The United States Election of 1796 (4 A.E.)
5 years after Pennsylvania's translocation to the New World, America has paved its way into a prosperous future. George Washington has overseen the nation be whisked away, separated from all the other states except for the one he resided in. Then, in turn, be made into a self-sufficient country that's set its mind to tame the wilderness around it. With the introduction of the West Point Academy, Washington would lead the implementation of the Constitution from the institution's more advanced nation. Knowing that the new Constitution would allow him to still reside and advise congress if he wanted to, George Washington would decide that 2 terms would be enough for him and a new leader would need to hold the reigns to serve their country well. Washington would end his last year and term in office creating friendly ties to the newly translocated Iroquois Confederacy and cementing himself as one of the greats.
The question now would be who will fill the void of greatness that Washington has left behind?
Formed early on in U.S. history, the Federalist Party dominated U.S. politics as the single state that was separated by the event was already dominated by northern pro-administrationalists. With Robert Morris Jr. being an incredible Vice-President during Washington's presidency, he would easily be granted the nomination for the presidency in the 1796 election. The problem though would who would be his running mate; The "West Point" Constitution would state the the Vice President would be voted on separate from the presidency and introduced with the presidential nominee as a "ticket" for the general election. The Federalists would ultimately decide on Representative George Cabot who, while originally from Massachusetts, stayed in the government to oversee the the predicament they were in and became a champion politician in congress. His leadership, easily solidified the ticket to be a sure winner in the election.
The true opposition to the Federalists came from the Landless Party, consisting of previous anti-federalists and southern politicians who have lost their states to the event yet still stayed in congress. They've spent the last couple years without any real leadership as they were mostly built around being an opposition party. However, with the introduction of West Point, new southerners have started to become interested in the Party as they had their own qualms with the successors of the Federalists in their part of time. At this point, the party itself would center around Albert Gallatin. Gallatin was a man with strong opposition to the economics of the Federalists, yet wasn't heavily heard before the Event. With new support, he would be the nominated as the best man to go against Morris. Thomas Sumter would win the Vice-Presidency nomination on the Landless Party after a contentious primary.
As November 4th became closer, the Federalists knew they would win the presidency. The only concern was how well the Landless Party would do.
Election Results:
Vice President Robert Morris Jr. (F-PA) | Representative George Cabot (F-PA): 17 EV of 22; 56.6% of PV
Representative Albert Gallatin (L-PA) | State Representative Thomas Sumter (L-PA): 5 EV of 22; 43.1% of PV
And apparently, their concerns were warranted.
Gallatin would be a considerably harder opponent to beat than Morris had thought. With added support from West Point up-timers and his advisory to make greater campaigns than those before him Gallatin would be the fan favorite of being the new change that the nation needed after Washington's resignation. In response Morris started to put passion into his campaigns that would lead him into the Presidency.
Meanwhile in the House of Representatives the Landless Party movement would explode by Gallatin's successes. Previous anti-federalists, who were beat out by the Federalist stranglehold in the last two elections, carved a whole new position in congress adding 6 seats to their measly three in the 3rd Congress.
Even though the Federalists have kept their majority, the Landless gains have started to become a real issue that could bite them in the future. Only time will tell as the Congress of the nation moves into the 4th Congress.
The 4th Congress:
Federalist Party: 13 seats of 22 total
Landless Party: 9 seats of 22 total