authorities, and the Atchison administration turns a completely blind eye to even that.

At the same time, the Atchison administration quickly begins to strengthen ties with the nativist movement, as do many conservative Democrats in Congress: Robert Barnwell Rhett, Senator from South Carolina, becomes one of the fiercest of all the supporters of nativism. Immigration is quickly restricted for most, and by 1855, few non-German immigrants are able to make it into the United States, forcing many to divert elsewhere; California and Mexico prove to be two popular destinations for many Italians, while many Irish settle in Canada and New Zealand, where they have more freedom compared to back home.

And then, in 1856, Dred Scott, a black Missourian held in bondage, managed to escape his confines and escapes to Illinois, a free state. A failed attempt by a slave catcher to apprehend Mr. Scott would result in the case known as Johnston v. Dred Scott, which drew out over two long years. Supreme Court Roger B. Taney would issue his final ruling in October, 1858: Scott was ineligible, in his opinion, because he was African-American, and Taney believed (though not correctly) that the Founders had intended to explicitly exclude all blacks from any citizenship rights, let alone that of voting. [Basically, Prigg v. Pennsylvania was butterflied here!]

Following this, protests broke out in a dozen major U.S. cities, some of them turning violent, with dozens arrested. By then, a small, but ever growing movement for secession was blooming in the north, especially in New England, New York, and New Jersey, as well as Michigan and the new state of Wisconsin, as well as the Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska territories. And partly because of this, a vote on whether or not to annex the Oregon Territory had to be tabled, for the third time in only six years.

The most crucial turning point came in 1860, after the victory of Democrats Jefferson Davis and John Breckinridge under some rather dubious circumstances, over the Free Soilers William Garrison and Salmon Chase; by September, 1862, a majority in the Northeast, Wisconsin and Michigan supported secession, and significant minorities were found in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania as well. But it was the assassination of President Davis in February, 1863, that would be the final straw.....

The perpetrator this time, however, had been somewhat unexpected: to the shock of many, it was none other than Juan Seguin, one of the original heroes of the Texas Revolution; Seguin had himself suspected that Davis had stolen the election, and, although not an abolitionist, feared that tyranny might soon engulf the United States whole.

President Breckinridge immediately blamed the "Black Soilers", as he called them, for the assassination, and approved the raids of every single major office of the Free Soil Party from Independence, Missouri, to Portland, Maine and back, during March and April, 1863.

It was then that the die was cast: On June 2, 1863, the state of Vermont announced that it would be seceding from the Union, on account of this and other government abuses, both known and alleged, and the state of Maine followed a week later; by the 4th of July, all of New England had seceded, and New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin, as well as the Minnesota Territory, would follow by the end of August: meanwhile, Illinois and Indiana were deeply divided, and gunfights had already broken out in both states, and Ohio and Pennsylvania would suffer the same soon afterwards.

Now, it was clear that all the lines had been drawn, and both sides were armed and loaded for the long run: indeed, the American Civil War had begun.....

You know, this gives me an idea for a future TLIAD idea.....:cool:
 
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