America - Albion's Orphan - A history of the conquest of Britain - 1760
- Thread starter Alt History Buff
- Start date
I really doubt it. The OTL British and American governments didn't so I see no reason why an amalgamation of the two would do better by the natives.
Well, there was this bit. I have to think there were better outcomes to how bad the Native Americas were screwed OTL, even if they were going to get the short end of the stick.
Chapter 201: Slow Decay
Summer, 1811
Kyushu, Empire of Nippon
After the humiliating defeat of the Emperor’s forces (particularly the Navy) in the past few years, the Emperor had been forced to conclude that the Shogun (himself as much a figurehead as the Emperor) was unfit for the post and demanded that another take his place. Surprisingly, the Shogun stood down but the powerbrokers behind him simply chose another pliant member of the family to take his place. Nothing significant changed.
Kyushu and Ryuku remained under Chinese occupation with no obvious recourse for the Nipponese to alter the situation. It was bluntly straightforward that only casual disinterest in the cost of conquering the primary island of Honshu had prevented the Chinese from doing so (cost in gold, not lives).
When the Emperor of China’s emissaries arrived, they were treated with courtesy…through gritted Nipponese teeth. Even the affront in which they demanded that to speak DIRECTLY to the Emperor was granted, an astonishing insult that the gaijin may actually be in the Imperial presence. In truth, the Emperor cared little for this as he had no choice. The Chinese navy may ravage the coastlines without fear of retaliation. And rocky island of Honshu carried few good roads. Should a harvest fail and food be necessary from other parts of the island…well, the food would not arrive. And nothing upset peasants more than empty stomachs.
The new arrangement was reached quickly. The Emperor of Nippon would renew the tribute paid to China long since abolished. This was actually rather petty and more of a measure of submission than a true tax. More importantly, the Chinese Emperor would selected Chinese military governors to govern the southern Nipponese islands…naturally in the name of the Nipponese Emperor, of course.
Cut off from Europe, the Nipponese would have no recourse but to obey Chinese instruction. As it would happen, the much-argued modernization of the nation would soon be put to a stop without further Chinese intervention as the Imperial Court, tired of bowing to the political dictates of the Shogunate, would call upon the people of Honshu to wipe out the vestiges of the old order.
While many agreed with the principle, the ensuing civil war would do nothing in the short term to return Nippon to independence. Instead, it would impoverish Honshu to the point that the Chinese stopped bothering to even pay attention to their new nominal vassal.
Rio de Janeiro
Over the past half century, the Spanish Empire had effected partial control over the former Portuguese colony of Brazil. Large waves of immigration and the liberation of the Brazilian slaves had greatly altered the political landscape. But Spain lacked the power to truly force cooperation among their colonies on subjects contrary to colonial benefit.
Attempting to force the assorted colonies of the Spanish Empire to raise a great army to dispatch to New Spain was one of those subjects which plagued the colonial governors. Indeed, there was much support for the rebel government in Valladolid throughout the colonies. While Spain had loosened its regulatory and financial grip significantly, even offering lower level positions in the political structure to locals, most high-level positions like governors, generals, etc, remained reserved for peninsulars.
Grumbling would slow tax collection and volunteerism for military service was near non-existent throughout the colonies.
Rio de Janeiro was one such location. Though no longer ethnically Portuguese as it once had been, the multi-ethnic city prospered at 100,000 citizens and was a regional hub of trade. A command by the Governor (a new man recently arrived from Castile) for 5000 volunteers throughout southern Brazil was…utterly ignored.
The governor made the ill-fated decision to impress “criminals, vagrants and the unemployed”, an act which started a riot and resulted in the man taking shelter in a Spanish warship out in the harbor. He would never again set foot in the city. While few other regions would suffer from such ham-fisted governmental officials, the fact was that the crown was less than popular in much of the Spanish Empire.
By 1810, the Empire in America outnumbered in population…and wealth…Spain itself where slow reforms would keep the nation well behind most of the European counterparts.
As it was, the Kingdom was seeing ever-increasingly signs of strain in the conquered Portuguese province of the Algarve, with the King of Italy over the mooted merger of Austria and Italy and with the colonials.
Lacking real leadership on either the throne or the Ministry, Spain’s path would quickly grow increasingly rocky despite having near-unchallenged control over most of the Americas for the past 30 years.
Kyushu, Empire of Nippon
After the humiliating defeat of the Emperor’s forces (particularly the Navy) in the past few years, the Emperor had been forced to conclude that the Shogun (himself as much a figurehead as the Emperor) was unfit for the post and demanded that another take his place. Surprisingly, the Shogun stood down but the powerbrokers behind him simply chose another pliant member of the family to take his place. Nothing significant changed.
Kyushu and Ryuku remained under Chinese occupation with no obvious recourse for the Nipponese to alter the situation. It was bluntly straightforward that only casual disinterest in the cost of conquering the primary island of Honshu had prevented the Chinese from doing so (cost in gold, not lives).
When the Emperor of China’s emissaries arrived, they were treated with courtesy…through gritted Nipponese teeth. Even the affront in which they demanded that to speak DIRECTLY to the Emperor was granted, an astonishing insult that the gaijin may actually be in the Imperial presence. In truth, the Emperor cared little for this as he had no choice. The Chinese navy may ravage the coastlines without fear of retaliation. And rocky island of Honshu carried few good roads. Should a harvest fail and food be necessary from other parts of the island…well, the food would not arrive. And nothing upset peasants more than empty stomachs.
The new arrangement was reached quickly. The Emperor of Nippon would renew the tribute paid to China long since abolished. This was actually rather petty and more of a measure of submission than a true tax. More importantly, the Chinese Emperor would selected Chinese military governors to govern the southern Nipponese islands…naturally in the name of the Nipponese Emperor, of course.
Cut off from Europe, the Nipponese would have no recourse but to obey Chinese instruction. As it would happen, the much-argued modernization of the nation would soon be put to a stop without further Chinese intervention as the Imperial Court, tired of bowing to the political dictates of the Shogunate, would call upon the people of Honshu to wipe out the vestiges of the old order.
While many agreed with the principle, the ensuing civil war would do nothing in the short term to return Nippon to independence. Instead, it would impoverish Honshu to the point that the Chinese stopped bothering to even pay attention to their new nominal vassal.
Rio de Janeiro
Over the past half century, the Spanish Empire had effected partial control over the former Portuguese colony of Brazil. Large waves of immigration and the liberation of the Brazilian slaves had greatly altered the political landscape. But Spain lacked the power to truly force cooperation among their colonies on subjects contrary to colonial benefit.
Attempting to force the assorted colonies of the Spanish Empire to raise a great army to dispatch to New Spain was one of those subjects which plagued the colonial governors. Indeed, there was much support for the rebel government in Valladolid throughout the colonies. While Spain had loosened its regulatory and financial grip significantly, even offering lower level positions in the political structure to locals, most high-level positions like governors, generals, etc, remained reserved for peninsulars.
Grumbling would slow tax collection and volunteerism for military service was near non-existent throughout the colonies.
Rio de Janeiro was one such location. Though no longer ethnically Portuguese as it once had been, the multi-ethnic city prospered at 100,000 citizens and was a regional hub of trade. A command by the Governor (a new man recently arrived from Castile) for 5000 volunteers throughout southern Brazil was…utterly ignored.
The governor made the ill-fated decision to impress “criminals, vagrants and the unemployed”, an act which started a riot and resulted in the man taking shelter in a Spanish warship out in the harbor. He would never again set foot in the city. While few other regions would suffer from such ham-fisted governmental officials, the fact was that the crown was less than popular in much of the Spanish Empire.
By 1810, the Empire in America outnumbered in population…and wealth…Spain itself where slow reforms would keep the nation well behind most of the European counterparts.
As it was, the Kingdom was seeing ever-increasingly signs of strain in the conquered Portuguese province of the Algarve, with the King of Italy over the mooted merger of Austria and Italy and with the colonials.
Lacking real leadership on either the throne or the Ministry, Spain’s path would quickly grow increasingly rocky despite having near-unchallenged control over most of the Americas for the past 30 years.
Chapter 202: Power Games
1811 - Fall
Paris
The large increase in the French birth rate over the first decades of the 19th century was attributed to three things: the peace, the smallpox vaccine and the slow acceptance of the potato among the French peasantry (the end of what would later be referred to as the “Little Ice Age” was no less important). Indeed, King Louis XVI (still alive against all expectations) had spent much of his reign telling all who would listen that his table always bore potatoes. The French predilection for bread had long been a bane on the Kings as frequent failed wheat harvests over the past fifty years had resulted in periodic famine…and the expected unrest associated with it. Potatoes, on the other hand, were less prone to weather-related crop failures. No one ever heard of a Potato crop failing.
Though the nation of France would never welcome the crop to quite the extent of Germans, British and Irish, the potato often kept the poorest households in France from hunger in the winters as a family may theoretically be fed on only an acre of so of potatoes. This most landlords in the countryside would allow, particularly the less than ideal land for wheat or grapes.
Still, tension continued in France. The “acquired” territories acquired by various means over the years (Savoy, Nice, the western Swiss Cantons, Lorraine, the French (formerly Austrian) Netherlands, Liege, etc) would not always enjoy their new French overlords. However, the French government would, for the sake of peace necessary to do their jobs, would not attempt to force most of these peoples to speak French or overly alter their lives. Indeed, the French government was frequently more competent in many administrative functions than their predecessors and taxes were usually no higher than before (or lower). Indeed ,the reduced internal customs would create an enormous internal market for trade, something which the government frequently pointed out. There were more French subjects than under the “German Confederation” (soon to be renamed the “Northern Confederation” to reflect its diverse membership) and less internal bureaucracy for merchants to deal with.
But the rise in French births from 1790 to 1810 would strain French society as education became harder and harder to direct and a slow but steady migration from the countryside to the secondary cities had begun. In retrospect, the French government regretted the loss of significant continental North American colonies by which they could direct any future excess population. Unfortunately, only the pestilential Caribbean colonies and the very, very far away colony of Bourbonia were outlets for the burgeoning French population. Neither were terribly popular and the 10,000 or so French subjects which migrated out of Europe per year barely made up 2% of the annual population growth.
Instead, the nation would look increasingly to urban solutions, namely spurring the industrial sector (textiles, etc) to the surplus labor force.
Attempts to ensure a regular flow of victuals would lead to French participation in the Agricultural Revolution taking place elsewhere in the world. Having 10,000,000 more mouths to feed than the previous generation, it was in King Louis XVI’s best interests to be sure that there was adequate amounts of food. Modern machinery, more intensive agricultural methods (more crop rotation), new crops (like the potato) and other solutions were tried.
However, these would create a new problem. Simply assuming that the new population needed the same percentage of agricultural workers was proving to be incorrect. Productivity increased so much that the percentage of rural workers would drop as they were proven redundant by technology. That meant more and more workers available for mining and manufacturing, with the overall nation of France (more in some regions than others) would belatedly follow in the path of the British, Irish, Germans, Americans and even Italians and Poles in rapid industrial-driven urbanization.
“Little Russia”
As anyone with a fully functioning intellect could have suspected, the Czar would formally annex “Ruthenia”, i.e. the previous eastern portion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By this point, the Poles could hardly do anything about the matter. Instead, the much more ethnically homogenous society would quietly gravitate closer to the “Northern Confederation”, becoming the first major “associate state” of Catholic Majority.
The Czar cared little about this, satisfied with gaining the Orthodox East. Instead, he was concerned what to do with all these damned Jews. A large portion of the Jews of the Polish Commonwealth had long resided in this region (and over 80% of the Jews on earth had lived in the Commonwealth. The Czar had no use for them. While he did not hate the Jews, he also had no particular love for them. With 600,000 of the people now under his rule, Paul wondered what to do with them. He pronounced that the Jews were welcome to emigrate to Poland…should they desire. To encourage this, he ordered many of their schools of learning shut down, the first step to encourage them to move on.
Many did in relatively short order. For centuries, the Jews had been allowed to till the land of the Commonwealth, something unheard of in other nations which severely restricted Jewish land ownership or ties to the land. There was a reason why banking and other fields were often relegated to Jews. Those were the only options given to them by rulers whom viewed them as “residents” rather than “citizens”. But the Commonwealth had long been different and most of the world’s Jews had remained within her borders for centuries.
The trickle of Jewish migrants (as well as lesser numbers of Poles, Lithuanians and others not desiring to reside under the Czar’s iron clutches) west would turn to a flood, pleasing the Czar…but less so the Poles whom suddenly saw the urban centers of the newly renamed Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania choked with Jewish refugees from the East. For the first time in generations, wide-scale anti-Jewish sentiment rose among the Polish population already reeling from losing half the Commonwealth.
