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.
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.
Cherokee
Admitted: March 5th, 1832
Creek
Admitted: October 6th, 1833
Rubrum
Admitted: May 17th, 1839
Albion
Admitted: September 7th, 1869
Missouri
Admitted: June 5th, 1876
Iowa
Admitted: August 3rd, 1876
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.