ATL: A Strange America

I'm still deciding on Burr's fate, and a new post will be up soon. I have a few ideas to sort out beforehand, though.

To clear things up about sachems and sagamores: the King is not the President. The King is head of state, and the President head of government. The President's full title is "President of the Congress." There is no vice president, and the President presides over the Senate.

EDIT: More on Burr -

Burr has an interesting path ahead of him, though where it leads I can't say. With a crowned Hamilton, Burr's career will have a difficult start. In OTL, Burr beat Hamilton's father-in-law Philip Schuyler in the race for New York Senator, which was one of the inciting incidents of the feud. In this timeline, I can imagine Schuyler beating Burr. Moreover, Burr had Jefferson's campaign to run with in OTL, but in this timeline, Jefferson's reputation as a politician has been tarnished by his disagreements with Hamilton during the Constitutional Convention, and he mostly sticks to writing political tracts and supporting other candidates. Perhaps Jefferson supports Burr as the head of the Democratic-Republicans? If someone with a little more expertise on the matter would like to weigh in, I would be much obliged.
 
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The Key and the Crown

June 24th, 1790

Thomas sat looking out the window of his private study. His eyes were glazed with thought as they roamed aimlessly over the green expanse of his plantation. One hand cupped a glass of red wine, good wine, French. The other clutched the rounded head of a key, his knuckles white with squeezing. Years of labor had gone into this house and he was sad to leave it, but he had no choice in the matter. There was a country that existed behind the barrier of imagination, but Hamilton had closed every door that led there. Thomas would be welcome in the country, but he couldn’t welcome it into his heart. Decades of war, and nothing to show for it but another pompous king. There was no place for Jefferson in Hamilton’s America, and now the swine would have a crown on his head. The only way out was the key in his hand.

LaFayette had sent it months ago, but it just arrived today. Thomas couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the key to the Bastille resting in his own hands. He’d been moping in Monticello, drinking and contemplating whether or not to leave his freshly-despoiled country. The key seemed a sign of providence – doors were opening where there had only been cruel and empty walls. Hamilton was a maggot feeding on Washington’s corpse, but there was still hope for liberty in France. He finished the glass and steeled his nerves. He had slept little the last few days but the next would be busier still. A feeling sprouted in him that had become all too foreign as of late. He smiled as paced, laying down the first bricks of a beautiful new country in his mind.

Hamilton thought the Revolution was over, but he was wrong, as usual. The Revolution was only now beginning, and the banner of liberty would fly across the world.


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July 4th, 1790

Independence Hall was packed tight with warm bodies. They swarmed into the building, pushing and shoving against each other so they’d have a place in the coronation. Many more pressed against the outer wall, arguing. Alexander had expected himself to wake up elated, but his excitement was tainted by anxious dread. It was only fitting, though, that the coronation should happen here. He remembered when they first gathered there to declare the cause of liberty – was it really 15 years ago? He shook his head. Washington’s memory hung on him like a phantom limb. George had seen the spark within an eager bastard and now here he was, and George was resting peacefully under Mount Vernon. Peace was what he deserved, and now Martha was sleeping beside him. He envied that tranquility nearly as much as he missed the man. He would’ve loved to have him here at his side. George would’ve made an excellent king himself.

Elizabeth touched his arm and he shivered, breaching the thin ice of his thoughts.

“Are you excited to be crowned, your Majesty?” she smirked. Alexander smiled tightly. When they married, he’d been nothing more than ingenious upstart commoner, and she a wealthy, tantalizing prize. Now she stroked the shoulder of a King.

“Perhaps not so much as you are to be Queen,” he teased.

Elizabeth tittered behind her fan. “My King, you wound me. Are you wounded yourself? Your eyes seem far away from Independence Hall.”

“No,” Alexander shook his head. “My thoughts are here. I remember when we first gathered here. The ideas we had. So many of us started as friends…”

Elizabeth squeezed his hand.

“Is this about Jefferson?” she asked. “I would’ve thought you’d be happy to have him on the other side of the ocean. You’ve said as much a thousand times.”

