Who was the best president of the United States in this timeline?

  • Calvin Coolidge: the Revolutionary President

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    77
Map of North America

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1870

Rust: Republic of California

Yellow: Republic of Kansas

Tan: Freedonia

Light Blue: Republic of Florida

Dark Blue (On the Michigan Peninsula): Tecumseh’s Confederacy

Dark Blue (In Eastern Montana): Libertalia

Pink: Mexico

Green: United States of America
  • Northern Georgia: Cherokee

  • Eastern sliver of Alabama: Creek

  • Rest of Alabama: Rubrum

  • Reddish Green: Texas (annexed in 1864)

  • Pinkish Green (Arkansas and Oklahoma): Albion

  • Colorado plus small sliver of southern wyoming: Hanover Territory
 
Please tell me they take over Freedonia. Also, what is the population of the US so far? If I've asked before, sorry I have an awful memory.
No, it's fine. The total American population is OTL, but aside from certain places (example Hanover Territory) the West is less populated.

And no, America isn't looking to annex any new countries.
 
No, it's fine. The total American population is OTL, but aside from certain places (example Hanover Territory) the West is less populated.

And no, America isn't looking to annex any new countries.
Well, it'll be a nice addition of land to the US, and it'll mean more people to the American machine.

Btw, I love this timeline, especially stuff like Major General Edgar Allen Poe and how you show stories from the point of view of people who are in the timeline and fighting wars.

Anyways, I found this really cool alternate USA in 2018, you should check it out, it'll possibly give you some ideas.
 
Well, it'll be a nice addition of land to the US, and it'll mean more people to the American machine.

Btw, I love this timeline, especially stuff like Major General Edgar Allen Poe and how you show stories from the point of view of people who are in the timeline and fighting wars.

Anyways, I found this really cool alternate USA in 2018, you should check it out, it'll possibly give you some ideas.
Any chance I can get a link?

Also, thanks man.
 
Hey I know it's quite late to ask this but exactly changed with Bavaria? Is their rise to power as a major German state a separate POD or is it a result from the alternate War of 1812? If the change originated from 1812, what was it exactly. I know precious little knowledge of Germany in the mid-1800's so I'm honestly just wondering.
 
Hey I know it's quite late to ask this but exactly changed with Bavaria? Is their rise to power as a major German state a separate POD or is it a result from the alternate War of 1812? If the change originated from 1812, what was it exactly. I know precious little knowledge of Germany in the mid-1800's so I'm honestly just wondering.
King Ludwig I of Bavaria never stopped being a liberal monarch. He didn't suppress his citizens as OTL due to his minister's advise. And yes, it's a Seperate POD.
 
So according to the votes, Davis and Houston are tied for best president, with John Quincy Adams as the leading minority by one vote over Scott.

But who is the "other" President on the list?
 
Edgar Allan Poe
American Biography: 1830-1873

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1872) was a famous military leader in the American Civil War. Born in Boston, after a series of tragedies, was taken in by John Allan and Frances Allan. The Allans raised Poe, sending him off to school in Denmark (as opposed to United Kingdom).

Poe dropped out of the university of Virginia before joining the United States Army under a pseudonym. He attended West point. Due to John Allan's support, Poe graduated from West Point, granted at the bottom of the class. Poe served in the artillery corps as an officer. He would serve in the Canadian Campaign in the Anglo American War and during the Civil War before becoming the military govenor.

But Poe's mark on history is larger than this, seeing as he is considered to be the American master of horror. Poe published his first book of poems in Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827, and a second book in 1829. But it was his experiences in war that changed him.

After seeing the destruction and mayhem of battle, Poe wrote his first full length novel, The Raven in 1861. The novel depicted a raven watching a battlefield with eyes that could see the unseen. The battle between men was also joined by four mystical monsters.
  • "A pale skeleton with glowing eyes in the garb of a sqaw, fang teeth hanging down to the ribs."
  • "A perpetually burning Hell knight in blackened armor, a fiery sword in hand"
  • "A writhing mass of tentacles, covered in slime and oozing puss"
  • "A howling black dog with the horns of an elk, black as it's body and soul"
The Raven watched as the monsters manipulated and slaughtered men, the bird muttering "the monsters have led men to their doom in the past, and will so... Forevermore, forevermore...."