Jerusalem, Kingdom of Syria
The Syrian “Sultan” (often he would also go by “King”) would see a massive Arab revolt arrive from the east. Outraged as the large numbers of Bosniaks, Albanians, Alawites, Muslim Greeks, Romanians and Bulgarians, etc from the Balkans and the Anatolian Peninsula assuming defacto control over the cities of Syria, the Arabs of the east would rise up and attack several inland towns. The Sultan would call upon the Alawites, Druze, Maronite Christians and whom ever else he could (in the south the new European immigrants) to push them back. But the Sultan was not a terribly good administrator nor military man. The response was disjointed despite the advantages of he possessed. The rebellion droned on until the Sultan was forced to accept aid from the Russians and her puppet states of Alevistan and Kurdistan. Russian generals were put in command of the Sultan’s armies and only by 1813 would the Arab revolt be crushed.
The southerners in particular (the new immigrants) would force the Arabs from towns of Southern Syria in which they’d dwelt for centuries, if not millennia. Instead, many Arabs were forced south to the Hejaz or east into Mesopotamia with the European invaders moving into their homes and fields.
By 1815, it was apparent that the Syrian regime was too weak for effective central command and the Sultan was forced to delegate more and more power to the regional ethnic groups. Anything was preferable to ceding further authority to the Russians.
Paris
The large increase in the French birth rate over the first decades of the 19th century was attributed to three things: the peace, the smallpox vaccine and the slow acceptance of the potato among the French peasantry (the end of what would later be referred to as the “Little Ice Age” was no less important). Indeed, King Louis XVI (still alive against all expectations) had spent much of his reign telling all who would listen that his table always bore potatoes. The French predilection for bread had long been a bane on the Kings as frequent failed wheat harvests over the past fifty years had resulted in periodic famine…and the expected unrest associated with it. Potatoes, on the other hand, were less prone to weather-related crop failures. No one ever heard of a Potato crop failing.
Though the nation of France would never welcome the crop to quite the extent of Germans, British and Irish, the potato often kept the poorest households in France from hunger in the winters as a family may theoretically be fed on only an acre of so of potatoes. This most landlords in the countryside would allow, particularly the less than ideal land for wheat or grapes.
Still, tension continued in France. The “acquired” territories acquired by various means over the years (Savoy, Nice, the western Swiss Cantons, Lorraine, the French (formerly Austrian) Netherlands, Liege, etc) would not always enjoy their new French overlords. However, the French government would, for the sake of peace necessary to do their jobs, would not attempt to force most of these peoples to speak French or overly alter their lives. Indeed, the French government was frequently more competent in many administrative functions than their predecessors and taxes were usually no higher than before (or lower). Indeed ,the reduced internal customs would create an enormous internal market for trade, something which the government frequently pointed out. There were more French subjects than under the “German Confederation” (soon to be renamed the “Northern Confederation” to reflect its diverse membership) and less internal bureaucracy for merchants to deal with.
But the rise in French births from 1790 to 1810 would strain French society as education became harder and harder to direct and a slow but steady migration from the countryside to the secondary cities had begun. In retrospect, the French government regretted the loss of significant continental North American colonies by which they could direct any future excess population. Unfortunately, only the pestilential Caribbean colonies and the very, very far away colony of Bourbonia were outlets for the burgeoning French population. Neither were terribly popular and the 10,000 or so French subjects which migrated out of Europe per year barely made up 2% of the annual population growth.
Instead, the nation would look increasingly to urban solutions, namely spurring the industrial sector (textiles, etc) to the surplus labor force.
Attempts to ensure a regular flow of victuals would lead to French participation in the Agricultural Revolution taking place elsewhere in the world. Having 10,000,000 more mouths to feed than the previous generation, it was in King Louis XVI’s best interests to be sure that there was adequate amounts of food. Modern machinery, more intensive agricultural methods (more crop rotation), new crops (like the potato) and other solutions were tried.
However, these would create a new problem. Simply assuming that the new population needed the same percentage of agricultural workers was proving to be incorrect. Productivity increased so much that the percentage of rural workers would drop as they were proven redundant by technology. That meant more and more workers available for mining and manufacturing, with the overall nation of France (more in some regions than others) would belatedly follow in the path of the British, Irish, Germans, Americans and even Italians and Poles in rapid industrial-driven urbanization.
“Little Russia”
As anyone with a fully functioning intellect could have suspected, the Czar would formally annex “Ruthenia”, i.e. the previous eastern portion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. By this point, the Poles could hardly do anything about the matter. Instead, the much more ethnically homogenous society would quietly gravitate closer to the “Northern Confederation”, becoming the first major “associate state” of Catholic Majority.
The Czar cared little about this, satisfied with gaining the Orthodox East. Instead, he was concerned what to do with all these damned Jews. A large portion of the Jews of the Polish Commonwealth had long resided in this region (and over 80% of the Jews on earth had lived in the Commonwealth. The Czar had no use for them. While he did not hate the Jews, he also had no particular love for them. With 600,000 of the people now under his rule, Paul wondered what to do with them. He pronounced that the Jews were welcome to emigrate to Poland…should they desire. To encourage this, he ordered many of their schools of learning shut down, the first step to encourage them to move on.
Many did in relatively short order. For centuries, the Jews had been allowed to till the land of the Commonwealth, something unheard of in other nations which severely restricted Jewish land ownership or ties to the land. There was a reason why banking and other fields were often relegated to Jews. Those were the only options given to them by rulers whom viewed them as “residents” rather than “citizens”. But the Commonwealth had long been different and most of the world’s Jews had remained within her borders for centuries.
The trickle of Jewish migrants (as well as lesser numbers of Poles, Lithuanians and others not desiring to reside under the Czar’s iron clutches) west would turn to a flood, pleasing the Czar…but less so the Poles whom suddenly saw the urban centers of the newly renamed Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania choked with Jewish refugees from the East. For the first time in generations, wide-scale anti-Jewish sentiment rose among the Polish population already reeling from losing half the Commonwealth.
Jerusalem, Kingdom of Syria
The Syrian “Sultan” (often he would also go by “King”) would see a massive Arab revolt arrive from the east. Outraged as the large numbers of Bosniaks, Albanians, Alawites, Muslim Greeks, Romanians and Bulgarians, etc from the Balkans and the Anatolian Peninsula assuming defacto control over the cities of Syria, the Arabs of the east would rise up and attack several inland towns. The Sultan would call upon the Alawites, Druze, Maronite Christians and whom ever else he could (in the south the new European immigrants) to push them back. But the Sultan was not a terribly good administrator nor military man. The response was disjointed despite the advantages of he possessed. The rebellion droned on until the Sultan was forced to accept aid from the Russians and her puppet states of Alevistan and Kurdistan. Russian generals were put in command of the Sultan’s armies and only by 1813 would the Arab revolt be crushed.
The southerners in particular (the new immigrants) would force the Arabs from towns of Southern Syria in which they’d dwelt for centuries, if not millennia. Instead, many Arabs were forced south to the Hejaz or east into Mesopotamia with the European invaders moving into their homes and fields.
By 1815, it was apparent that the Syrian regime was too weak for effective central command and the Sultan was forced to delegate more and more power to the regional ethnic groups. Anything was preferable to ceding further authority to the Russians.
Driftless
Donor
Does this lead to repression down the road, or eventually become another Exodus? If its more of the latter, then where to?
Chapter 203: March of Time
1811 - Fall
Manhattan
John Jay only barely managed to avoid a vote of no confidence over the 1811 budget. The debt from the previous war was yet to be paid in full (and wouldn't for a decade) while the economic recession from the loss of trade only slowly improved the fortunes of the nation.
All of this, though, harmed Jay's majority and it looked increasingly unlikely that he would last another year in power.
Unlike the old Parliament of Great Britain, America had a set four year cycle of elections (rather than whenever the King called them). King Frederick had the prerogative to do so but had never seen fit to call an early election (his late father did twice at the then-First Lord Benjamin Franklin's request in hopes of getting a larger majority). Elections were expensive and got peoples' ire up. The King didn't want that. If Jay could last until the November, 1812 Parliamentary election, that would be preferred. Jay promised to ATTEMPT to stay in power until then but did not promise to remain First Lord. By 1811, Jay was an old man as were his closest allies. Indeed, it was a miracle so many of his compatriots lasted until the ripe old age of sixty.
Maintaining a stable government on behalf of the King was only one of his reasons for remaining in office (rather than handing over the Government to another Minister). As the government grew increasingly unpopular, some of the Southern "Slave" Dominions were already trying to circumvent the Abolition Act of 1810. Laws intended to force slaves into a sort of debt peonage even years AFTER the formal manumission would be approved in South Carolina and North Carolina. These were already being challenged in the courts and looked likely to be struck down LONG before they came into practical effect but the very fact that they had been approved by Dominion Legislatures was vexing.
Of course, the ardent pro-slavery advocates were having trouble as well. Too many slaveowners were taking advantage of the $75 national reimbursement for freedmen for some Plantation Owner Society liking. But the frequent vanishing across the border of expensively acquired slaves was simply bankrupting too many plantation owners and they opted to get what they could WHILE they still could. Many believed the abolitionists would someday attempt to expedite the final date of manumission for all slaves (currently 1830) or withdraw the promise of reimbursement (true in some circles). Instead, they happily pocketed the money for their slaves and hired from the latest wave of indentures.
There was some internal movement of slaves. South Carolina was experiencing good prices for cotton, the latest cash crop, and was in need of mass amounts of unskilled labor. Thus many of the remaining Maryland, Virginia or North Carolina slaves were being sold south for better prices for a prime fieldhand than $75. Older slaves, younger slaves or females were often freed via national manumission as they were of less value.
Despite some Dominion laws mandating a forcible return to Africa (to avoid freedmen agitating the remaining slaves), this was not always followed faithfully. Many masters happily escorted their former chattel across Dominion lines rather than forcing them onto ships bound for the French colonies in Africa. Others were willing to free their chattel but wanted them to remain in Dominion as paid workers. Forcing freedmen from their borders just seemed a case of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
But, overall, nearly 70,000 slaves (again, often the least valuable) would sail for Africa from 1810 to 1817 (when the practice of mandatory expulsion was struck down by the courts). In truth, many non-slave dominion Parliamentarians were happy to be rid of the slaves altogether as they did not want large numbers of low skilled former slaves adding to the unemployment rates in northern cities. Some Abolitionist or Christian charities would help pay for slave resettlement in the west on cheap land.
The overall effect of all this was a drop in the quantity of men and women in bondage by nearly 36% in the decade of 1810 to 1817. While the ratio was high, spending $75 per head for 120,000 freedmen (again about 70,000 were also shipped to Africa on the national dime) was not a terrible hit to the American budget.
A further change included many of those remaining slaves being shifted from Maryland and Virginia to the Carolinas. At time of founding the nation, over half the slaves in America resided in Virginia and Maryland. By 1810, this had dipped below 100,000 total between the two dominions and many of these were effectively "retired" slaves being taken care of by their masters out of charity. They were also the first to be freed as hard cash trumped loyalty. Often the former slave-owners gifted the "freedmen" forced onto ships bound for Africa with some money to help their adjustment to their repatriation. Exactly how useful a few dollars of American currency was in Africa was up for debate.
Jay hated bowing to Parliamentary Compromise but this was the deal he'd struck. He would not, however, have to live with it long as it appeared his political career was coming to an end.
Manhattan
John Jay only barely managed to avoid a vote of no confidence over the 1811 budget. The debt from the previous war was yet to be paid in full (and wouldn't for a decade) while the economic recession from the loss of trade only slowly improved the fortunes of the nation.
All of this, though, harmed Jay's majority and it looked increasingly unlikely that he would last another year in power.
Unlike the old Parliament of Great Britain, America had a set four year cycle of elections (rather than whenever the King called them). King Frederick had the prerogative to do so but had never seen fit to call an early election (his late father did twice at the then-First Lord Benjamin Franklin's request in hopes of getting a larger majority). Elections were expensive and got peoples' ire up. The King didn't want that. If Jay could last until the November, 1812 Parliamentary election, that would be preferred. Jay promised to ATTEMPT to stay in power until then but did not promise to remain First Lord. By 1811, Jay was an old man as were his closest allies. Indeed, it was a miracle so many of his compatriots lasted until the ripe old age of sixty.
Maintaining a stable government on behalf of the King was only one of his reasons for remaining in office (rather than handing over the Government to another Minister). As the government grew increasingly unpopular, some of the Southern "Slave" Dominions were already trying to circumvent the Abolition Act of 1810. Laws intended to force slaves into a sort of debt peonage even years AFTER the formal manumission would be approved in South Carolina and North Carolina. These were already being challenged in the courts and looked likely to be struck down LONG before they came into practical effect but the very fact that they had been approved by Dominion Legislatures was vexing.
