Hello everyone! Sorry for the extremely slow wait this time, I've had a lot of writers block at the moment, and all of my classes are heavy-writing focused so I haven't had much time to write either. Through this semester, updates are likely to be a bit slower. However, since there's a limit on the number of images/post, I'll space them out a bit to fill the interval.
“I’ve always found that those most insistent on their titles ... are those least deserving of them.”
--Brian Staveley
With every day that the Ohio War stayed contained in the west, the more each state began to focus on domestic issues. And with the increasing focus on domestic issues, the monarchist states began to transition from their republican titles to using monarchist titles with most states taking Berkeley’s lead and becoming duchies with regents joining or replacing governors. Throughout 1791 and 1792, this was a simple affair occurring in the background of the Ohio War.
However, in the Old Dominion, the question of what the state should be changed to turned into a bitter political battle between Virginia’s Federalist, Confederationalist and Republican factions. Virginia was the largest state in the Union and home to over 20% of the Union’s population, so Virginia’s actions would have large ramifications on the future of the United States and the American Monarchy. Virginia’s Federalists believed that Virginia was to be the dominant state in the Union and as such should have a title higher than the Duchy or Margravate titles other monarchist states had adopted. The Confederationalists were divided between monarchist and republican camps, with the monarchist camp promoting a simple Duchy in order to avoid antagonizing the other states, while the republican camp wished to retain Virginia’s title as a Commonwealth. Unsurprisingly, the Republicans wanted Virginia to remain a Commonwealth in the hopes that the first step in rolling back the monarchy would be made in Virginia, while a few radical Republicans advocated for Virginia becoming a full Republic.
While Virginia’s title debate remained deadlocked through 1791 and 1792, a new election to the House of Burgesses and a considerable amount of political maneuvering allowed the Federalists to successfully push through a title change, thus on March 16th, 1793, the Commonwealth of Virginia was no more and the Grand Duchy of Virginia was born. As news spread, debates over whether or not Virginia could even adopt such a title, yet alone whether it would put Virginia ahead of other states erupted. Further complicating the issue was the fact that the official title of the monarch of the United States had yet to be officially decided. Most often referred to as “Prince,” the official title as per the constitution was simply “Monarch” as the monarchist clause in the constitution was undeveloped due to it never having been expected to be adopted. As such, nobody knew the actual “rank” that monarch Gilbert held, and therefore some accused Virginia of attempting to place itself above the Federal government, as well as the other states.
The first state to react was South Carolina which on July 4th renamed itself from the Duchy of South Carolina to the Grand Duchy of South Carolina, prompting further uproar across the United States and anger from the Virginian government. Regent of Virginia (and one of 2 major candidates for Grand Duke), Henry Lee III, denounced South Carolina’s self-promotion, accusing the South Carolinians of forgetting Virginia’s aid in the New African slave revolt.
Massachusetts changed its title on July 18th, adopting the title of Electoric-Duchy, a title created to show how the Duke was an Elected monarch. Still a relatively humble title, especially in comparison to those to come, Massachusetts’ title inadvertently stoked the flames as it was frequently misreported that Massachusetts declared itself an Electorate, a title with higher prestige than Duchy.
Up to this point, the rising squabbles over titles had remained relatively isolated to the monarchist states, with republicans broadly scorning or mocking the goings on. However, on July 22nd, both Connecticut and New York changed their titles. Connecticut declared itself a Serene Republic, while New York, despite being a monarchist state, became the Regent-Republic. Inspired by the Venetian Republic, Connecticut chose the term Serene Republic as a tribute to the state’s mercantile nature (“we always seek Serene waters” as Governor Huntington noted), while Regent-Republic was chosen by New York as the state adopted a permanent regency due to harsh tensions with the large Republican faction. Connecticut’s “lofty” title and New York’s “abuse of the term Republic” provoked outrage amongst Republicans as well.
North Carolina would declare itself a Grand Duchy on August 1st, but that was overshadowed by the declaration of the Free Duchy of Pennsylvania on August 3rd. Pennsylvania had been a republican state that stuck with the Union when the republican revolt occurred, and subsequently Pennsylvania’s politics were subsequently heavily divided. The Confederationalists (having organized into the state-level Reform Party) maintained plurality in the legislature, and held the Governorship. This meant that the Reform Party had to sway to either the Federalists or Republicans to maintain control. Prior to 1793, the Party leaned to the Republicans, however a rift between radical and moderate republicans had led the Reform Party to shift towards the Federalists. Federalists pushed for the shift to a monarchist government in exchange for support, and after much debate, the change was accepted, provoking much outrage amongst Republicans and those in other states who perceived Pennsylvania as attempting to place their state before their own.
Pennsylvania’s shift to a monarchical government would come with a cost: the only casualty of the Title War. On August 11th, Francis Wilkie, a Philadelphia shopkeep shot at Governor Thomas Mifflin while he was exiting church, only to miss and strike Governor Mifflin’s wife Sarah, mortally wounding her. Wilkie managed to escape, resulting in the largest manhunt in American history up to that point which Wilkie would avoid for over three years. Sarah Mifflin’s death surprisingly didn’t impact the Title War as Wilkie was believed to be a New Legionnaire, however upon his arrest in 1797, Wilkie would give a testimony “filled with the most foul blasphemies and profanities” that claimed he was acting under “the Brotherhood of the Fasces,” and that his actions were “revenge for Pennsylvania’s betrayal of the Republican cause.” A panic over the Brotherhood influenced the 1797 elections, but no such group actually existed; Wilkie suffered from some kind of mental illness, presumed to be dementia praecox by modern psychologists, and the Brotherhood was entirely a creation of his illness.
Following Pennsylvania’s shift to a duchy, the Title War would be followed by further escalation. Virginia would change its title to “Electoric Grand Duchy” on September 4th, followed by North Carolina switching to an “Electorate” on the 6th. Governor Robert Yates of New York would declare his state a “Republic” on September 8th, only for the legislature to revert the title to “State” on the 9th, only to change again to a “Nomocratic Duchy” on the 12th. New Hampshire would declare the Regent-Republic of New Hampshire on the 19th, and Franklin would become the Landgraviate of Franklin on the 28th.
South Carolina would escalate the situation even further on October 12th, declaring itself a “Free Electoric Grand Duchy.” Director Samuel Adams would comment on the state of affairs, remarking:
“With each state taking more and more lavish titles, there must be a great wastage of inks. It would then be better for each state to simply declare itself a Kingdom...”
The growing absurdity of the Title War was reaching a critical point as it was beginning to receive international attention and mockery. George III of Great Britain would remark on the situation:
“Each state desires to wear the Purple, yet they do not realise they serve under a Marquis.”
South Carolina’s October 12th title led to Virginian Alexander White, South Carolinian Andrew Pickens, and Marylander Richard Potts meet in Baltimore by the instruction of their states. Meeting through the winter in what came to be known as the First Baltimore Title Conference, the three men were attempting to negotiate a compromise to end the Title War. However restrictions placed upon them by their state governments prevented an actual compromise from forming. They did agree to try and assemble again with more delegates from more states, in the hope that an actual compromise could be made.