The book was a major success for Poe. He wrote a second book, Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1862. The book depicted two cousins, Epiphany and Dean Newman, traveling to a cabin to collect their inheritance, only to be hunted down by a vengeful ghost of a dead slave that had been twisted by hate.

The supernatural was a central theme in Poe's later works, most dealing with ghosts, grotesque monsters, and hidden horrors. After his death, the works of Edgar Allan Poe were known as Poetic Horrors and/or the Poetic Mythos.
 
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This TL's version of Uncle Tom's Cabin sounds awesome, It'd make a great movie.
Poe's stories are going to be a gold mine for horror movie inspiration. Something to note, Poe wrote a book called the Rue Morgue Murders , but it's more of a HP Lovecraft style horror about voodoo sacrifice. Poe did not write the first mystery novel/detective novel in this world.

But he did do some side work on training manuals for the army in the late 1840s as well as his OTL poems.
 
North America: 1837-1881
Go West Young Man! :1872-1875


There was a certain allure in the wild, untamed lands of the west. These open lands, often flat with the occasional hills, were in need of filling. The settlements were often far between one another, becoming smaller the further west one went.


President Jeb Stuart encouraged people to settle the territory. "Go west, young man. Leave the slum and go and make your fortune!" And that's what they did.


Caravans and wagon trains lined up and departed. Different trains went north west, others went south west. Conflict with most of the native tribes was avoided when Jeb Stuart sent his secretary of state John Allen Campbell to deal with them. This led to the beginnings of a series of negotiations that culminated in the creation of the Indian Autonomous Regions across the mid West.


Settlers continued to fill the land. In the most northern area of the United States west of the Mississippi river, a new territory was organized under the name of Clark (OTL Washington state). Almost simultaneously, a territory in the south west was established under the name of Jackson, the former president of Texas.


Unfortunately, the south west experienced conflict with two tribes, the Comanche and the Apache. Their conflict stretched back to the early days of the Texan Republic, and neither side by this time was in the mood to negotiate. By 1875, both tribes had been defeated and confined to reservations.


Dinner in Clark: 1875

January 7th, 1875

Dante Tortellini was helping his cousins unload the wagon. Furs, hides, and all matter of stock filled the wagon. The goods were brought into his employer's store. The owner, a man by the name of Cal K Dom, was a thin man with a grey beard that drapped down to his belly. He cast a glance at his workers. "There you. Quickly, the stove is almost dead. Pile in more coal." The Italian tossed five fist sized pieces in the pot bellied wood stove. Winter in Clark was always chilly, as Dante had discovered since he arrived in the territory. With his boss satisfied, he went to finish stocking the shelves.


Later that night, while Cal's wife was setting out bowls of beef stew, the table turned to politics.

"So, you think President Stuart is going to win a second term?" Dante asked his employer. The old man gulped down a spoonful before wiping it away with his sleeve. "Not sure. I know he's got the vote of the farmer with his whole greenback policy."

"Mi scusi?" Asked Cosmo, one of Dante's cousins.

"Greenbacks, paper money. He wants to increase inflation to help out the farmers of the west."

"How does that help?"

"He's backing the federal notes with silver. He says it'll make it easier for farmers to pay their debts to banks and more affordable to move their goods across the railways."


Dinner continued with more small talk. Cal looked at Dante. "Say, what brought you to America? I never asked before."

"I... ah... was a revolutionary from the papal states." "Oh... I see." Dante stirred his beef chunks. ".... I saw Garibaldi get his head blown off as he landed on the beaches. After that, the movement lost steam. The Austrians took the north, the kingdom of the two sicilies only holds the south, and Florence is back to being a duchy. Italia will never be united now." Dinner grew quiet.


"Forget Italy. You're an American now."

Dante and his family looked to their employer. "I know it's not home, but it can be. Sides, we don't need any wars of unification." "You're a strange man, Mr Dom. A strange man indeed. But a good one."


California Dreams: 1837-1875


The story of the independence of California has it's roots in the early days of Mexico. California experienced de facto independence and varying degrees of autonomy from Mexico City.


When the Mexican British War began in 1837 and ended in 1839, Alta California found itself more estranged from the capital. "If Mexico can not defend us, why must we pay tribute to them?"


