America - Albion's Orphan - A history of the conquest of Britain - 1760

[Alt History Buff]

Spring, 1824

Pune

The late Peshwa would expire over the winter of 1824. Unlike his predecessor, the recently deceases Peshwa would be more willing to tolerate the religious minorities of the Maratha Empire...provided that they were useful and knew their place.

By 1824, virtually all the major Kingdoms of the subcontinent, once ruled by Muslim Mughals, had seen new Hindu monarchs assume their thrones over the past half century or so. Local rulers would vary in their treatment of the Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, etc.

The new Peshwa had been raised by Hindu nationalists and would be less inclined to tolerate those of other faiths. Some later scholars would speculate that the ascendant position of the Maratha Empire with their secure borders and no natural enemies would actually increase the problems that would occur in the future years.

Throughout the previous wars with Europeans, the mountainmen from which the Mughals once swept, the Mughal lords whom were defeated one by one, etc, etc, the Marathas would often utilize regiments of non-Hindu soldiers hired from the assorted European trading companies or whole armies of Sikhs. These men would be called "Sepoys" by the Peshwas and had been in integral and highly respected portion of the Maratha military. They had fought the Maratha wars and were considered the elite of the subcontinent.

However, by 1824, the new Peshwa was already finding new ways to offend their "Sepoys".

Honshu

Throughout previous years, the Chinese Empire had quietly assumed control over the outer islands of Nippon, leaving only Honshu (under internal conflict) outside the Emperor's control. By 1824, the Mandarin was ready to end the absurd notion of Nipponese independence (utilizing the largely historical fiction of Nippon having been subordinate to China).

An invasion would be dispatched to turn Honshu into yet another Chinese colony.

Central Asia

Over the past several years, the unofficial frontier alliance between the Chinese forces battling the Turkic peoples west of China and the Russians facing their cousins further west would stand. Other tribes, well out of Chinese reach, would face the repercussions of the battle as various tribes would be displaced further and further south into the lands of the Uzbeks, Kazaks, Turkmens and others.

This would lead to ever more violence as the related tribes began infighting.

Siberia

Though the Russian population along the northern Pacific of Siberia was modest at best, the lure of gold would lead thousands of people to board ships for the new lands of North America. Even as far south at Oahu the Russians would abandon the remote tropical paradise in hopes of riches.

 

[Odinson]

I love this timeline. It's so unique

 

[Emperor of Greater India]

Welp, these "Sepoys" better not become a Praetorian Guard expy.

 

[Alt History Buff]

I love this timeline. It's so unique

Much appreciated.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Summer, 1824

Paulgrad, Russian America

Having made the rather large mistake of publishing several "freedom-loving" poems which found an audience among the radical political groups of Russia, the Imperial police whom raided the minor nobleman's home would find correspondence which would further link him to these groups.

Alexander Pushkin would find himself twenty-three years old and facing imprisonment, exile or...worse. Fortunately, the young man's life was spared however the hoped-for "exile" to his mother's estates was not to be. Instead, Pushkin was ordered to the furthest reaches of Imperial might: Russian America. The Poet was pushed onto a ship in St. Petersburg and ordered to help crew the cargo-ship of manufactured goods to along the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. For nearly two years, the youth would serve on the ship, doing the most mundane of tasks. At the very least, he had plenty of time for poetry.

He would see Brazil, Southern Africa, the Maratha Empire, the East Indies, China (well, Vietnam), Siberia and finally......finaaaalllllyy....the town of Paulgrad.

Happy to be on firm earth, the Poet would be surprised to find the town nearly empty. Apparently, there had been some sort of gold find in the town to the south, St. Frantsisk. Having no real hindrance to his movement by order of the Czar beyond "stay in Russian America", Pushkin would opt to St. Frantsisk, hoping more for adventure than wealth.

He would find a "boom town" as virtually every mobile Russian to the north and south would converge on the town before heading east into the hills in search of gold. Whole ships' crews would abandon ship and seek their fortune.

It was here also that the young nobleman would witness his first massacre in the new world. A ship of Chinese workers arrived in hopes of partaking in the bonanza. Unfortunately, the local governor read the regional sentiments and turned a blind eye when Russian miners, less than eager for competition, would murder dozens of Chinese newcomers and more than a few of the limited number which had resided in the region prior to the gold strike. Several Californians and Anahuacans would be killed as well attempting to covertly mine in the hills.