Of course, the ardent pro-slavery advocates were having trouble as well. Too many slaveowners were taking advantage of the $75 national reimbursement for freedmen for some Plantation Owner Society liking. But the frequent vanishing across the border of expensively acquired slaves was simply bankrupting too many plantation owners and they opted to get what they could WHILE they still could. Many believed the abolitionists would someday attempt to expedite the final date of manumission for all slaves (currently 1830) or withdraw the promise of reimbursement (true in some circles). Instead, they happily pocketed the money for their slaves and hired from the latest wave of indentures.
There was some internal movement of slaves. South Carolina was experiencing good prices for cotton, the latest cash crop, and was in need of mass amounts of unskilled labor. Thus many of the remaining Maryland, Virginia or North Carolina slaves were being sold south for better prices for a prime fieldhand than $75. Older slaves, younger slaves or females were often freed via national manumission as they were of less value.
Despite some Dominion laws mandating a forcible return to Africa (to avoid freedmen agitating the remaining slaves), this was not always followed faithfully. Many masters happily escorted their former chattel across Dominion lines rather than forcing them onto ships bound for the French colonies in Africa. Others were willing to free their chattel but wanted them to remain in Dominion as paid workers. Forcing freedmen from their borders just seemed a case of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
But, overall, nearly 70,000 slaves (again, often the least valuable) would sail for Africa from 1810 to 1817 (when the practice of mandatory expulsion was struck down by the courts). In truth, many non-slave dominion Parliamentarians were happy to be rid of the slaves altogether as they did not want large numbers of low skilled former slaves adding to the unemployment rates in northern cities. Some Abolitionist or Christian charities would help pay for slave resettlement in the west on cheap land.
The overall effect of all this was a drop in the quantity of men and women in bondage by nearly 36% in the decade of 1810 to 1817. While the ratio was high, spending $75 per head for 120,000 freedmen (again about 70,000 were also shipped to Africa on the national dime) was not a terrible hit to the American budget.
A further change included many of those remaining slaves being shifted from Maryland and Virginia to the Carolinas. At time of founding the nation, over half the slaves in America resided in Virginia and Maryland. By 1810, this had dipped below 100,000 total between the two dominions and many of these were effectively "retired" slaves being taken care of by their masters out of charity. They were also the first to be freed as hard cash trumped loyalty. Often the former slave-owners gifted the "freedmen" forced onto ships bound for Africa with some money to help their adjustment to their repatriation. Exactly how useful a few dollars of American currency was in Africa was up for debate.
Jay hated bowing to Parliamentary Compromise but this was the deal he'd struck. He would not, however, have to live with it long as it appeared his political career was coming to an end.
Probably less repression than before (it can't be too much worse than OTL). Czar Alexander wasn't exactly soft on the Jews himself though, without the foundation of "the Pale" as set up by Catherine the Great, I don't know if the pograms and other anti-Jewish activities in Russia would compare to OTL.
Poland had long bouts of toleration for the Jews. However, the population was hit hard in the 17th century wars (the Deluge) and that helped stir up some anti-Jewish feeling as well as changing the internal character of Jewish culture (the rise of Rabbinical Judaism, for example, which focused most religious learning in the hands of the Rabbis rather than the entire Jewish people as had been common before).
Chapter 204: Ends of the Earth
1812 - Spring
Cairo
Though the initial post-Ottoman independence, the new Khedive (or Sultan or King or Porte, it seemed to change by the day) would be relatively tolerant of the minority groups of Egypt, namely the Christians, the Shi’a and the assorted Sufi Orders. However, the year 1811 would see a dramatic reversal of these gains (from the minority point of view). Mostly, this was not due to domestic unrest but the political ambitions of the new Khedive to establish his credentials as the new leader of Islam (the Sunni leader, that is).
How he went about doing this was fairly straightforward: control the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina as well as make noise regarding the chaotic events in the third holy city of Islam, Jerusalem (under the control over the “King” of Syria. Despite the Egyptian people being largely unchanged since the conquest of the region a thousand years ago, they had largely been “Arabized”, indeed the Egyptians considered themselves elites among the Arab world (again, despite not being technically Arab).
Thus the Egyptians would claim leadership of the Arab world and any local Peninsular tribes (like those of the more heavily populated Hejaz, would face Egyptian aggression. The initial invasion of 1811 would fail dismally as the Egyptian Red Sea fleet would be inadequate to the task of even properly carrying the army much less seizing the entire coast. Humiliated, the Egyptian Khedive would redouble his efforts in 1812 and, almost in a fit of pique, begin a self-destructive suppression of his largely loyal minority section of Egyptian society.
The aggression against the Syrian and Hejaz regimes would bring the remote corner of the Mediterranean to the greater consciousness of the regions burgeoning powers.
Paris
The first thawing of Franco-Spanish relations in decades would occur in 1811. Oddly, the impetus was not the pending unification of the Italian and Austrian thrones (though many members of Europe’s political classes expected SOME great power to object and the unification to be challenged from SOME great nation) but the sporadic upsurge in the steadily decaying threat of Barbary piratism. In times of peace, the growing European technological advantage would ensure than any of the stronger European nations could suppress piracy. Bizarre alliances like the Spanish/Papal/Danish/American alliance of the previous century had done wonders to suppress piracy.
In times of war, however, the distraction would allow several of the petty Barbary kingdoms to return to their previous profitable industry. This had occurred during the Spanish rebellion. In a rare bout of intelligence, the King of Spain would agree to the dying King of France’s request for an alliance to effectively pummel a few of these city-states to dust if they did not agree to halt their activities.
To the surprise of all, the Russian and Austrian Ambassadors would agree to aid the Spanish-French expeditions (if only to prove their own revulsion to white slavery and piracy). Thus, an oddly wide-ranging alliance would sail into Tunis harbor and level the city to the ground. Sale would soon follow. By 1812, the bulk of piracy in the Barbary states would end as quickly as it resurged.
The two largest states, Egypt and Morocco, had already deemed the institution illegal and had occasionally worked in concert with Europeans to crush the trade. By happenstance, an American warship was present to deliver an ultimatum to the Dey of Tunis and instead opted to throw in with the Europeans.
Though it was a small issue, the fact that the assorted powers of Europe actually agreed on anything was quite notable for the time. This would effectively be last major era of Barbary piracy.
Baghdad
The King of Mesopotamia (himself placed upon the throne by the Russian envoy) would, like the Egyptians, slowly make the religious and ethnic minority lives more and more difficult. Mandaeans, Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians and others would slowly find that violence against them was tolerated by authorities. The King of Mesopotamia had succeeded in evicting those groups evicted from Persia and now sought to do the same.
Ironically, this was occurring an a greater scale in some areas of Syria, where the ethnic Arab population was being pushed out by the European or Anatolian Muslims (as well as some other minority religions in Anatolia). With only a vague grasp on influence in Mesopotamia, the Czar’s Ministers flatly didn’t care much about what was happening in Baghdad. Besides, these assorted practitioners of Esoteric middle-eastern religions would hardly resonate in Moscow and France continued to offer sanctuary for these peoples in their colonial Empire.
What did a hundred thousand or some people matter to a Russian Empire of tens of millions?
Indeed, the Russian Ministers would see this as a potential solution to their Jewish problem. Having absorbed large numbers of Jews when annexing Ruthenia, would the French be interested in resolving the 500,000 or so Jews now under the Czar’s jurisdiction. The situation would grow more complex in 1812 when Czar Paul, though in outward good health, would notice that a persistent cough would grow exponentially worse over the summer. By fall, Czar Paul would be bedridden and presumed to be dying.
His son, Czaravitch Alexander, was an unknown commodity. However, unlike his father Paul (whom had largely allowed the Jews to carry on as before in the annexed territory), Alexander (and his primary advisors) didn’t even pretend to disguise his contempt for the Jews of Ruthenia.
Similarly, the Jewish people of the truncated Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (so renamed from the Commonwealth) would face an increasing level of unprovoked aggression from their Polish neighbors, some of whom somehow viewed the Jews as being partially culpable in the division of their former Commonwealth. Incidentally, the Ruthenians (Little Russians) would blame the Jews as being party to the hated Polish Oppression of previous generations.
In a very short period of time, the primary homeland of the Jewish people for centuries would grow increasingly uncomfortable on BOTH sides of the border.
On a voyage to Paris in early 1812 (prior to being informed of his father’s ill-health), Czaravitch Alexander would inquire with the King of France (and his heir, the Dauphin) if the French Empire in the West Indies (or Bourbonia for that matter) would be interested in an influx of “superfluous people” currently residing in Ruthenia.
Manila
Though the “official” policy of the Mandarin Emperor was not to settle large numbers of people in the former Philippines, the Han immigration would remain steady over the years. Eventually, the Chinese would come to dominate more and more of the larger cities and towns of Luzon and Mindanao. Indeed, by 1812, the Chinese were beginning to demographically challenge the Muslim population of Mindanao. This led to predicable resistance in among the local Sultans (or Chiefs, etc), resistance which was swiftly put down by Chinese soldiers. Instead, the Emperor would dispatch MORE settlers to ensure future control. In a way, the relatively meek submission (in Chinese terms) of the Nipponese Emperor to the Mandarin would alter expectations of how the Christian Luzanites and Muslim Mindanaons should submit. The Christians would prove less violent in their resistance (after a few massacres of rioting Christians natives in Manilla) but several Muslim Clerics of Mindanao (though not, by any circumstances the majority or possess anything resembling unity) declared Jihad against the Chinese “infidels”.
This would prove a rather large mistake as Chinese repression over the next several decades would resemble mass murder of civilian populations.
Cairo
Though the initial post-Ottoman independence, the new Khedive (or Sultan or King or Porte, it seemed to change by the day) would be relatively tolerant of the minority groups of Egypt, namely the Christians, the Shi’a and the assorted Sufi Orders. However, the year 1811 would see a dramatic reversal of these gains (from the minority point of view). Mostly, this was not due to domestic unrest but the political ambitions of the new Khedive to establish his credentials as the new leader of Islam (the Sunni leader, that is).
How he went about doing this was fairly straightforward: control the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina as well as make noise regarding the chaotic events in the third holy city of Islam, Jerusalem (under the control over the “King” of Syria. Despite the Egyptian people being largely unchanged since the conquest of the region a thousand years ago, they had largely been “Arabized”, indeed the Egyptians considered themselves elites among the Arab world (again, despite not being technically Arab).
Thus the Egyptians would claim leadership of the Arab world and any local Peninsular tribes (like those of the more heavily populated Hejaz, would face Egyptian aggression. The initial invasion of 1811 would fail dismally as the Egyptian Red Sea fleet would be inadequate to the task of even properly carrying the army much less seizing the entire coast. Humiliated, the Egyptian Khedive would redouble his efforts in 1812 and, almost in a fit of pique, begin a self-destructive suppression of his largely loyal minority section of Egyptian society.
The aggression against the Syrian and Hejaz regimes would bring the remote corner of the Mediterranean to the greater consciousness of the regions burgeoning powers.
Paris
The first thawing of Franco-Spanish relations in decades would occur in 1811. Oddly, the impetus was not the pending unification of the Italian and Austrian thrones (though many members of Europe’s political classes expected SOME great power to object and the unification to be challenged from SOME great nation) but the sporadic upsurge in the steadily decaying threat of Barbary piratism. In times of peace, the growing European technological advantage would ensure than any of the stronger European nations could suppress piracy. Bizarre alliances like the Spanish/Papal/Danish/American alliance of the previous century had done wonders to suppress piracy.
In times of war, however, the distraction would allow several of the petty Barbary kingdoms to return to their previous profitable industry. This had occurred during the Spanish rebellion. In a rare bout of intelligence, the King of Spain would agree to the dying King of France’s request for an alliance to effectively pummel a few of these city-states to dust if they did not agree to halt their activities.
To the surprise of all, the Russian and Austrian Ambassadors would agree to aid the Spanish-French expeditions (if only to prove their own revulsion to white slavery and piracy). Thus, an oddly wide-ranging alliance would sail into Tunis harbor and level the city to the ground. Sale would soon follow. By 1812, the bulk of piracy in the Barbary states would end as quickly as it resurged.
The two largest states, Egypt and Morocco, had already deemed the institution illegal and had occasionally worked in concert with Europeans to crush the trade. By happenstance, an American warship was present to deliver an ultimatum to the Dey of Tunis and instead opted to throw in with the Europeans.
Though it was a small issue, the fact that the assorted powers of Europe actually agreed on anything was quite notable for the time. This would effectively be last major era of Barbary piracy.
Baghdad
The King of Mesopotamia (himself placed upon the throne by the Russian envoy) would, like the Egyptians, slowly make the religious and ethnic minority lives more and more difficult. Mandaeans, Zoroastrians, Jews, Christians and others would slowly find that violence against them was tolerated by authorities. The King of Mesopotamia had succeeded in evicting those groups evicted from Persia and now sought to do the same.