In 1841, California began the move towards independence. The ring leaders were Pío Pico and the two Yankee migrants Kit Carson and John C Frémont. The first battle for Californian independence was on May 13th, 1842, just outside of the capital in Los Angeles when a pro independence milita confronted a Mexican company. From 1842-1845, California waged a war to break away from Mexico.


In 1846, the first presidential elections in a free California took place. Pío Pico was elected the first president of la república de California, serving from 1846-1850. Frémont in turn served after Pico from 1850-1854, with Kit Carson serving as the third president in 1854-1860, and Pío Pico again for another term.


California's population increased by several thousand during the gold rush. During the late 1860s to 1870s, Chinese immigrants flocked to California. Due to labor shortages in much of the nation, these immigrants are tolerated, but face discrimination daily from the Hispanics and whites in the republic.




Work in Clark: 1875


Dante Tortellini stood behind the counter at Williamsburg Trader in Clark Territory. It had been a relatively busy day. People coming in and buying seed to plant. After all, February was the beginning of planting season.


The door was opened again, ringing the bell. "Ah, good afternoon, how many I help you?"

"Ah, yeah, I'm looking for beet and radish seeds." Dante started to dig through the shelves until he came across what he was looking for.

"You a new around here?"

"Yeah, I just got here a month and a half ago. I was from South Carolina."

"No kidding," said the Italian as he packed up two boxes of seed. Bet he was a grey back.

"So, what brings you up here?"

"Cheap land to farm, and it's close to the sea."

"Is the sea important?"

"Yeah, quite a bit. I was in the navy for almost a decade."

Dante gave him the price and took his money. "Have a good day Mr..."

"Brown. Albert Brown."


Later that afternoon, Dante passed the time by reading from the local paper. The headline was that Samuel J Tilden was gathering support for his own campaign. Former President Tilden has announced his bid for the presidency for the 1876 election. Tilden has stated that he plans on tackling civil service. "What are you reading?"

"I'm still on the front page. Apparently Tilden is running for a second term." Cal K Dom cocked his head hearing that. "After he lost his first bid? Poor guy, he hasn't got a chance against Stuart."

"I don't know boss, he's planning on tackling some big issues."

"And Stuart is focusing on monetary policy and expansion. I heard from Ian that he's proposing legislation to Congress to transform those Indian Autonomous Regions into new territories. If Clark was a state, I'd be voting Democratic this year."

"Honestly, if I could vote, I don't know who I'd go for. But seeing as we can't vote, I say we find something else to talk about. Say, have you read this book called The Raven?"


The Real McCoy: 1867-1875

The Republic of Kansas was just beginning to ease restrictions on Texan cattle passing through the nation. The restrictions had been put in place due to the "Texas Fever" (also known as Spanish fever) being spread by ticks that hitched onto Texan Longhorn cattle. Texas Fever had the potential to decimate farmers herds. Kansas eased the law in 1867, allowing Texas cattle to be driven through "the first guide meridian west from the sixth principal meridian." This kept routes west of the cities located in eastern Kansas. Joseph McCoy, a native of Illinois, immigrated to the nation and settled in Abilene.


McCoy was a business man, getting his start in the cattle and mule markets, shipping them in the north. McCoy built a hotel in the town and contracted Republic Rail Roads (a small native Kansan company) to have a railroad built through the town and connect it to the American railroads in the Missouri territory. McCoy advertised his new rail head throughout American Texas. By 1868, 75,000 cattle were shipped from his stockyards across the nation and to the United States.


Abilene prospered and grew, becoming the Kansas cow town. The population boomed, and more businesses appeared in the City of the Great Plains. In 4 years, the population had gone from 47 to 3,000. More stock yards appeared, as did a rail diverter for loading cattle. A bigger jail was constructed. The seasonal population of cowboys in the city brought large scale prostitution. In 1870, McCoy was elected mayor. In order to keep the peace, he established "The Devil's Addition", the town's red light district on the west side of the tracks.

The growth of Abilene forced McCoy to enlarge the police force. One of the more famous law men was a gun slinger by the name of Wild Bill Hickok, who spent most of his time drinking in the Alamo saloon. Another issue in Abilene was that the city's growth had attracted farmers, the same people that helped impede cattle drives in the eastern part of Kansas. The farmers resorted to extreme measures to prevent cattle drives, burning fields. Conflict brewed. In 1871, the citizens created the Farmers' Protective Association to oppose cattle drives. Texas Fever was making havoc for these new farmers. Abilene barred the cattle trade from it's borders. McCoy and the cattle business moved further west. The city shrunk down to 1,000 people and returned to it's agricultural, rural roots.