“It’s true,” he admitted. “But it’s a bloodier revolution there, and we can’t keep an eye on him at that distance. He could be even more dangerous across the sea.”

“But he’s not here now, darling. Be happy. Your people are waiting for you.”

Alexander sighed and gave Elizabeth a peck on the cheek before walking out to the Assembly Room. An inkling of joy crept into his heart as he looked over the huddled masses, cheering for the King that would be their servant. It was a humble coronation, but it was the most American coronation he could imagine, and it was his.


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Leadership of the Kingdom of America at its Inception in 1790


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Alexander I, King of the Americans

Alexander Hamilton was elected to preside over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and though his ideas were at center stage of the debate, it took over a year for them to reach consensus, and two years more for it to be ratified across the Union. Hamilton was declared King by the Electoral College with considerable opposition from Thomas Jefferson and his Republican supporters. Though the King was envisioned to be above party politics, Hamilton put the full brunt of his soft power behind the Federalists that brought him to the throne. Hamilton's economic policies and his personal conception of America guided the country's growth in its formative years.

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John Adams, First President of the Congress

Though John Adams was the pre-eminent leader of the Federalist party in its early years, he was well-known for his prickliness, and debated his own party nearly as often as he did the opposition. Hamilton's support led him to victory in the country's first elections but they were never on easy terms with each other, reportedly due to incompatible personalities. Still, Adams supported Hamilton's essential ideas on what was necessary for the country. Though he chafed at his superior's royal title throughout his life, he acknowledged the need for centralization within the government and worked to keep aristocracy disentangled from the American monarchy. In many ways, Adams' tie-breaking in the Senate and his many compromises with the King epitomized the core republican values of the American system.

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John Jay, Secretary of State

John Jay was appointed Secretary of State by King Alexander I, and is considered one of the most important figures in American history. He and Hamilton had worked together on the Federalist Papers that would shape American policy, and with a common vision for the country Jay was a shoo-in for Secretary of State, though Hamilton originally favored him for President. The famous Jay Treaty in 1794 cemented relations with their former colonial masters and by 1795, Jay resigned the post of Secretary of State to become Governor of New York, his eyes set to the stars.

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Henry Knox, Secretary of War

Henry Knox was appointed Secretary of War in both our respective realities, and Washington's death did little to change his career. To quote your bizarrely-named Wikipedia (and what on earth is a wiki, anyway?), "In this role he oversaw the development of coastal fortifications, worked to improve the preparedness of local militia, and oversaw the nation's military activity in the Northwest Indian War. He was formally responsible for the nation's relationship with the Indian population in the territories it claimed, articulating a policy that established federal government supremacy over the states in relating to Indian nations, and called for treating Indian nations as sovereign. Knox's idealistic views on the subject were frustrated by ongoing illegal settlements and fraudulent land transfers involving Indian lands."

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Oliver Wolcott Jr., Secretary of the Treasury

Oliver Wolcott Jr. was appointed Secretary of the Treasury by Hamilton for similar economic policies, though some surmise that Hamilton also chose him for his tepid personality. Wolcott is mostly remembered as the executor of Hamilton's economic policies, and where he didn't agree with Hamilton he quickly reconciled in favor of the King.

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Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Oliver Ellsworth represented Connecticut at both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, where he mostly supported Hamilton's policies. He was forced to resign the position in 1800 due to failing health, and was largely overshadowed by John Marshall, the man who would succeed him in both my native timeline and your strange dimension.

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Frederick Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives

Frederick Muhlenberg was America's first Speaker of the House of Representatives. Though he was first chosen for his Federalist policies, he became best known for his commitment to neutrality and arbitration between political parties. His moderation eventually infuriated the party to which he belonged, and in 1795 he was replaced by Federalist-favorite Jonathan Dayton.
 
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Sulemain

Banned
This talk reminds me of a TL I have planned about a surviving Commonwealth of the Two (in this case, Three) Nations, whose head of state is called the King-President "The President of the Three Nations with the Power, Prestige and Piety of a King".
 