Ironically, this was occurring an a greater scale in some areas of Syria, where the ethnic Arab population was being pushed out by the European or Anatolian Muslims (as well as some other minority religions in Anatolia). With only a vague grasp on influence in Mesopotamia, the Czar’s Ministers flatly didn’t care much about what was happening in Baghdad. Besides, these assorted practitioners of Esoteric middle-eastern religions would hardly resonate in Moscow and France continued to offer sanctuary for these peoples in their colonial Empire.
What did a hundred thousand or some people matter to a Russian Empire of tens of millions?
Indeed, the Russian Ministers would see this as a potential solution to their Jewish problem. Having absorbed large numbers of Jews when annexing Ruthenia, would the French be interested in resolving the 500,000 or so Jews now under the Czar’s jurisdiction. The situation would grow more complex in 1812 when Czar Paul, though in outward good health, would notice that a persistent cough would grow exponentially worse over the summer. By fall, Czar Paul would be bedridden and presumed to be dying.
His son, Czaravitch Alexander, was an unknown commodity. However, unlike his father Paul (whom had largely allowed the Jews to carry on as before in the annexed territory), Alexander (and his primary advisors) didn’t even pretend to disguise his contempt for the Jews of Ruthenia.
Similarly, the Jewish people of the truncated Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (so renamed from the Commonwealth) would face an increasing level of unprovoked aggression from their Polish neighbors, some of whom somehow viewed the Jews as being partially culpable in the division of their former Commonwealth. Incidentally, the Ruthenians (Little Russians) would blame the Jews as being party to the hated Polish Oppression of previous generations.
In a very short period of time, the primary homeland of the Jewish people for centuries would grow increasingly uncomfortable on BOTH sides of the border.
On a voyage to Paris in early 1812 (prior to being informed of his father’s ill-health), Czaravitch Alexander would inquire with the King of France (and his heir, the Dauphin) if the French Empire in the West Indies (or Bourbonia for that matter) would be interested in an influx of “superfluous people” currently residing in Ruthenia.
Manila
Though the “official” policy of the Mandarin Emperor was not to settle large numbers of people in the former Philippines, the Han immigration would remain steady over the years. Eventually, the Chinese would come to dominate more and more of the larger cities and towns of Luzon and Mindanao. Indeed, by 1812, the Chinese were beginning to demographically challenge the Muslim population of Mindanao. This led to predicable resistance in among the local Sultans (or Chiefs, etc), resistance which was swiftly put down by Chinese soldiers. Instead, the Emperor would dispatch MORE settlers to ensure future control. In a way, the relatively meek submission (in Chinese terms) of the Nipponese Emperor to the Mandarin would alter expectations of how the Christian Luzanites and Muslim Mindanaons should submit. The Christians would prove less violent in their resistance (after a few massacres of rioting Christians natives in Manilla) but several Muslim Clerics of Mindanao (though not, by any circumstances the majority or possess anything resembling unity) declared Jihad against the Chinese “infidels”.
This would prove a rather large mistake as Chinese repression over the next several decades would resemble mass murder of civilian populations.
Chapter 205: Treason and Shipwrecks
1812 - Fall
New Orleans, Dominion of Hanover
Now the "butt" of local jokes for being found hanging from a tree with his trousers around his ankles, "James Smith" (aka Armstrong Hyman Thruston) would quietly be drummed out of the army and quietly be granted passage on a Spanish ship sailing from New Orleans or Spain. He lacked adequate funds for the voyage thus his commander would furtively pay for Smith's passage out of army funds marked on the ledgers as intended to return maimed soldiers home. Smith, whom had fled out west and joined the army with the intention of keeping OUT of the public eye, discovered to his dismay that fighting Spanish, running from surly Indians, starving in mountain passes to the extent that eating one's commander seemed the preferable option and then being mauled by an ill-tempered River Cow in fact had the opposite effect of elongating Smith's life. Only the fact that no one identified him from the hordes of inaccurate portrayals in print (Smith had never sat for a portrait prior to his attempted regicide) prevented anyone from recognizing the infamous assassin of George Washington.
As the attempt to play down the cannibalism of the "Biddle Party" survivors had plainly failed (everyone in New Orleans knew Smith by sight), it was finally decided to be rid of the man and Smith was mercifully "honorably discharged". In truth, Smith was relieved. More than anything he desired to escape the Kingdom of British North America and now the nation was actually paying for his passage. While Smith had no idea what he would do in Spain, anything was better than remaining in a nation liable to hang him if he ever spoke his true name out loud.
With a sign of relief, the battered but still intact Armstrong Hyman Thruston would see the mainland of North America recede.
Nassau
Joel Poinsett was a South Carolina-born son of a prosperous physician. A highly regarded scholar (he'd studied at Yale, Edinburgh and Paris), Poinsett would opt against a legal career and instead enter government service. For much of the past decade, the thirty-three year old would serve as Ambassador, Envoy and whatever capacity in which he was suited. Highly respected by all whom came to know him for his diverse wealth of knowledge and his capacity to speak fluent Spanish, Portuguese, French and Latin (and a smidgeon of German).
With this skill set, Poinsett would be dispatched to various outposts of the Spanish Empire to petition on behalf of American trade. In the years immediately before the war, Poinsett had done an admirable job in locales as diverse as Buenos Aires, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Havana and others. When dispatched to San Diego in 1811 (more to scout potential expansion than any interest in trade with the lightly populated locality). Here, Poinsett would be instrumental in quietly arranging for powder to be dispatched to the rebels centered in Valladolid (without permission from Manhattan).
Recalled in 1812, Poinsett would be disappointed to learn he had been "promoted" to govern the vast stretches of the recently acquired Bahama Islands based upon his knowledge of Spanish language and customs. Poinsett pointed out that this was irrelevant as the islands were so lightly populated that customs didn't matter much. Wrecking, fishing, salting and piracy had been the only livelihoods in the Bahama Islands over the centuries and Poinsett could not imagine this changing in the near future. But he had been reprimanded by the Foreign Minister for breaking American neutrality and was assured that this was the only short-term position available to him.
Fully expecting to be bored out of his mind, Poinsett took the assignment as "requested". As he expected, the post of Governor of the Bahama Islands was dull as one could imagine. Within only a few thousands Spanish residents, the islands did not exactly see an influx of American settlers. What was to attract them? Walking along sandy beaches?
This was a punishment posting and everyone knew it. Poinsett would wonder why he even accepted. Did he merely wish to prolong a career which may already be over?
As it was, Poinsett soon found something else to interest him. With Spain in poor financial shape due to the recent war and ongoing rebellion in New Spain, the latest treasure shipment from Peru was ordered to sail a bit earlier than usual. While the Spanish ships still raised anchor after the typical end of hurricane season, it was nevertheless still earlier than many sailors preferred.
The fears were soon bourn out when a late hurricane would batter the five ship convoy as it sailed through the Bahamas. Only two ships would survive to make for Havana. One was lost far out at sea with all hands. The other two would be torn upon the reefs on islands near Nassau, only a few dozen men managing to reach shore in lifeboats. When Poinsett first learned of the tragedy, he did what natives of the Bahama Islands had done for centuries: he flew to the scene and began collecting gold and silver being washed upon the shores. A mish-mash of Spanish, American and whomever was on hand eagerly joined in on the hunt for treasure. Wreckers would soon gather an estimated 450,000 American pounds sterling over the coming weeks. This was only a fraction of what was lost to Spain but enough to make many men fabulously wealthy, including Poinsett whom was by now thinking better of his assignment.
He would return to the mainland in 1813 with over 60,000 American pounds sterling (at the exchange from Spanish currency) and spend a year Charleston. His father, still practicing medicine, would retire upon his son's income. Indeed, he even turned over the two teenaged house slaves the widowed Poinsett had purchased in recent years to his son and sailed for France for a quiet retirement. Finding the mulatto women quite comely, Poinsett would, from 1813 to 1828, sire 19 children between them. The women would remain in Poinsett's "ownership" until the extinction of the institution but the children (at least 3/4's and possible as much as 7/8's white) would never officially be referred to as slaves. Instead, they would later inherit vast tracks of farmland Poinsett would purchase in West and East Florida and largely marry into the white underclass (by this point, Poinsett had spent most of his gains and would die land rich but money poor). The Poinsett name would live on through this large brood and largely descend into poor white trash over the next 200 years.
Of course, many other ships would be lost in the Hurricane of 1812. Among these was one bearing a certain James Smith. Fortunately for the latter, Smith managed to survive the destruction of his ship by clinging to a half-empty rum barrel and was washed ashore upon a largely deserted island. By sheer luck, Smith found a moderately clean water source (rare in these islands) in a well apparently dug many years before in a failed settlement upon the unnamed Bahama Island (he didn't even know where he was). There were large numbers of feral goats to consume (and provide milk) and sea turtles to consume (as meat and eggs).
Cursing his fate, Smith cried aloud to God "What did I do to deserve this?!"
Then his mouth shut as he remembered just what he did to deserve this.
New Orleans, Dominion of Hanover
Now the "butt" of local jokes for being found hanging from a tree with his trousers around his ankles, "James Smith" (aka Armstrong Hyman Thruston) would quietly be drummed out of the army and quietly be granted passage on a Spanish ship sailing from New Orleans or Spain. He lacked adequate funds for the voyage thus his commander would furtively pay for Smith's passage out of army funds marked on the ledgers as intended to return maimed soldiers home. Smith, whom had fled out west and joined the army with the intention of keeping OUT of the public eye, discovered to his dismay that fighting Spanish, running from surly Indians, starving in mountain passes to the extent that eating one's commander seemed the preferable option and then being mauled by an ill-tempered River Cow in fact had the opposite effect of elongating Smith's life. Only the fact that no one identified him from the hordes of inaccurate portrayals in print (Smith had never sat for a portrait prior to his attempted regicide) prevented anyone from recognizing the infamous assassin of George Washington.
As the attempt to play down the cannibalism of the "Biddle Party" survivors had plainly failed (everyone in New Orleans knew Smith by sight), it was finally decided to be rid of the man and Smith was mercifully "honorably discharged". In truth, Smith was relieved. More than anything he desired to escape the Kingdom of British North America and now the nation was actually paying for his passage. While Smith had no idea what he would do in Spain, anything was better than remaining in a nation liable to hang him if he ever spoke his true name out loud.
With a sign of relief, the battered but still intact Armstrong Hyman Thruston would see the mainland of North America recede.
Nassau
Joel Poinsett was a South Carolina-born son of a prosperous physician. A highly regarded scholar (he'd studied at Yale, Edinburgh and Paris), Poinsett would opt against a legal career and instead enter government service. For much of the past decade, the thirty-three year old would serve as Ambassador, Envoy and whatever capacity in which he was suited. Highly respected by all whom came to know him for his diverse wealth of knowledge and his capacity to speak fluent Spanish, Portuguese, French and Latin (and a smidgeon of German).
With this skill set, Poinsett would be dispatched to various outposts of the Spanish Empire to petition on behalf of American trade. In the years immediately before the war, Poinsett had done an admirable job in locales as diverse as Buenos Aires, Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Havana and others. When dispatched to San Diego in 1811 (more to scout potential expansion than any interest in trade with the lightly populated locality). Here, Poinsett would be instrumental in quietly arranging for powder to be dispatched to the rebels centered in Valladolid (without permission from Manhattan).
Recalled in 1812, Poinsett would be disappointed to learn he had been "promoted" to govern the vast stretches of the recently acquired Bahama Islands based upon his knowledge of Spanish language and customs. Poinsett pointed out that this was irrelevant as the islands were so lightly populated that customs didn't matter much. Wrecking, fishing, salting and piracy had been the only livelihoods in the Bahama Islands over the centuries and Poinsett could not imagine this changing in the near future. But he had been reprimanded by the Foreign Minister for breaking American neutrality and was assured that this was the only short-term position available to him.
Fully expecting to be bored out of his mind, Poinsett took the assignment as "requested". As he expected, the post of Governor of the Bahama Islands was dull as one could imagine. Within only a few thousands Spanish residents, the islands did not exactly see an influx of American settlers. What was to attract them? Walking along sandy beaches?
This was a punishment posting and everyone knew it. Poinsett would wonder why he even accepted. Did he merely wish to prolong a career which may already be over?
As it was, Poinsett soon found something else to interest him. With Spain in poor financial shape due to the recent war and ongoing rebellion in New Spain, the latest treasure shipment from Peru was ordered to sail a bit earlier than usual. While the Spanish ships still raised anchor after the typical end of hurricane season, it was nevertheless still earlier than many sailors preferred.
