A little ASB but...
POD: John C. Fremont pulls a stunning upset in the election of 1856 and manages to win the presidency by a narrow margin over Buchanan.
- The Southern Slave States respond by succeeding from the Union, this includes, stunningly, all slave states, Maryland included, however Fremont declares that the Union cannot afford to lose Maryland and thus, in the process, Washington DC. He raises an army and moves federal troops into Maryland and occupies the state, however the South also quickly mobilizes and prepares for war.
- However the result is not war, but instead a standoff, as Maryland chooses to sue for their freedom rather then fight for it. The case goes immediately to the supreme court and they rule, by a margin of 5-4, that a state has the right to succeed from the union.
- Fremont essentially choses to ignore them and goes to congress to ask for funding to raise an army. However he comes to another problem here, either he has to recognize the independence of the new CSA in order to eject Southern legislators, or he has no chance of winning the vote in congress. Thus he presents a bill and the CSA is given official recognition. He then immediately asks the remaining congress for a declaration of war, however it fails to garner the 2/3 majority necessary and fails. The country is cut in half exactly along free and slave state lines. The southern half of the Arizona territory is also ceded to the CSA.
- Fremont then stuns the nation, many say in an attempt to spite the South and those against his administration, by appointing Fredrick Douglass, the noted black abolitionist, to the post of Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Racial Affairs, a new position.
- During the elections of 1858 and 1860 the Northern political system changes radically, the Democrats and Republicans both become very unpopular, both because of their roles in the succeeding of the south, but another 3rd party, the Northern Party, comes to rise in their place. The party opposes war with the South and is economically and socially centrist.
- Following defeats in 1860 and 1864, former president Fremont announces his retirement from politics. By this point the Republican Party has fallen to about 10% of the vote nation wide while the Democrats stand at around 20% and the Northern Party at around 70%. As a result of this the so called 'last prominent Republican,' Fredrick Douglass, comes to the head of the party as it's its de facto leader.
- During the remainder of the 1860s Douglass takes the party on a long revitalization process. He transforms the party from its nationalist, abolitionist image under Fremont, to a progressive, borderline socialist, urban party. During the 70s this fails to really pick up, though the party hovers around 20% of the vote. However 1880 is a breakthrough, the Republicans become the second largest party in congress and Douglass wins over 1/3 of the popular vote in the presidential election.
- This rise continues and, though Douglass is upsettingly defeated by an incumbent Northerner in 1884, he manages to win the presidency in 1888 and become the second Republican President and the first non-Northern Party President in 28 years.