The First Five Years (1790-1795)

The first five years after the ratification of the Constitution and the coronation of King Alexander I were like tumbling off a waterfall – rough but exhilarating. The leaders of the new nation set to work with religious gravity, each act heavy in its symbolic purpose, positively dripping with first-ness.

These years were lived in the wake of the lengthy Constitutional Convention that succeeded it, and that Constitution resembled the one from your native timeline in many ways. The main difference, of course, was the establishment of a monarchy without an (explicit) aristocracy. James Madison helped to engineer the Three-Fifths Compromise which would look quite familiar to you, and though Hamilton was initially tempted to push a One-Half Compromise he quickly came around to Madison’s idea. He considered his economic programs tantamount in creating a cohesive nation and was willing to give Southerners more representative clout in exchange for their taxes.

The existence of both a King and a President complicated things when a Residence Act was proposed in 1790. Two political centers were intended to be built within Philadelphia, one for the Congress and one for the King, but Hamilton himself was reticent to spend money on fancy buildings with debt to pay off and an economy to stabilize. The revised Residence Act would stipulate that Congress would meet at Congress Hall until they created a more suitable replacement and that the King would live in his own private residence until a palace could be built. Hamilton House wouldn’t even be started until the late years of the next decade, and as time soldiered on the “temporary” Congress Hall became permanent. This epitomized both the unity and the duality of the country, with the King simultaneously part of the governing body and aloof from it.

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Congress Hall

Hamilton himself was in love with New York City and didn’t want to leave it, but he recognized the eventual necessity of having a royal residence. Most Southerners, even those who had been brought into the Federalist fold by Jefferson’s fall from grace, were loathe to accept a capital in New York City. Hamilton was unwilling to place his capital in the South, and a proposal to carve out a bit of land from Maryland and Virginia was shot down from all sides. The idea of taking land from the states to create a Royal Estate just stank of aristocracy, and Hamilton himself doubted his ability to fit in amongst the Southerners. Jefferson had the upbringing of a plantation owner but Hamilton had grown up poor and illegitimate, and doubted that living amongst the Southerners would do anything but offend them further. Instead, he spent time traveling throughout the country promoting his economic policies and trying to gain a reputation as a true King of the People. Alexander I learned much from Washington, and he recognized that one of George's greatest strengths was his humility. Alexander I was a good deal more arrogant than his late mentor, but he understood that at least the appearance of modesty would serve him better than kingly bluster.

The early years saw the creation of the American Mint, the success of the Coinage Act, and the establishment of the American Postal Service. Vermont was added as the 13th state of the American Kingdom in March, prompting what historians at the time were already prematurely calling the “Rhode Island Crisis.” Rhode Island was the last state of the former colonies to accept the federal powers of the American government or Alexander I’s coronation, and they had boycotted the Constituional Convention. Tensions were high for the four months before Rhode Island accepted Alexander Hamilton as their King and the American government as their ruling body, and people tried to forget their earlier panic. Though the Americans were loathe to attack a compatriot, the independent government of Rhode Island didn’t like the prospect of being surrounded by foreign powers and decided they were better off in the union.

America’s first serious conflicts came in 1791 as well. The Republican party that had formed despite Hamilton’s most ardent wishes protested the lack of a Bill of Rights within the Constitution. The Federalist government had excluded it in fear that rights that hadn’t been specifically enumerated would be implied not to exist. James Madison initially called a potential Bill of Rights a “parchment barrier” that would only grant illusory protection against tyranny, but even Hamilton realized he and the Federalists had miscalculated. Madison drafted the Bill of Rights and they were soon signed into action.

1793 left the nation grieving as news came of Thomas Jefferson’s execution under Robespierre's Reign of Terror. Even Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson’s most bitter rival, was reportedly extremely disturbed by Jefferson’s death. He didn’t like the man, to be sure, but Hamilton could hardly a world without his rival. France’s estimation in the eyes of America began to fall dramatically, an example of a Revolution gone wrong, and their own Revolution began to look a little rosier in comparison. In your native timeline, Washington signed the Proclamation of Neutrality, but King Alexander I signed no such document. Instead, he and the rest of the country eyed France warily, giving vague promises of neutrality without an official declaration. America's independence would have been extinguished like a cinder underfoot without the help of the Kingdom of France, but the King of France wore his crown no longer. The American government refused to continue paying back their debts to the French, stating that they were owed to the Kingdom of France, not the new Revolutionary government. Neither government is very fond of the other. Americans hear the streets of France are being paved with blood, but the French think America is worse. According to Jefferson, the country was compromised by aristocrats at its inception, and the American Kingdom stands as a symbol of corrupted Republican ideals.