The fears were soon bourn out when a late hurricane would batter the five ship convoy as it sailed through the Bahamas. Only two ships would survive to make for Havana. One was lost far out at sea with all hands. The other two would be torn upon the reefs on islands near Nassau, only a few dozen men managing to reach shore in lifeboats. When Poinsett first learned of the tragedy, he did what natives of the Bahama Islands had done for centuries: he flew to the scene and began collecting gold and silver being washed upon the shores. A mish-mash of Spanish, American and whomever was on hand eagerly joined in on the hunt for treasure. Wreckers would soon gather an estimated 450,000 American pounds sterling over the coming weeks. This was only a fraction of what was lost to Spain but enough to make many men fabulously wealthy, including Poinsett whom was by now thinking better of his assignment.
He would return to the mainland in 1813 with over 60,000 American pounds sterling (at the exchange from Spanish currency) and spend a year Charleston. His father, still practicing medicine, would retire upon his son's income. Indeed, he even turned over the two teenaged house slaves the widowed Poinsett had purchased in recent years to his son and sailed for France for a quiet retirement. Finding the mulatto women quite comely, Poinsett would, from 1813 to 1828, sire 19 children between them. The women would remain in Poinsett's "ownership" until the extinction of the institution but the children (at least 3/4's and possible as much as 7/8's white) would never officially be referred to as slaves. Instead, they would later inherit vast tracks of farmland Poinsett would purchase in West and East Florida and largely marry into the white underclass (by this point, Poinsett had spent most of his gains and would die land rich but money poor). The Poinsett name would live on through this large brood and largely descend into poor white trash over the next 200 years.
Of course, many other ships would be lost in the Hurricane of 1812. Among these was one bearing a certain James Smith. Fortunately for the latter, Smith managed to survive the destruction of his ship by clinging to a half-empty rum barrel and was washed ashore upon a largely deserted island. By sheer luck, Smith found a moderately clean water source (rare in these islands) in a well apparently dug many years before in a failed settlement upon the unnamed Bahama Island (he didn't even know where he was). There were large numbers of feral goats to consume (and provide milk) and sea turtles to consume (as meat and eggs).
Cursing his fate, Smith cried aloud to God "What did I do to deserve this?!"
Then his mouth shut as he remembered just what he did to deserve this.
Last edited:
Chapter 206: New Guard
1813, Spring
Manhattan
As expected, the relatively short Ministry of John Jay finally fell in the spring of 1813 due to the expansion of factionism: regional factions, proslavery or anti-slavery factions, trade factions, economic factions and, most of all, factions based upon personal rivalry. This latest had been a feature of the last British Parliaments (prior to conquest) as powerful men would vie for control, not on issues but individual vendettas. British North America was seldom so crass...not because of superior character but the fact that individual powerful men lacked the ability to purchase Parliamentary seats to the extent that they did in Britain. There were no rotten boroughs, no "interest seats" (like those reserved for the Admiralty or Clergy) and the much higher proportion of voter participation would prevent a man "owning" dozens of seats, enough to ensure a position in the Ministry.
Instead, men fought with issues, leading their factions no matter how obscure. As always with powerful men, their petty feuds would assume precedence.
The Vote of No Confidence in John Jay's government would occur in early 1813. The reason was...well, unknown. The Vote of No Confidence was passed over a petty trade agreement with the Netherlands, one virtually all of Parliament could not possibly care about. In the end, people were simply frustrated with John Jay and wanted him cast out. Thus, Jay became the first First Lord of the Treasury to be forced from office (Franklin, Sherman and Adams all left of their own accord, or at least under their terms before they were relieved).
This did not mean that new elections had to be called. The 1812 election, in fact, was only 6 months in the past. The King had the option to call a new election but had no intention of doing so. It wasn't the fault of the King or the people whom created this mess, but Parliament. Let THEM try to fix it first. Instead, King Frederick, whom by now knew the ways of Parliament better than most Parliamentarians, would accept Jay's resignation from the Ministry (as well as his seat in Parliament) and calmly sat back to wait to find out what the opposing factions of Parliament would do having "won".
The King was not surprised that the assortment of factions whom had brought down Jay would not have a definitive answer to that question. There was no organization to the internal revolt, just a venting of frustration. With Jay's resignation, the factions looked at one another and noticed that quite often their "allies" were more politically aligned against THEM than Jay had ever been. Without that single focus of outrage or resentment, there was no particular organization left.
Instead, weeks of argument went by (as Jay's colleagues would run a ghostly ministry in the interim) as it became readily apparent that none of these groups were powerful enough to force the rest of the Ministry from their positions. Instead, the King simply waited until everyone in Manhattan realized this fact and went about selecting another. King Frederick knew that the old guard of the Independence generation (like Jay) were dying off. The slightly younger men like Hamilton, Monroe, Madison, Laurens and others were somewhat unacceptable for one reason or another (Hamilton had been wracked by scandal while men from the "Slave Dominions" were unpopular nationally).
Thus, after weeks of thought culminating of Parliamentarians coming hat in hand to the King, Frederick would select the young New Yorker, Dewitt Clinton. Clinton came from a first line political family and was willing to accept keeping most of the old Ministry (Hamilton, Monroe and Laurens, among others). This would allow the opposition something to oppose and life largely got back to normal.
However, the King feared for the future as the rise of factionalism was soon to be followed by partisanship.
The Maratha Empire
The Maratha conflict with the Kingdom of Nepal (ruled by the Shah family) would rage from 1808 to 1813. The origins of the conflict were confusing to say the least but probably had much to do with the fact that the centralization of the Maratha Empire required a certain constant expansion...to avoid looking too closely inward at the flaws of the nation.
By 1813, the strongest of the regional families had yielded their armies and tax revenues to the Peshwa, in effect yielding their political power. Over the coming decades, the royal families would be dominated by "advisors" from Pune whom would overthrow any recalcitrant monarchs opposing the Peshwa's will.
At the fore of this movement were a series of skilled generals. Among these was the former British East India Company functionary, Arthur Wellesley, whom proved to be such a skilled general. Wellesley would be installed upon the throne of the former Shah Dynasty in Nepal (a primarily Hindu region). Wellesley would agree that his children would be raised in the faith of their mother (a bastard niece of the Peshwa). Now in his forties, Wellesley would find himself upon a throne, beholden to Pune, like many of the new Princes, Kings, Rajas, etc of the Indian subcontinent.
Manhattan
As expected, the relatively short Ministry of John Jay finally fell in the spring of 1813 due to the expansion of factionism: regional factions, proslavery or anti-slavery factions, trade factions, economic factions and, most of all, factions based upon personal rivalry. This latest had been a feature of the last British Parliaments (prior to conquest) as powerful men would vie for control, not on issues but individual vendettas. British North America was seldom so crass...not because of superior character but the fact that individual powerful men lacked the ability to purchase Parliamentary seats to the extent that they did in Britain. There were no rotten boroughs, no "interest seats" (like those reserved for the Admiralty or Clergy) and the much higher proportion of voter participation would prevent a man "owning" dozens of seats, enough to ensure a position in the Ministry.
Instead, men fought with issues, leading their factions no matter how obscure. As always with powerful men, their petty feuds would assume precedence.
The Vote of No Confidence in John Jay's government would occur in early 1813. The reason was...well, unknown. The Vote of No Confidence was passed over a petty trade agreement with the Netherlands, one virtually all of Parliament could not possibly care about. In the end, people were simply frustrated with John Jay and wanted him cast out. Thus, Jay became the first First Lord of the Treasury to be forced from office (Franklin, Sherman and Adams all left of their own accord, or at least under their terms before they were relieved).
This did not mean that new elections had to be called. The 1812 election, in fact, was only 6 months in the past. The King had the option to call a new election but had no intention of doing so. It wasn't the fault of the King or the people whom created this mess, but Parliament. Let THEM try to fix it first. Instead, King Frederick, whom by now knew the ways of Parliament better than most Parliamentarians, would accept Jay's resignation from the Ministry (as well as his seat in Parliament) and calmly sat back to wait to find out what the opposing factions of Parliament would do having "won".
The King was not surprised that the assortment of factions whom had brought down Jay would not have a definitive answer to that question. There was no organization to the internal revolt, just a venting of frustration. With Jay's resignation, the factions looked at one another and noticed that quite often their "allies" were more politically aligned against THEM than Jay had ever been. Without that single focus of outrage or resentment, there was no particular organization left.
Instead, weeks of argument went by (as Jay's colleagues would run a ghostly ministry in the interim) as it became readily apparent that none of these groups were powerful enough to force the rest of the Ministry from their positions. Instead, the King simply waited until everyone in Manhattan realized this fact and went about selecting another. King Frederick knew that the old guard of the Independence generation (like Jay) were dying off. The slightly younger men like Hamilton, Monroe, Madison, Laurens and others were somewhat unacceptable for one reason or another (Hamilton had been wracked by scandal while men from the "Slave Dominions" were unpopular nationally).
Thus, after weeks of thought culminating of Parliamentarians coming hat in hand to the King, Frederick would select the young New Yorker, Dewitt Clinton. Clinton came from a first line political family and was willing to accept keeping most of the old Ministry (Hamilton, Monroe and Laurens, among others). This would allow the opposition something to oppose and life largely got back to normal.
However, the King feared for the future as the rise of factionalism was soon to be followed by partisanship.
The Maratha Empire
The Maratha conflict with the Kingdom of Nepal (ruled by the Shah family) would rage from 1808 to 1813. The origins of the conflict were confusing to say the least but probably had much to do with the fact that the centralization of the Maratha Empire required a certain constant expansion...to avoid looking too closely inward at the flaws of the nation.
By 1813, the strongest of the regional families had yielded their armies and tax revenues to the Peshwa, in effect yielding their political power. Over the coming decades, the royal families would be dominated by "advisors" from Pune whom would overthrow any recalcitrant monarchs opposing the Peshwa's will.
At the fore of this movement were a series of skilled generals. Among these was the former British East India Company functionary, Arthur Wellesley, whom proved to be such a skilled general. Wellesley would be installed upon the throne of the former Shah Dynasty in Nepal (a primarily Hindu region). Wellesley would agree that his children would be raised in the faith of their mother (a bastard niece of the Peshwa). Now in his forties, Wellesley would find himself upon a throne, beholden to Pune, like many of the new Princes, Kings, Rajas, etc of the Indian subcontinent.
Map of North America - 1813
List of Dominions in Kingdom of North America - 1813
Quebec
Montreal
Nova Scotia
Charlottia (New Brunswick, former Acadia west of the Isthmus of Chignecto)
Newfoundland
Vermont (including the contested Hampshire Grants and the western portion of the former district of Maine under the colony of Massachusetts)
Sagadahock (formerly the eastern portion of the district of Maine under the colony of Massachusetts)
Massachusetts
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Connecticut
New York
Long Island
Manhattan
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
Kanawha (West Virginia)
North Carolina
Catabwa (West North Carolina)
South Carolina
Wateree (West South Carolina)
Georgia
West Florida (South Alabama, South Mississippi and Florida Panhandle)
Mississauga (Peninsular Ontario)
Maumee (Western Kentucky)
Shawnee (Eastern Kentucky)
Westsylvania (Western Pennsylvania)
Watauga (Eastern Tennesee)
Tennessee (Western Tennesee)
Hanover (Louisiana)
Caledonia (Parts of Northern Texas and Oklahoma)
Aethiopia (Southern Texas and parts of northeast Mexico)
Arkansas
Miami (OTL Indian)
Ohio (Most of OTL Ohio)
Michigan (Lower Peninsula)
East Florida and the Bahama Islands (Florida minus Panhandle)
Indiana (northern Mississippi and Alabama)
List of named North American Territories:
Chicago (Illinois)
Hudson (Northern Ontario)
Marquette (Wisconsin)
Cappadocia
Belgica
Thracia
Lusitania
Aquitania
Hiberia
Mauretania
Cilicia
Pannonia
Montreal
Nova Scotia
Charlottia (New Brunswick, former Acadia west of the Isthmus of Chignecto)
Newfoundland
Vermont (including the contested Hampshire Grants and the western portion of the former district of Maine under the colony of Massachusetts)
Sagadahock (formerly the eastern portion of the district of Maine under the colony of Massachusetts)
Massachusetts
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Connecticut
New York
Long Island
Manhattan
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
Kanawha (West Virginia)
North Carolina
Catabwa (West North Carolina)
South Carolina
Wateree (West South Carolina)
Georgia
West Florida (South Alabama, South Mississippi and Florida Panhandle)
Mississauga (Peninsular Ontario)
Maumee (Western Kentucky)
Shawnee (Eastern Kentucky)
Westsylvania (Western Pennsylvania)
Watauga (Eastern Tennesee)
Tennessee (Western Tennesee)
Hanover (Louisiana)
Caledonia (Parts of Northern Texas and Oklahoma)
Aethiopia (Southern Texas and parts of northeast Mexico)
Arkansas
Miami (OTL Indian)
Ohio (Most of OTL Ohio)
Michigan (Lower Peninsula)
East Florida and the Bahama Islands (Florida minus Panhandle)
Indiana (northern Mississippi and Alabama)
List of named North American Territories:
Chicago (Illinois)
Hudson (Northern Ontario)
Marquette (Wisconsin)
Cappadocia
Belgica
Thracia
Lusitania
Aquitania
Hiberia
Mauretania
Cilicia
Pannonia
Last edited:
Chapter 207: New Borders
1813 Summer
Manhattan
King Frederick I of British North America would return from his summer procession (this time to Montreal and Quebec with stops along the way in New York) with a greater understanding of his realms. At the time of his birth, these regions were only just beginning to be demographically dominated by Englishmen (or, at least, English speakers). The French population was around 70,000 at the end of the 7 years war. To Frederick's regret, over half of these people were subsequently run out and replaced by migrating Americans or British/Irish immigrants.