A new edict was approved in which individual miners must provide a full accounting of their gold and gift the crown 20%. In return, the government would protect the gold in official banks, giving the miners relief of fears of theft.

Perhaps the greatest problem for the newly wealthy town was a lack of mining equipment which slowed the exploitation of the hills even more than lack of labor (only 100,000 Russians lived in Russian America though that would grow to 200,000 within 10 years). Pushkin found indifference to his poetry and political views in Russian America. The locals only wanted to grow wealthy.

Lacking anything else to do, Pushkin opted to do some mining himself.

It was in the town of St. Frantsisk that Pushkin met an American "envoy" dispatched by King Frederick I of America to review the recent events in the west: the unofficial Ambassador Washington Irving.

 

[SilentSpaniard]

Sooo Pushkin meets Irving, envoy of the (British) American King, while the "gold fever" strikes Russian San Francisco. Nice! Only in Alternate History...

On the other hand, I doubt the Chinese government in this timeline will take sitting down the news about their people being murdered just like that... There will be a retribution. A possible war with Russia would be interesting (precisely in the Chinese sense of the term).

 

[Alt History Buff]

 

[Alt History Buff]

Fall, 1824

Fredricksburg, Chicago Dominion

While the recently established "Dominion of Chicago" had experienced growth problems and proved incapable of dealing with a local Indian rebellion, the local Assembly would nevertheless feel that the King's visit in 1823 merited a marker. Thus, the 10,000 soul town of Chicago was renamed Fredricksburg in honor of His Majesty. The Dominion at large remained under the name Chicago (which was apparently a Miami term for the local growth of garlic).

Mikwaking, Marquette Dominion

Brigadier General Sir Sam Houston, barely into his thirties, would receive new orders from Manhattan informing him of His Majesty's pleasure that he and the regiment he'd raised (the 20th of Foot of which he was also the Colonel) were ordered from Milwaking and were to south down the Mississippi in the spring and then march across the southwestern wastes to the Nevada Mountains.

Houston had no idea what or where the Nevada Mountains were so he ordered Lieutenant Lincoln to look it up. To his surprise, they appeared to be outside of American territory, at least to the best that he understood it.

Eventually, he'd receive intelligence from Manhattan that the borders established with Spain, not that so much of New Spain had declared independent, were deemed "vague" or "fuzzy". As best Houston could tell, this was blatant opportunism and aggression on the part of his own nation if the King's Ministers were planning another land grab against California, Anahuac or even Russian America.

What Houston did not realize was the scale of the gold rush in Russian America and the silver discoveries in the Nevada mountains.

Southern Nevada Mountains

Dred Scott, born a slave in Virginia, had escaped years before and gradually made his way west into Hibernia to work as a cowboy. He enjoyed the enormous sense of freed in the open plains where he would find so many of his people prospering after their own emancipations. Here freedmen mixed with Germans, Scots and other hardy frontiersmen, braving the occasional Indian raid.

Now in his mid-twenties, Scott would tire of working for someone else. He'd saved his money and was considering buying a small homestead and searching for a wife when he heard rumors of silver finds to the far west of American territories. He and a mixed group of Negroes, Germans, Irish and a half dozen other ethnicities would purchase mining equipment and ride west as quickly as they good, eventually reaching Santa Fe. Here they learned that the silver strikes were somewhat.....beyond....the generally agreed borders with Anahuac and California.

Naturally that didn't stop them. The men would ride into the Nevada mountains intent on becoming rich.

 

[miner249er]

I sense a upcoming war for Russian america

 

[SilentSpaniard]

British America Kingdom: "So, gold rush and ports in the Pacific coast… Yes, I think I'm gonna get some of that."
Russian Empire: "You and what army?"
B.A.K.: "This army."
James Smith (A.K.A. Armstrong Hyman Thruston): "Dear God, why me... Oh yes, the whole assassination thing."

And it would be funny too, if in the end an independent California was reduced to just the Baja Peninsula.

 

[Slan]

Oh boy, this Kingdom of America will be much stronger than the US when it's grown up.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Winter 1824

Manhattan

First Lord Eli Whitney would spent much of his political capital over the past year attempting to resolve the internal crisis regarding slavery. There remained large numbers of ardent abolitionists whom did not want to wait another five years for total emancipation of the remaining slaves. There remained a large number of pro-slavery advocates whom repeatedly petitioned the courts that manumission was illegal. Many of these latter pointed out that their own commodities produced (usually tobacco, cotton, indigo, rice, etc) were among the most vital exports for the nation.