McCoy, however, didn't go away. McCoy instead helped connect western Kansas to the American territory of Hanover. He continued working with Republic Rail Roads to expand the rails in Kansas. He was named Minister of Railways in 1874.

Bicentennial: 1876

Two things were drawing near: the next presidential election, and America's one hundredth anniversary. Festivals and celebrations happened across the nation. It was a time of jubilation. On July 4th, 1876, fireworks were launched over Fort McHenry.


The Democratic incumbent James Ewell Brown Stuart sought a continuation of his presidency. Samuel J Tilden of the Liberty Party in turn sought a second term.
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Stuart's vice president Gatz Brown stayed on the ticket. Colfax, Tilden's original vice president, declined an chose to remain in the House of Representatives. Rutherford B Hayes instead took his place. As November approached, the parties increased their campaign efforts.


Jeb Stuart was elected to a second term, ensuring continued Democratic control of the White House.


States, States, and More States: June- December 1876

You know what there's a lot of in America? States. You know what they need more of? States. On June 5th, 1876, Missouri was admitted to the Union as the 28th state. It's capital was Nowa Warsaw.
Later, on August 3rd, Iowa was admitted to the Union as the 29th state. It's capital was Des Moines.
On December 26th, 1876, Hanover was admitted as the 30th state to the Union. It's capital was Valentine.

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Cherokee
Admitted: March 5th, 1832


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Creek
Admitted: October 6th, 1833


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Rubrum
Admitted: May 17th, 1839



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Albion
Admitted: September 7th, 1869


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Missouri
Admitted: June 5th, 1876


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Iowa
Admitted: August 3rd, 1876


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Hanover
Admitted: December 26th, 1876


Hanover, Missouri, and Cherokee were made by @Marc Pasquin
Albion was made by @FriendlyGhost

Stuart's Second Term: 1876-1881


James Ewell Brown Stuart, in light of his re-election, launched an ambitious series of goals. In early 1877, Stuart ordered the construction of a Transcontinental Railroad. A handful of rails went as far as Hanover, but no farther. But with the territories of Oregon and Clark on the Pacific, it was deemed a top priority. The company American Atlantic was chartered to build it. The majority of workers were either young men from Hanover or polish Missourians.


Jeb Stuart, despite being ardently anti British, did not grant recognition to the Republic of Canada. The American government informed the British ambassador that the United States would stay out of the United Kingdom's sphere of influence. This didn't stop "private" loans from being given to Dunn's government in Ottowa.


In the summer of 1877, Stuart set out to to achieve his biggest campaign promise: Bimetalism. Stuart went before Congress on May 5th to propose legislation to take the U.S. off of the gold standard. Stuart's speech lasted a total of 43 minutes and 14 seconds. It lambasted the evils of the gold and spoke of the plight of the farmer. This would come to be known as the "golden noose" speech ("strangling the farmers on this golden noose, a rope that binds them to poverty"). However, the issue of Bimetalism created a split in the Democratic Party. One side wanted to continue its support of agrarianism and repeal the gold standard. The opposition instead supported the gold standard, refusing to inflate the economy with silver. It also took a more friendly line with business and wished to make civil service reform a primary concern, something the Libertarian Samuel J Tilden wanted to tackle.


Congress eventually passed legislation to adopt Bimetalism, which Stuart eagerly signed into law. Stuart was hailed as the greatest man to sit in the oval office by rural farmers in the west and on the east coast. Of course, this fiscal policy would create issues later on, but for now it was his triumph.


Thanks to the efforts of Stuart and his "moonshine democrats" (the populist wing of the party), the election of 1880 would be a much harder fight. Stuart's chosen successor, his secretary of state John Allen Campbell, was initially the Democratic nominee for president. The Liberty Party's nominee was James G Blaine. Campbell died in July, forcing the Democrats to find another candidate. Territorial governor James Baird Weaver was chosen to fill the place. During the election, the wing of the Democratic Party that opposed the moonshiners either refrained from voting or they voted for Blaine, who campaigned also on civil service reform. Blaine won the election, defeating Weaver. He was inaugurated in 1881.
 
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