By now, the French were in a significant minority despite these regions receiving the lion's share of the modest French immigration to America (there and New Orleans were the most common destinations of the one or two thousand French immigrants per year).
The King had promised to see Mississauga, Michigan, Miami and Ohio in 1814. He was not looking forward to THAT trip. But summer processions were what Kings did and the people deserved to see their King on a semi-regular basis. Still, Frederick was getting old enough to be tired of such voyages.
Upon his return to Manhattan, the King was provided with a new map of the augmented Western Territories. As best as Frederick I could see, someone was just redrawing map lines to make their own mark...a mark likely to be erased in the next administration. For a time, the King considered refusing the First Lord's request. But Clinton had been chosen BY HIM not too long ago and renaming places with no population which he'd never see just didn't seem worth damaging a relationship with his new First Lord.
Naturally, First Lord Dewitt Clinton would not dare to recommend any new territorial designations. However, he DID imply that something may be named after HIM. Frederick sighed. It was often amazing just how much time and effort were wasted.
Frederick knew better than to allow this game to be played. Sooner or later, even man in Parliament would want a territory named after him. Instead, the King opted to name three new territories in the same fashion he had before: picking archaic territorial names from antiquity. The King always enjoyed reading of the Roman Empire (with a start, he realized HIS Kingdom was already larger than the Roman Empire, in geographical size at least).
He opted for Pannonia, Cilicia and Mauretania for the new (or redrawn) territories. In order to mollify Clinton, the King instead recommended a new settlement out west where surveyors were looking for likely spots for new towns (or army bases) and informed the First Lord that one of these settlements would be named Clinton in honor of the late James Clinton, the First Lord's uncle whom had recently died after a lifetime of service to the Crown.
As expected, this was accepted without further demur from Dewitt Clinton and the King was allowed to get back to his business.
As it was, the First Lord had his own problems as men were retiring from the Cabinet he'd inherited from John Jay. John Laurens was not in the best of health. Alexander Hamilton was willing to retire, provided his son Philip would assume his place in Parliament and the government. John Quincy Adams had returned to America and assumed HIS father's place in Parliament. Too powerful to be ignored, it was mooted that the younger Adams would become the new Foreign Minister. Other men like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were pushing for positions in the government as well.
King Frederick wondered when personal rivalry and arrogance would soon determine the rise and fall of Ministries as they had in Britain in the 1750's to its death in 1763. Many historians were of the opinion that this factionalism would someday doom America as well as it had Great Britain.
Mindanao
By 1813, the Muslim rebels had largely been crushed. The remnant of the local Islamic Sultans had been hunted down and killed in their strongholds. Chinese and Luzanite migrants crossed the narrow straights and were swiftly making island ever more diverse racially and religiously.
Dzungaria, the Tarim Basin
Nearly a century prior, the Qing Dynasty had crushed the Dzungar Khanate. There had been some discussion at the time to wipe out the Buddhist peoples of this region (Mongoloid for the most part). However, the Muslim Uyghurs to the south of Dzungaria would give the distant Mandarin Emperor in Beijing pause.
Instead, he accepted the Dzungar submission and, as some expected, the Uyghurs became the greater threat. When the Uyghurs naturally rebelled from their nominal subordination, the Dzungars and their Mongol cousins to the north would prove decisive in the Qing victory. The Uyghurs were pressed from the Tarim Basin between Dzungaria and Tibet in the early 19th century, with Mongols and Han invited to assume their place in the Tarim Basin.
This Uyghur revolt and the repeated problems in Mindanao would result in a vicious Chinese repression of the faith (not unlike the Christian suppression of earlier centuries).
Tibet
The Qing authority over Tibet had been established the better part of a century earlier when the Qing aided Tibet in repulsing a Nepalese invasion. Naturally, the Qing would assume political ascendancy by putting in place a system of government in which they could maintain nominal control. Over the past century, Tibet would be viewed as a protectorate of China...but not a Province. Eventually, the modest Chinese garrison would shrink in the peace from 3000 soldiers down to a nominal few hundred. Happy to be ignored by Beijing, the assorted Lamas (though irritated that the selection process was influence by the Han) would simply live out their lives in obscurity from the rest of the world.
The 9th Dalai Lama (only 8 years old in 1813 and would die in 1815) would receive an odd letter from the new Raja of Nepal, the Irish-born Arthur Wellesley, asserting that the new dynasty in Nepal (a subject of the Peshwa) carried no claims upon Tibetan territory. He apologized for the invasion of nearly a century past and assured the Dalai Lama that the Buddhist minority in Nepal would be welcome to practice their faith without restriction. Confused, the Dalai Lama's attendants would return a similarly courteous letter to Katmandu expressing their own good will.
A copy was sent to Beijing by the Tibetan government to reiterate their loyalty to their "protector". The mid-level Chinese functionary whom received it spent about 30 seconds reviewing the contents and filed it away, not to be read again for nearly 200 years. In truth, the bureaucrat had no idea where Nepal was, that it had once invaded Tibet or that the new Raja was a European beholden to the Peshwa.
He was only glad it was not something he had to care about or deal with.
Manhattan
King Frederick I of British North America would return from his summer procession (this time to Montreal and Quebec with stops along the way in New York) with a greater understanding of his realms. At the time of his birth, these regions were only just beginning to be demographically dominated by Englishmen (or, at least, English speakers). The French population was around 70,000 at the end of the 7 years war. To Frederick's regret, over half of these people were subsequently run out and replaced by migrating Americans or British/Irish immigrants.
By now, the French were in a significant minority despite these regions receiving the lion's share of the modest French immigration to America (there and New Orleans were the most common destinations of the one or two thousand French immigrants per year).
The King had promised to see Mississauga, Michigan, Miami and Ohio in 1814. He was not looking forward to THAT trip. But summer processions were what Kings did and the people deserved to see their King on a semi-regular basis. Still, Frederick was getting old enough to be tired of such voyages.
Upon his return to Manhattan, the King was provided with a new map of the augmented Western Territories. As best as Frederick I could see, someone was just redrawing map lines to make their own mark...a mark likely to be erased in the next administration. For a time, the King considered refusing the First Lord's request. But Clinton had been chosen BY HIM not too long ago and renaming places with no population which he'd never see just didn't seem worth damaging a relationship with his new First Lord.
Naturally, First Lord Dewitt Clinton would not dare to recommend any new territorial designations. However, he DID imply that something may be named after HIM. Frederick sighed. It was often amazing just how much time and effort were wasted.
Frederick knew better than to allow this game to be played. Sooner or later, even man in Parliament would want a territory named after him. Instead, the King opted to name three new territories in the same fashion he had before: picking archaic territorial names from antiquity. The King always enjoyed reading of the Roman Empire (with a start, he realized HIS Kingdom was already larger than the Roman Empire, in geographical size at least).
He opted for Pannonia, Cilicia and Mauretania for the new (or redrawn) territories. In order to mollify Clinton, the King instead recommended a new settlement out west where surveyors were looking for likely spots for new towns (or army bases) and informed the First Lord that one of these settlements would be named Clinton in honor of the late James Clinton, the First Lord's uncle whom had recently died after a lifetime of service to the Crown.
As expected, this was accepted without further demur from Dewitt Clinton and the King was allowed to get back to his business.
As it was, the First Lord had his own problems as men were retiring from the Cabinet he'd inherited from John Jay. John Laurens was not in the best of health. Alexander Hamilton was willing to retire, provided his son Philip would assume his place in Parliament and the government. John Quincy Adams had returned to America and assumed HIS father's place in Parliament. Too powerful to be ignored, it was mooted that the younger Adams would become the new Foreign Minister. Other men like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster were pushing for positions in the government as well.
King Frederick wondered when personal rivalry and arrogance would soon determine the rise and fall of Ministries as they had in Britain in the 1750's to its death in 1763. Many historians were of the opinion that this factionalism would someday doom America as well as it had Great Britain.
Mindanao
By 1813, the Muslim rebels had largely been crushed. The remnant of the local Islamic Sultans had been hunted down and killed in their strongholds. Chinese and Luzanite migrants crossed the narrow straights and were swiftly making island ever more diverse racially and religiously.
Dzungaria, the Tarim Basin
Nearly a century prior, the Qing Dynasty had crushed the Dzungar Khanate. There had been some discussion at the time to wipe out the Buddhist peoples of this region (Mongoloid for the most part). However, the Muslim Uyghurs to the south of Dzungaria would give the distant Mandarin Emperor in Beijing pause.
Instead, he accepted the Dzungar submission and, as some expected, the Uyghurs became the greater threat. When the Uyghurs naturally rebelled from their nominal subordination, the Dzungars and their Mongol cousins to the north would prove decisive in the Qing victory. The Uyghurs were pressed from the Tarim Basin between Dzungaria and Tibet in the early 19th century, with Mongols and Han invited to assume their place in the Tarim Basin.
This Uyghur revolt and the repeated problems in Mindanao would result in a vicious Chinese repression of the faith (not unlike the Christian suppression of earlier centuries).
Tibet
The Qing authority over Tibet had been established the better part of a century earlier when the Qing aided Tibet in repulsing a Nepalese invasion. Naturally, the Qing would assume political ascendancy by putting in place a system of government in which they could maintain nominal control. Over the past century, Tibet would be viewed as a protectorate of China...but not a Province. Eventually, the modest Chinese garrison would shrink in the peace from 3000 soldiers down to a nominal few hundred. Happy to be ignored by Beijing, the assorted Lamas (though irritated that the selection process was influence by the Han) would simply live out their lives in obscurity from the rest of the world.
The 9th Dalai Lama (only 8 years old in 1813 and would die in 1815) would receive an odd letter from the new Raja of Nepal, the Irish-born Arthur Wellesley, asserting that the new dynasty in Nepal (a subject of the Peshwa) carried no claims upon Tibetan territory. He apologized for the invasion of nearly a century past and assured the Dalai Lama that the Buddhist minority in Nepal would be welcome to practice their faith without restriction. Confused, the Dalai Lama's attendants would return a similarly courteous letter to Katmandu expressing their own good will.
A copy was sent to Beijing by the Tibetan government to reiterate their loyalty to their "protector". The mid-level Chinese functionary whom received it spent about 30 seconds reviewing the contents and filed it away, not to be read again for nearly 200 years. In truth, the bureaucrat had no idea where Nepal was, that it had once invaded Tibet or that the new Raja was a European beholden to the Peshwa.
He was only glad it was not something he had to care about or deal with.
China is not going to be on good terms with Islam for a long time.
Boy that last line is not ominous at all!
So the Slapstick War isn't even officially over, and North America is already naming the conquered territories. Guess they feel quite secure.
Boy that last line is not ominous at all!
So the Slapstick War isn't even officially over, and North America is already naming the conquered territories. Guess they feel quite secure.
True, with no natural enemies anymore, China may take the path of repressing minority people/religions or tolerating them.
While the Spanish-American War is over, the Valladolid Rebellion remains in effect. Mexico City has been devastated.
Chapter 208: Consequences
Chapter 208:
Winter 1813
Valladolid
Though it took several years, the reinforcements requested by Carlos IV’s Ministers belatedly began to arrive in New Spain from his other colonies. By 1813, over 7600 colonial troops would arrive in New Spain to augment the 6000 Spanish regulars shipped from the Peninsula and the varying number of local “Loyalists” under command of the local gentry.
The impetus of this influx of manpower was not so much that the other Spanish colonies were necessarily imbued with a sudden onset of patriotism. Indeed, many colonials sympathized with the rebels. The true cause of the belated contribution to the Crown was that increasing radicalism occurring among the Valladolid government.
For decades….really, for CENTURIES…the Spanish colonial gentry would call for the delegation of local power….to themselves. However, the Radical government in Valladolid would suddenly decide that ALL colonials would have an equal say in things, not just the elites. This the colonial gentry found more heinous than being totally under control by the Peninsulares.