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The National Razor

The Whiskey Excise Act proved a more immediate concern, implemented soon after the Rhode Island Crisis in August 1791. Hamilton was in need of more revenue but felt that import tax had been raised as high as it possibly could, making a domestic tax the only solution. The “Whiskey Tax” was intended to be a luxury tax that few would object to, but object they did. The tax allowed distillers to pay by the gallon or through a flat free, favoring big business over small. Hamilton was in favor of seeing larger American business, but small-scale distillers were less keen on the idea, as were the farmers West of the Appalachian mountains who often used whiskey as a bartering tool. Many veterans numbered amongst those who refused to pay, and Hamilton had no desire to incite violence against fellow patriots. The government tried diplomatic means to little success, with tax collectors tarred and feathered by disgruntled farmers. The conflict simmered as time went on until it reached a rolling boil in 1794, when rebels attacked American tax collectors and forced them to surrender their comission. Hamilton knew that this was the time to exercise the government’s authority, and though the President was technically Commander-in-Chief, he asked Adams’ permission to lead the militia to quell the revolt. When the rebels heard that the King himself was riding on horseback at the front of over 10,000 troops, they dispersed before Alexander I could even arrive. About 20 men were arrested in the aftermath, though most were acquitted or given presidential pardon soon after. The authority of the government had been affirmed without the need for bloodshed that would undermine popular opinion, and appeasing his opponents was still more important than Hamilton would’ve like to admit.

The Jay Treaty was signed in 1794, largely the work of Secretary of State John Jay, with only minor opposition from the relatively small faction that still supported France over Britain. Most Republicans lost their taste for francophilia when their ideological champion lost his head to the guillotine. Their independence had been won, most thought, and now was the time to stand alongside Britain on equal footing. With a few concessions on either side, the Jay Treaty was the beginning of amicable relations and prosperous trade between the two nations.

Adams was on difficult political footing during his first term in office – unlike Washington, Adams did not have the luxury of unanimous support, before or after taking office. He was widely criticized early on, but 1794 was a good year for the Federalists with the success of the Jay Treaty and Hamilton’s charismatic dispersal of the Whiskey Rebels. Adams reaped the benefits of the country’s growing sentiment for his party’s policies and was elected for a second term in 1795.
 
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Can you post the flag and coat of arms of this alternate United States?

I imagine the Kingdom would actually have a pretty similar flag and coat of arms. The current flag gained prominence prior to the PoD, though mostly as a naval ensign as the idea of a national flag was still in its infancy. It's the so-called "Cowpens Flag" that gains prominence:

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The 13 stars represent the 13 original colonies, but their formation also symbolizes the role of the monarch in the government. The surrounding stars represent the elected government of the people while the center star represents the king. The stars are identical in design to emphasize that all men are created equal, even the monarch, that the king rules not by divine right but by the will of the people, sitting at the center of politics without being directly involved.

As for the Coat of Arms, it was created in 1782, when this timeline's Hamilton was the most prominent figure in politics but not to the extent he would be by the Constitutional Convention. In the end, I think it would look quite similar, except perhaps the eagle would be crowned and the stars within the glory would be in the Cowpens formation. Unfortunately, I have zero graphical skills, so unless some good Samaritan comes along to peel me off the side of the road, you'll have to use your imagination.

In this timeline, I think the use of a crowned snake was briefly considered (a crown to represent the monarchy, the snake for Don't Tread on Me), but was quickly passed up. Hamilton would be shooting himself in the foot to depict himself as a crowned serpent. I also think that while a crown was proposed for the flag in place of the center star, it was passed up to assuage Republican fears, which has to be a priority of the American monarchy to avoid revolt.
 
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