Whitney tried to thread the needle and managed to summon fund for a one-time, all-inclusive manumission which would provide slave owners with compensation for the human capital lost while freeing the remaining slaves six years early. So many slaves were now fleeing to neighboring Dominions that hundreds of slave-owners were going bankrupt anyway.

It seemed like a fair solution.

Eli Whitney would be lauded by history for his action. Unfortunately, the successful (by a slim margin) manumission act of 1824 would also make permanent enemies of those slave-owners whom (despite economic collapse) would blame Whitney for destroying their way of life. The radicals would abhor rewarding slave-owners for their foul deeds with national cash. Those indifferent to the institution would decry the expense.

Whitney's majority in congress was already eroding to a bare thread as ambitious men like Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren and others sought his office. But what really destroyed his majority was the economic depression of the next several years partially brought about by the October, 1825 (deliberately chosen to allow for the harvest) Day of Manumission. While slaves had actually made up a minority of laborers even on the south central Dominions (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina), the sudden liberation would see significant emptying of plantations which focused on the high-profit crops. Now free laborers, a large number of these freedmen opted to flee their dominions at the first opportunity (fearful that the Manumission Act would be withdrawn or they would be forced to remain as some sort of indenture).

This would severely affect the balance of trade for America for the next few years as the nation's farmsteads would attempt to replace so much enslaved labor with free contract labor. Cotton plantations gave way to smaller cotton farms. Eventually, the new economic order would see to an expanding middle class of farmers whom partook in the most profitable businesses as they no longer had to compete with efficient large plantations. But the bankruptcy of so many large plantations would see the failure of many regional banks which eventually would severely harm the debtholders in the Bronx and Philadelphia stock and bond markets (the locations of the two largest stock and bond market places of the growing financial nation).

While Whitney would survive through 1825, it seemed unlikely he would remain First Lord for long with his expanding number of enemies.

Spring, 1825

The Mississippi River

The 20th of Foot would disembark from their flatboats in New Orleans only to quickly board deeper draft vessels for transport across the Gulf of Mexico (there was a movement to try to get it named the Gulf of America but was not receiving much traction) to the Dominion of Aethiopia. From there, the already exhausted 20th of Foot would struggle to find supplies to march across a thousand miles of prairie, desert and mountain to reach the Sierra Mountains.

 

[SilentSpaniard]

Poor Eli Whitney. Looks like it is a good agreement; after all, no one is happy about it.

"Let no good deed go unpunished," as they use to say.

 

[Slan]

I want America to snatch ALL of Russian America. Moscow is really stupid for investing that much in the Pacific Ocean, they have no way of fighting the Americans on the other side of the world, they could only keep these territories with divine help. And they also have to consider the threat of the Chinese, all of Russia's's resources should be directed to destroy and dismantle the Chinese, their real and most dangerous menace in the long run.

 

[SilentSpaniard]

An Alliance between British America and Angry!China* would be a possibility, they do share Russia as a common enemy...

*I told you to not wake the dragon! - Napoleon, surely.

 

[Alt History Buff]

Spring 1825

Naples, Kingdom of Italy

General Napoleon Bonaparte would face tremendous frustration after his humiliating retreat from Sicily over a year prior. First, he could not summon enough ships to make another attempt to land on the island. Then, the people whom had HAD liberated, the Neapolitans, would begin chaffing under the weight of their new crown. Taxes remained high, trade low. In the end, the reforms which Naples desired would seem to be no more forthcoming under the House of Savoy than the House of Bourbon.

The Princess/Empress/Regent Maria Beatrice, fearing Spanish Naval power, would hold Bonaparte back from another attempt at Sicily in 1825. In the meantime, the popularity of the House of Savoy for unifying Italy for the first time in a thousand years would already fade in the growing knowledge that the lot of the everyday Italian was hardly better and often worse under the new monarchy.

A riot in Naples would lead the frustrated Bonaparte to massacre several dozen southern Italians, bringing more disrepute to the regime. Already facing unrest, Maria Beatrice would recall Bonaparte for "consultation" in Turin.

As it was, the Princes/Empress/Regent would have enough to think about. With the unification of Italy, it seemed that now was the time to move the capital from Turin to Rome, a fine central location to represent all of Italy. The more prosperous northern Italians would have to meet their new southern countrymen halfway.