Though may of the lower castes of the Spanish Empire would continue encouraging the rebellion, the gentry which controlled the admittedly limited local Cortes and lower level positions like tax collector, customs inspector, judges, etc, would suddenly think better of this idea and instead began contributing resources to aid the Crown against these “traitors”. Rather than patriots, the rebels began to be openly dismissed as following the “Protestant Path”. Nothing incited Spaniards more than being accusing of supporting the loathsome religion.
By late 1813, the Spanish rebels centered about Valladolid had been pushed totally from the area of Mexico city and towards the borders of Valladolid and Guadalajara, the twin centers of colonial rebellion. In a daring strike, Spanish cavalry leveled the town of Chihuahua to the north as punishment for throwing its weight behind the rebellions.
Francisco Miranda had managed to convince many Mestizo and Indian leaders to support the rebellion in return for equal political power for all. This brought a great deal of local manpower but perhaps less international support than he’d hoped. Few monarchies wanted to support rebellions. Only the Russians and some Americans dared trade with the rebels (though King Frederick of America would condemn any American involvement).
The rebellion became more and more of a peasant revolt. While this had some benefits, the transformation would also strain the already dangerous relationship between the local elites (whom saw themselves as the natural leaders of a new nation), the peasants (largely Mestizo with some Indians), the clergy (which was divided between reactionaries and liberals) and the radical politicos.
The fertile lands between the smoking ruin of Mexico City and the beleaguered cities of Valladolid and Guadalajara would be leveled, causing streams of refugees to flow in all directions. Some 50,000 would even sail to California during the years of 1811 to 1813, an unheard of amount of migration relative to past population movements in the region. This trend would only continue in the future as “disloyal” Indian tribes and copses of villages would suffer repeated devastation and peasants, desperate for a place to go, would flee wherever safety beckoned.
Winter 1813
Valladolid
Though it took several years, the reinforcements requested by Carlos IV’s Ministers belatedly began to arrive in New Spain from his other colonies. By 1813, over 7600 colonial troops would arrive in New Spain to augment the 6000 Spanish regulars shipped from the Peninsula and the varying number of local “Loyalists” under command of the local gentry.
The impetus of this influx of manpower was not so much that the other Spanish colonies were necessarily imbued with a sudden onset of patriotism. Indeed, many colonials sympathized with the rebels. The true cause of the belated contribution to the Crown was that increasing radicalism occurring among the Valladolid government.
For decades….really, for CENTURIES…the Spanish colonial gentry would call for the delegation of local power….to themselves. However, the Radical government in Valladolid would suddenly decide that ALL colonials would have an equal say in things, not just the elites. This the colonial gentry found more heinous than being totally under control by the Peninsulares.
Though may of the lower castes of the Spanish Empire would continue encouraging the rebellion, the gentry which controlled the admittedly limited local Cortes and lower level positions like tax collector, customs inspector, judges, etc, would suddenly think better of this idea and instead began contributing resources to aid the Crown against these “traitors”. Rather than patriots, the rebels began to be openly dismissed as following the “Protestant Path”. Nothing incited Spaniards more than being accusing of supporting the loathsome religion.
By late 1813, the Spanish rebels centered about Valladolid had been pushed totally from the area of Mexico city and towards the borders of Valladolid and Guadalajara, the twin centers of colonial rebellion. In a daring strike, Spanish cavalry leveled the town of Chihuahua to the north as punishment for throwing its weight behind the rebellions.
Francisco Miranda had managed to convince many Mestizo and Indian leaders to support the rebellion in return for equal political power for all. This brought a great deal of local manpower but perhaps less international support than he’d hoped. Few monarchies wanted to support rebellions. Only the Russians and some Americans dared trade with the rebels (though King Frederick of America would condemn any American involvement).
The rebellion became more and more of a peasant revolt. While this had some benefits, the transformation would also strain the already dangerous relationship between the local elites (whom saw themselves as the natural leaders of a new nation), the peasants (largely Mestizo with some Indians), the clergy (which was divided between reactionaries and liberals) and the radical politicos.
The fertile lands between the smoking ruin of Mexico City and the beleaguered cities of Valladolid and Guadalajara would be leveled, causing streams of refugees to flow in all directions. Some 50,000 would even sail to California during the years of 1811 to 1813, an unheard of amount of migration relative to past population movements in the region. This trend would only continue in the future as “disloyal” Indian tribes and copses of villages would suffer repeated devastation and peasants, desperate for a place to go, would flee wherever safety beckoned.
Chapter 209: Shifting Dynasties
1814 - Spring
Madrid
The Royal Family went into mourning as the Infante breathed his last. No one was entirely certain of what killed the Prince. After a night of binge eating and binge drinking, the Infante was found dead in the morning, vomit clogging his throat. Some whispered poison but the Royal Doctors would find this unlikely given that no blood was found in the vomit. Instead, the youth probably passed out on his back and chocked on his own vomit.
It was considered an apt end to the Infante. Widely derided by those whom knew him best, the Infante was at once lazy, cowardly, suspicious, lying and, according to some rumors, inclined to overthrow his father but feared his mother too much.
Next in line was Carlos, the twenty-six year old Prince named the new Infante. Like his brother, Carlos was an Absolutist whom held no particular affection for delegating power. However, he was not desirous of assuming the responsibility himself. Indeed, Carlos probably would have preferred a quiet life in the army or at some remote Cortes. However, God had chosen him to be the next King and the next King he would be.
His Mother's enemies would hope to entice Carlos to overthrow the Royal Couple in Madrid but this Carlos refused to countenance, even condemning several nobles whom had the temerity to suggest as such. His mother, satisfied that Carlos would never attempt to seize the throne, nevertheless went to great lengths to distance the new heir from actual power....namely HER actual power.
Presently, the point was made that a marriage should be arranged shortly. Historically, marriages of the Spanish Royal Family had been with other Catholic monarchies, the Portuguese most prominently. However, poor relations with Portugal since the peasant rebellion in the Argarve would prevent a dynastic marriage with their neighbors despite having one or two available and suspiciously attractive Princesses (both Regent Joao and his wife, Princess Carlota of Spain and Carlos' aunt, were notoriously ugly, nearly as ugly as Carlos' parents). Many suspected Carlota of having lovers....just as many suspected Carlos' mother of having lovers. God knew that the Infante was infinitely better looking than his father Carlos IV.
But that was neither here nor there. At the moment, few princesses of suitable rank were available. Carlos had received good word of some of the Polish Princesses. He opted to travel a bit and see if any struck his fancy.
Lisbon
Regent Joao of Portugal (his mother still nominally Queen but mad as a hatter) would face similar problems. While not quite the half-wit that Carlos IV was, Joao was similarly lampooned for his mediocre mind, his vacillation and his corpulence. His wife, Carlota, was always plotting against him and he'd effectively banished her from his presence. Carlota had reportedly been plotting to put one of their sons (assuming they were really HIS sons) upon the throne of Portugal. This didn't seem likely as Carlota, as a Spanish Princess, was utterly loathed by most Portuguese, and it was laughable that anyone would listen to her schemes to put their fifteen year old son on the throne.
Joao would keep the Princess from Court to keep her out of his hair. One night, after a modest meal, a great pain struck the King's innards. He coughed up blood for days and expired. Poison was widely suspected but could not be proven. Almost two centuries later, tests would reveal enough arsenic in his system to kill two men.
Princess Carlota pronounced herself as the regent for the new regent, her teenage son Pedro. The Portuguese nobility was aghast, none daring to openly accuse the Princess of murdering her husband. Eventually, an agreement was made in which a sort of committee led by the Princess and the new Infante would rule in the name of Mad Queen Maria (whom might of been the only women in Portugal to like Carlota, oddly enough. This more or less proved her madness to the minds of her subjects).
Paris
Against all expectations, King Louis XVI would live on, even improving a bit from 1813 to 1814. However, the Austrian-born Maria Queen Antoinette would expire in the Spring of a rapidly developing tumor on the bladder. Both the King and Dauphin would grieve and lay the Queen to rest with the French Royalty.
Madrid
The Royal Family went into mourning as the Infante breathed his last. No one was entirely certain of what killed the Prince. After a night of binge eating and binge drinking, the Infante was found dead in the morning, vomit clogging his throat. Some whispered poison but the Royal Doctors would find this unlikely given that no blood was found in the vomit. Instead, the youth probably passed out on his back and chocked on his own vomit.
It was considered an apt end to the Infante. Widely derided by those whom knew him best, the Infante was at once lazy, cowardly, suspicious, lying and, according to some rumors, inclined to overthrow his father but feared his mother too much.
Next in line was Carlos, the twenty-six year old Prince named the new Infante. Like his brother, Carlos was an Absolutist whom held no particular affection for delegating power. However, he was not desirous of assuming the responsibility himself. Indeed, Carlos probably would have preferred a quiet life in the army or at some remote Cortes. However, God had chosen him to be the next King and the next King he would be.
His Mother's enemies would hope to entice Carlos to overthrow the Royal Couple in Madrid but this Carlos refused to countenance, even condemning several nobles whom had the temerity to suggest as such. His mother, satisfied that Carlos would never attempt to seize the throne, nevertheless went to great lengths to distance the new heir from actual power....namely HER actual power.
Presently, the point was made that a marriage should be arranged shortly. Historically, marriages of the Spanish Royal Family had been with other Catholic monarchies, the Portuguese most prominently. However, poor relations with Portugal since the peasant rebellion in the Argarve would prevent a dynastic marriage with their neighbors despite having one or two available and suspiciously attractive Princesses (both Regent Joao and his wife, Princess Carlota of Spain and Carlos' aunt, were notoriously ugly, nearly as ugly as Carlos' parents). Many suspected Carlota of having lovers....just as many suspected Carlos' mother of having lovers. God knew that the Infante was infinitely better looking than his father Carlos IV.
But that was neither here nor there. At the moment, few princesses of suitable rank were available. Carlos had received good word of some of the Polish Princesses. He opted to travel a bit and see if any struck his fancy.
Lisbon
Regent Joao of Portugal (his mother still nominally Queen but mad as a hatter) would face similar problems. While not quite the half-wit that Carlos IV was, Joao was similarly lampooned for his mediocre mind, his vacillation and his corpulence. His wife, Carlota, was always plotting against him and he'd effectively banished her from his presence. Carlota had reportedly been plotting to put one of their sons (assuming they were really HIS sons) upon the throne of Portugal. This didn't seem likely as Carlota, as a Spanish Princess, was utterly loathed by most Portuguese, and it was laughable that anyone would listen to her schemes to put their fifteen year old son on the throne.
Joao would keep the Princess from Court to keep her out of his hair. One night, after a modest meal, a great pain struck the King's innards. He coughed up blood for days and expired. Poison was widely suspected but could not be proven. Almost two centuries later, tests would reveal enough arsenic in his system to kill two men.
Princess Carlota pronounced herself as the regent for the new regent, her teenage son Pedro. The Portuguese nobility was aghast, none daring to openly accuse the Princess of murdering her husband. Eventually, an agreement was made in which a sort of committee led by the Princess and the new Infante would rule in the name of Mad Queen Maria (whom might of been the only women in Portugal to like Carlota, oddly enough. This more or less proved her madness to the minds of her subjects).
Paris
Against all expectations, King Louis XVI would live on, even improving a bit from 1813 to 1814. However, the Austrian-born Maria Queen Antoinette would expire in the Spring of a rapidly developing tumor on the bladder. Both the King and Dauphin would grieve and lay the Queen to rest with the French Royalty.
I'd have given this post a like, but I wish we had more nuanced options. It seems realistic enough but makes me want to cry.
Chapter 210 – Involuntary Migration
Fall, 1814
Manhattan
Dewitt Clinton had long coveted the position of First Lord, though it would be said that no man whom had ever held the position would congratulate a friend on obtaining it. Almost within hours of ascending to the head of government, Clinton was already being besieged by job-seekers, favor seekers and rivals hoping to bring him down.
As was expected, both Philip Hamilton and John Quincy Adams joined the government. As scions of former high-ranking leaders, this was expected. To be honest, Clinton was grateful to have them. Hamilton was deeply supportive in the Finance position and the New Yorker enjoyed his countryman’s company. Adams was perhaps as pompous as his father, with a glacial personality, but made a good Foreign Secretary. The man was smart and didn’t appear to covet the top position himself. That was adequate for Clinton.
But, of course, trouble makers were common. Henry Clay of Shawnee enjoyed playing both sides against the middle for his own benefit. Andrew Jackson and John Calhoun of Kanawha spent more time with their personal feuds against various Virginians than any productive reason (due to the attacks by pro-slavery Virginians on Thomas Jefferson and Moses Calhoun). The talented Daniel Webster of New Hampshire was just kind of an ass.
Clinton was already exhausted with dealing with the personalities. The host of contentious issues on tap over the next few years would give his rivals plenty of ammunition to strike at the ministry.