This would be a balance which Italy would struggle with for centuries.

San Diego, California

The new Congress of California had been created to "advise" King Jose I of California. In truth, these were the old Alcaldes whom had long controlled the remote areas of New Spain. The King and Congress had plenty of problems, not the least being that the nation had few significant resources beyond plenty of sunshine and enough arable land to support subsistence farming among the 200,000 souls discovered (much to the surprise of the census takers in 1824) to be living in the territory.

Unfortunately, the vague borders with Russian America, the Kingdom of British North America and Anahuac would leave plenty of room for interpretation. Already, miners from all regional neighbors were streaming into the Sierra Mountains with the intent of mine for silver. Lacking a strong army or a functioning bureaucracy, there seemed to be little California could do to enforce its own borders or even collect taxes on the silver being extracted.

Anahuac

King Augustin II of Anahuac, nearly 18, would face similar economic crisis...or he would if his ministers didn't run the country. Historically, New Spain was best known for producing silver, cochineal and being the waystation for Pacific trade.

By 1825, the Pacific trade was virtually dead, most of the silver mines were in territory controlled by the Spanish Crown and whatever goods Anahuac DID produce were virtually impossible to export as Spain controlled all access to the Gulf of Mexico as well as the southern waters of the Pacific.

For years, Anahuac and New Spain would live a precarious peace in their core lands with both raiding into what was once the breadbasket of New Spain, the Mexican Plateau, now depopulated and desolate. Once the largest city in the Americas dating back to the Mexica, Mexico City was now a pestilential swamp flooded for huge areas.

Cattle theft and raiding were the primary economic activities of the region while the young Kingdom of Anahuac would wait for the inevitable attempt by Spain to regain Carlos V's lands.

 

[Slan]

Spring 1825

Naples, Kingdom of Italy

General Napoleon Bonaparte would face tremendous frustration after his humiliating retreat from Sicily over a year prior. First, he could not summon enough ships to make another attempt to land on the island. Then, the people whom had HAD liberated, the Neapolitans, would begin chaffing under the weight of their new crown. Taxes remained high, trade low. In the end, the reforms which Naples desired would seem to be no more forthcoming under the House of Savoy than the House of Bourbon.

The Princess/Empress/Regent Maria Beatrice, fearing Spanish Naval power, would hold Bonaparte back from another attempt at Sicily in 1825. In the meantime, the popularity of the House of Savoy for unifying Italy for the first time in a thousand years would already fade in the growing knowledge that the lot of the everyday Italian was hardly better and often worse under the new monarchy.

A riot in Naples would lead the frustrated Bonaparte to massacre several dozen southern Italians, bringing more disrepute to the regime. Already facing unrest, Maria Beatrice would recall Bonaparte for "consultation" in Turin.

As it was, the Princes/Empress/Regent would have enough to think about. With the unification of Italy, it seemed that now was the time to move the capital from Turin to Rome, a fine central location to represent all of Italy. The more prosperous northern Italians would have to meet their new southern countrymen halfway.

This would be a balance which Italy would struggle with for centuries.

San Diego, California

The new Congress of California had been created to "advise" King Jose I of California. In truth, these were the old Alcaldes whom had long controlled the remote areas of New Spain. The King and Congress had plenty of problems, not the least being that the nation had few significant resources beyond plenty of sunshine and enough arable land to support subsistence farming among the 200,000 souls discovered (much to the surprise of the census takers in 1824) to be living in the territory.

Unfortunately, the vague borders with Russian America, the Kingdom of British North America and Anahuac would leave plenty of room for interpretation. Already, miners from all regional neighbors were streaming into the Sierra Mountains with the intent of mine for silver. Lacking a strong army or a functioning bureaucracy, there seemed to be little California could do to enforce its own borders or even collect taxes on the silver being extracted.

Anahuac

King Augustin II of Anahuac, nearly 18, would face similar economic crisis...or he would if his ministers didn't run the country. Historically, New Spain was best known for producing silver, cochineal and being the waystation for Pacific trade.

By 1825, the Pacific trade was virtually dead, most of the silver mines were in territory controlled by the Spanish Crown and whatever goods Anahuac DID produce were virtually impossible to export as Spain controlled all access to the Gulf of Mexico as well as the southern waters of the Pacific.

For years, Anahuac and New Spain would live a precarious peace in their core lands with both raiding into what was once the breadbasket of New Spain, the Mexican Plateau, now depopulated and desolate. Once the largest city in the Americas dating back to the Mexica, Mexico City was now a pestilential swamp flooded for huge areas.

Cattle theft and raiding were the primary economic activities of the region while the young Kingdom of Anahuac would wait for the inevitable attempt by Spain to regain Carlos V's lands.

California is almost begging to be become a Dominion.

 

[Tarabas]

Spring 1825

Naples, Kingdom of Italy

General Napoleon Bonaparte would face tremendous frustration after his humiliating retreat from Sicily over a year prior. First, he could not summon enough ships to make another attempt to land on the island. Then, the people whom had HAD liberated, the Neapolitans, would begin chaffing under the weight of their new crown. Taxes remained high, trade low. In the end, the reforms which Naples desired would seem to be no more forthcoming under the House of Savoy than the House of Bourbon.

The Princess/Empress/Regent Maria Beatrice, fearing Spanish Naval power, would hold Bonaparte back from another attempt at Sicily in 1825. In the meantime, the popularity of the House of Savoy for unifying Italy for the first time in a thousand years would already fade in the growing knowledge that the lot of the everyday Italian was hardly better and often worse under the new monarchy.

A riot in Naples would lead the frustrated Bonaparte to massacre several dozen southern Italians, bringing more disrepute to the regime. Already facing unrest, Maria Beatrice would recall Bonaparte for "consultation" in Turin.

As it was, the Princes/Empress/Regent would have enough to think about. With the unification of Italy, it seemed that now was the time to move the capital from Turin to Rome, a fine central location to represent all of Italy. The more prosperous northern Italians would have to meet their new southern countrymen halfway.

This would be a balance which Italy would struggle with for centuries.

San Diego, California

The new Congress of California had been created to "advise" King Jose I of California. In truth, these were the old Alcaldes whom had long controlled the remote areas of New Spain. The King and Congress had plenty of problems, not the least being that the nation had few significant resources beyond plenty of sunshine and enough arable land to support subsistence farming among the 200,000 souls discovered (much to the surprise of the census takers in 1824) to be living in the territory.

Unfortunately, the vague borders with Russian America, the Kingdom of British North America and Anahuac would leave plenty of room for interpretation. Already, miners from all regional neighbors were streaming into the Sierra Mountains with the intent of mine for silver. Lacking a strong army or a functioning bureaucracy, there seemed to be little California could do to enforce its own borders or even collect taxes on the silver being extracted.

Anahuac

King Augustin II of Anahuac, nearly 18, would face similar economic crisis...or he would if his ministers didn't run the country. Historically, New Spain was best known for producing silver, cochineal and being the waystation for Pacific trade.

By 1825, the Pacific trade was virtually dead, most of the silver mines were in territory controlled by the Spanish Crown and whatever goods Anahuac DID produce were virtually impossible to export as Spain controlled all access to the Gulf of Mexico as well as the southern waters of the Pacific.

For years, Anahuac and New Spain would live a precarious peace in their core lands with both raiding into what was once the breadbasket of New Spain, the Mexican Plateau, now depopulated and desolate. Once the largest city in the Americas dating back to the Mexica, Mexico City was now a pestilential swamp flooded for huge areas.

Cattle theft and raiding were the primary economic activities of the region while the young Kingdom of Anahuac would wait for the inevitable attempt by Spain to regain Carlos V's lands.

The situation in Italy gets more intriguing by the day. I hope that the House of Savoy enforces unification more wisely than it did OTL and that we have a more balanced situation between North and South. Curious about how will Napoleon be seen in the ALT-future... akin to OTL Garibaldi, perhaps?

 

[Israel_Dan the Man]

Great timeline!
If you're able, could you tell us what the population of all the North American states/colonies (including the ones in Mexico)? It is just to help me better understand the balance of power.

 

[SilentSpaniard]

A riot in Naples would lead the frustrated Bonaparte to massacre several dozen southern Italians, bringing more disrepute to the regime.

Napoleon, just trying to solve all of his problems with “a whiff of grapeshot”... That’s not always going to work!

Looks like there is not going to be a “Napoleon: King of the Italians” in this timeline… Or a Holy Roman Emperor Napoleon. Besides, the clock is ticking (that damn stomach cancer).