Disgusted with the entire process, Clinton decided to take in a play by the noted Anglo-Irish actor, George Canning. Canning was the son of Mary Ann Costello, a noted actress in her own right. Rumor had it that the young actor Junius Booth had joined the family company to make a spectacular Hamlet in the Hanover Theater on Manhattan. The King had already seen the performance and no doubt every local of means would be sure to catch a performance. Only the heavy duties of late had kept the First Lord from attending. The King was kind enough to offer his own private box at the theater to the First Lord whenever Clinton so desired.
As it so happened, the famed acting troop would be invited for coffee with the First Lord after the performance. Clinton congratulated them for their skill and inquired as to what brought the Anglo-Irish troops to America. He would learn that the actors had effectively lost their livelihood in the latest British war and sought a living in America.
Mecca and Medina
After years of toil, the Khedive of Egypt finally managed to seize the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. Declaring himself the new “Protector” of Islam, the Khedive began to alter the long-established practice of allowing all Muslims, regardless of branch, access to the Holy Cities. Shi’a and other sects, as well as Sufi Orders, would find themselves rejected from the Holy Lands, infuriating many.
As it was, the Khedive did not limit his suppression to Muslim Apostates. In Egypt itself, he would withdraw a number of protections to the Christian and other minority populations and also closed many Sufi Orders.
As the self-described “Protector of the Orthodox Faith” (using much the same language as the Khedive), the Czar would quietly threaten to blockade the coast of Egypt unless Christians were allowed to worshp freely. When the Khedive ignored this “request”, the Czar followed through on his threat and cut off the Nile from trade. With modern warships of their Black Sea Fleet and their “allies” like Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, the mouth of the Nile was closed.
Krakow, Vienna
The Russian repression of the Jews in Ruthenia would soon reach such a point that neighboring countries like Austria and Poland would close off their borders and refuse to take any more.
It was at this time that the ailing King of France agreed to give the Jews a new “Homeland” in Saint Dominque and the French West Indies, granting full freedom to worship to any Jew whom arrived. While Jews in the West Indies were long established in the old Slave Trade, their numbers were seldom high. Few French ministers believed than overly man Jews would opt to travel to the West Indies.
Of course, the Czar of Russia and the King of Poland would soon give them less and less choice in the matter.
Similarly, the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of British North America, having just fought what some called a “Holy War” (in reality, nothing more than a border dispute) would face increasing anxiety about members of the wrong faith entering their country. America had never had any real borders to Catholics or Jews. It was simply understood that this would be a protestant country and few of those other faiths would bother to immigrate. But the increasing fear of a “Catholic Conspiracy” would remain in the hearts of Americans and, for the first time, actual laws limiting residency or citizenship to “foreign Catholics” were enacted. These were highly controversial and would receive widespread acclaim as well as contempt. Several Parliamentarians over the past few years (mainly from Montreal, Quebec, Pennsylvania, Maryland or Virginia) would serve as Catholics as America had no laws limiting representation by virtue of faith.
The Spanish King had an easier path. He simply signed the law written by his Ministers. Only “invited” non-Catholics, usually bankers or technological experts, were allowed to reside in the Spanish Empire. With so many in Madrid suspecting that the insurrection in New Spain was a secret Protestant plot (certainly it was widely derided as so by the government and much of the clergy) to overthrow the Catholic Empire. The relatively small number of Protestant (or Jewish) immigrants to the region would dry up, only tolerated if necessary.
Thus, the future immigration patterns to the Americas were getting set in stone with the vast number of Protestants coming to the Kingdom and the Catholics residing in the Empire. The Jews, of course, would be stuck in between.
South Zealand, American Pacific Islands
Over the course of the past few decades, the modest whaling and timber settlements had grown exponentially. Over 70,000 settlers (mostly Americans but some Europeans from the Maratha Empire as well) now called North and South Zealand home despite fierce local opposition. The Maori were a violent people and the American colonies would likely have been pushed into the sea had it not been for epidemics like smallpox decimating the native population. The French were viewed as a godsend as the “recruiters” from Bourbonia would take its own toll on Maori culture by carrying off whomever they could get their hands on in order to work the sugar plantations and wool ranches of the vast island to the northwest.
By 1814, the Americans very much had the advantage over the remaining natives and were methodically settling corners of the islands. Like the Scottish highlanders, the native civilization was pressed further and further into the hills and mountains in order to forestall conquest by the invaders. Unlike the French, the Americans found the Maori virtually impossible to tame as a source of labor and many would rejoice at the aboriginals being wiped out for being a threat to steal livestock or attack isolated settlements. Only by the 1840’s would the slowly developing government, so far removed from the center of power in Manhattan, begin to take a similar approach to Maori relations as did Americans taken with the Native Americans of the Eastern Seaboard. If the people would adopt white ways, they would be granted land.
The Great Plains, Kingdom of British North America
In North America, many “reservations” were being set up for the “civilized” tribes of the east whom worked the land which would not be granted to the western Plains Indians whom were viewed with the same contempt by Americans as Bedouins were treated by the invading European Muslims of Southern Syria. The Comanche and Apache of the south and the Cheyenne and Sioux of the northern would be pressed up against the mountains in the years to come.
California
For the next forty years, many tribes would take the terrible road of exile into Spanish territory through the southern mountains. Thousands would die en route to California. There, they would find they were joined by large numbers of Mestizos and Indians from the south displaced by the ongoing rebellion in New Spain.
Throughout California, the remnants of tribes were fight for dominance and land. No longer able to survive as nomadic hunters, the Indians would conquer one another, steal women and eventually be conquered by another tribe. The resulting polyglot would little represent the diverse peoples that had once roamed the Great Plains. Instead, Cheyanne bred with Hopi, the resultant tribe would be absorbed by a Cheyenne/Blackfoot group, and all would remain mired to the land around Mestizo settlements, no longer able to hunt in territory no longer suited to that lifestyle.
Manhattan
Dewitt Clinton had long coveted the position of First Lord, though it would be said that no man whom had ever held the position would congratulate a friend on obtaining it. Almost within hours of ascending to the head of government, Clinton was already being besieged by job-seekers, favor seekers and rivals hoping to bring him down.
As was expected, both Philip Hamilton and John Quincy Adams joined the government. As scions of former high-ranking leaders, this was expected. To be honest, Clinton was grateful to have them. Hamilton was deeply supportive in the Finance position and the New Yorker enjoyed his countryman’s company. Adams was perhaps as pompous as his father, with a glacial personality, but made a good Foreign Secretary. The man was smart and didn’t appear to covet the top position himself. That was adequate for Clinton.
But, of course, trouble makers were common. Henry Clay of Shawnee enjoyed playing both sides against the middle for his own benefit. Andrew Jackson and John Calhoun of Kanawha spent more time with their personal feuds against various Virginians than any productive reason (due to the attacks by pro-slavery Virginians on Thomas Jefferson and Moses Calhoun). The talented Daniel Webster of New Hampshire was just kind of an ass.
Clinton was already exhausted with dealing with the personalities. The host of contentious issues on tap over the next few years would give his rivals plenty of ammunition to strike at the ministry.
Disgusted with the entire process, Clinton decided to take in a play by the noted Anglo-Irish actor, George Canning. Canning was the son of Mary Ann Costello, a noted actress in her own right. Rumor had it that the young actor Junius Booth had joined the family company to make a spectacular Hamlet in the Hanover Theater on Manhattan. The King had already seen the performance and no doubt every local of means would be sure to catch a performance. Only the heavy duties of late had kept the First Lord from attending. The King was kind enough to offer his own private box at the theater to the First Lord whenever Clinton so desired.
As it so happened, the famed acting troop would be invited for coffee with the First Lord after the performance. Clinton congratulated them for their skill and inquired as to what brought the Anglo-Irish troops to America. He would learn that the actors had effectively lost their livelihood in the latest British war and sought a living in America.
Mecca and Medina
After years of toil, the Khedive of Egypt finally managed to seize the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina. Declaring himself the new “Protector” of Islam, the Khedive began to alter the long-established practice of allowing all Muslims, regardless of branch, access to the Holy Cities. Shi’a and other sects, as well as Sufi Orders, would find themselves rejected from the Holy Lands, infuriating many.
As it was, the Khedive did not limit his suppression to Muslim Apostates. In Egypt itself, he would withdraw a number of protections to the Christian and other minority populations and also closed many Sufi Orders.
As the self-described “Protector of the Orthodox Faith” (using much the same language as the Khedive), the Czar would quietly threaten to blockade the coast of Egypt unless Christians were allowed to worshp freely. When the Khedive ignored this “request”, the Czar followed through on his threat and cut off the Nile from trade. With modern warships of their Black Sea Fleet and their “allies” like Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, the mouth of the Nile was closed.
Krakow, Vienna
The Russian repression of the Jews in Ruthenia would soon reach such a point that neighboring countries like Austria and Poland would close off their borders and refuse to take any more.
It was at this time that the ailing King of France agreed to give the Jews a new “Homeland” in Saint Dominque and the French West Indies, granting full freedom to worship to any Jew whom arrived. While Jews in the West Indies were long established in the old Slave Trade, their numbers were seldom high. Few French ministers believed than overly man Jews would opt to travel to the West Indies.
Of course, the Czar of Russia and the King of Poland would soon give them less and less choice in the matter.
Similarly, the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of British North America, having just fought what some called a “Holy War” (in reality, nothing more than a border dispute) would face increasing anxiety about members of the wrong faith entering their country. America had never had any real borders to Catholics or Jews. It was simply understood that this would be a protestant country and few of those other faiths would bother to immigrate. But the increasing fear of a “Catholic Conspiracy” would remain in the hearts of Americans and, for the first time, actual laws limiting residency or citizenship to “foreign Catholics” were enacted. These were highly controversial and would receive widespread acclaim as well as contempt. Several Parliamentarians over the past few years (mainly from Montreal, Quebec, Pennsylvania, Maryland or Virginia) would serve as Catholics as America had no laws limiting representation by virtue of faith.
The Spanish King had an easier path. He simply signed the law written by his Ministers. Only “invited” non-Catholics, usually bankers or technological experts, were allowed to reside in the Spanish Empire. With so many in Madrid suspecting that the insurrection in New Spain was a secret Protestant plot (certainly it was widely derided as so by the government and much of the clergy) to overthrow the Catholic Empire. The relatively small number of Protestant (or Jewish) immigrants to the region would dry up, only tolerated if necessary.
Thus, the future immigration patterns to the Americas were getting set in stone with the vast number of Protestants coming to the Kingdom and the Catholics residing in the Empire. The Jews, of course, would be stuck in between.
South Zealand, American Pacific Islands
Over the course of the past few decades, the modest whaling and timber settlements had grown exponentially. Over 70,000 settlers (mostly Americans but some Europeans from the Maratha Empire as well) now called North and South Zealand home despite fierce local opposition. The Maori were a violent people and the American colonies would likely have been pushed into the sea had it not been for epidemics like smallpox decimating the native population. The French were viewed as a godsend as the “recruiters” from Bourbonia would take its own toll on Maori culture by carrying off whomever they could get their hands on in order to work the sugar plantations and wool ranches of the vast island to the northwest.
By 1814, the Americans very much had the advantage over the remaining natives and were methodically settling corners of the islands. Like the Scottish highlanders, the native civilization was pressed further and further into the hills and mountains in order to forestall conquest by the invaders. Unlike the French, the Americans found the Maori virtually impossible to tame as a source of labor and many would rejoice at the aboriginals being wiped out for being a threat to steal livestock or attack isolated settlements. Only by the 1840’s would the slowly developing government, so far removed from the center of power in Manhattan, begin to take a similar approach to Maori relations as did Americans taken with the Native Americans of the Eastern Seaboard. If the people would adopt white ways, they would be granted land.
The Great Plains, Kingdom of British North America
In North America, many “reservations” were being set up for the “civilized” tribes of the east whom worked the land which would not be granted to the western Plains Indians whom were viewed with the same contempt by Americans as Bedouins were treated by the invading European Muslims of Southern Syria. The Comanche and Apache of the south and the Cheyenne and Sioux of the northern would be pressed up against the mountains in the years to come.
California
For the next forty years, many tribes would take the terrible road of exile into Spanish territory through the southern mountains. Thousands would die en route to California. There, they would find they were joined by large numbers of Mestizos and Indians from the south displaced by the ongoing rebellion in New Spain.
Throughout California, the remnants of tribes were fight for dominance and land. No longer able to survive as nomadic hunters, the Indians would conquer one another, steal women and eventually be conquered by another tribe. The resulting polyglot would little represent the diverse peoples that had once roamed the Great Plains. Instead, Cheyanne bred with Hopi, the resultant tribe would be absorbed by a Cheyenne/Blackfoot group, and all would remain mired to the land around Mestizo settlements, no longer able to hunt in territory no longer suited to that lifestyle.