The Commonwealth of American States in the 1830's Part I
The Commonwealth of American States
In the Commonwealth of American States the 1830’s began with a Chancellor’s Election. Following the House of Delegates Election in 1829 the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party cemented its control on the House of Delegates causing many to assume that Andrew Jackson would be in the Chancellor’s office come March of 1832. However, the Commonwealth Chartist Party was not quite ready to lie down and die just yet. When it came time for the Chancellor’s Election The Commonwealth Chartist Party would nominate the Retired General Henry Lee IV of Virginia. Lee was the most well known pro expansion member of the CCP and was a war hero same as Jackson, but also came from a family of heroes in Virginia. Of course the CMDP nominated Andrew Jackson of North Carolina. Lee would give Jackson more of a contest that Jackson had expected as Lee’s platform centered on Bringing the Island of Hispaniola into the Commonwealth as a state and their by expanding the Commonwealth, Jackson at first was opposed to this as many of the CMDP delegates wanted to divide the Territory of Hispaniola between the states. While Jackson focused his speech on forcing the issue of a toll free Mississippi River on the Republic of Louisiana, and bring Cuba into the Commonwealth via Carrot or Stick. The First Vote would hang with Jackson in the lead but short of the two vote majority. Between the two ballots Jackson would agree to the statehood of Hispaniola and to giving Lee a seat in the Cabinet with this deal in place Jackson would win on the second votes.
Chancellor Election of 1832.
First Vote: The vote is hung Jackson has more votes but short the 2 vote majority needed to win.
Andrew Jackson (CMDP-NC) 38 Votes
Henry Lee IV (CCP-VA) 37 Votes
Second Vote: Jackson wins by 3 votes.
Andrew Jackson (CMDP-NC) 39 Votes
Henry Lee IV (CCP-VA) 36 Votes
Jackson’s cabinet would be created in accordance to Cabinet Act of 1822 consisted of
Speaker of House: Gerard Chittocque Brandon (CMDP-GA)
Secretary of War: Henry Lee IV (CCP-VA)
Foreign Secretary: William Henry Harrison (CMDP-VA)
Secretary of State: Alexander Churchill (SNA-MD)
Secretary of Treasury: Cornelius Roosevelt (CMDP-Va)
Minister of Territorial Affairs: Archibald Tombs (CMDP-Sc)
The Jackson administration would commence with its plans to expand the Commonwealth on November 1, 1832 when The House of Delegates Voted to allow the Commonwealth Territory of Hispaniola became the sixth state known as Dominica after they submitted a proposed State Constitution that complied with the Commonwealth Charter and included a provision that English would be the language of Government and would be taught in addition to Spanish, and french. Their statehood would become official on November 10, 1833 but they would hold elections on November 8, 1832. Jackson’s administration would also pass the Naval Act of 1832 which provided for the construction of 8 more ships of the line and 12 more frigates and 50 sloops. All of the Frigates and Sloops were to be steam powered, it also expanded the Marine Regiment to a Brigade and promote Colonel Winfield Scott the Marine Regiment’s Commander to Brigadier General.
The 1831 House of Delegates Election would see the largest expansion in the membership of the House in the History of the Commonwealth following the 1830 census and the addition of the State of Dominica, the House would almost double going from 75 seats in the 1829 election to 147 in 1832(1). The story or the new house breakdown wasn’t that Virginia dominated the chamber but that North Carolina and Georgia thanks to skill full immigration recruitment had managed to narrow the gap with North Carolina closing to just 8 seats shy of Virginia. The election of 1832 would see the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party keep control of the House of Delegates, With the Commonwealth Chartist Party gaining seats, and the State Nationalist Alliance would see its caucus split between the Hawk and Dove wings of the party; with the doves having 14 seats and the Hawks having 11. The rally of the CCP and the dove Wing of the SNA were due in large part to the Turkish Immigrant voting block who had seen enough of war in their native lands and disliked the expansionist approach that the CMDP was taking.
Election of 1831
Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party: 76 seats
Commonwealth Chartist Party: 45 seats
State Nationalist Alliance: 25 seats
Anti Masonic Party: 1 seat
With his party retaining power in the House of Delegates, Jackson was free fully implement his agenda. He began by having Secretary of Treasury: Cornelius Roosevelt (CMDP-Va) create a discretionary funds account for the office of the Chancellor. From this account Jackson would fund a new wave of Filibusters across North and Central America, and the Caribbean Sea. The strongest focus of these Filibusters concentrations were in Louisiana and Cuba. Although the Mississippi War would come along in 1837 and allowed the annexation of the Republic of Louisiana into the Commonwealth. Cuba would take Longer to influence into coming into joining the Commonwealth but when it did join the Commonwealth it would be the ultimate victory of the Filibuster campaign. Later in his life Jackson would consider his support of the Filibusters was one of his most proudest accomplishments.
On a more above the counter legal note Jackson would use the period between 1832 and 1835 would be the most productive period of Jackson’s administration. It was during this period that Jackson was introduced to a South Carolina inventor named Isac McKnight he had developed a new gun with an new ammo that seemed promising. McKnight was a gun smith who had spent his life working at various arms companies around the world most notably he had worked with French Gunsmith Clement Pottet who had developed the first Center fire Cartridge back in 1829 (2); and with Samuel Colt (3) in the Federal Arsenal in New York, where he had seed Colts early work on his revolvers. McKnight had developed his own version of both technologies and combined the two. The McKnight Bullet was a fully contained Brass casing with a Conical Bullet at the top, at the base was the McKnight Primer. (4) McKnight married his bullet with his revolver designs to create the McKnight Revolver which was not only the first revolver to have a brass cartridge. When Chancellor Jackson and Secretary of War Lee met with McKnight at the Palmetto Armory in Charleston S.C. McKinght had not only his cartridge and revolver handgun to show off but a full length and carbine version of a prototype Revolving Rifle using his cartridge.
The pistol was featured a nine shot .40 caliber revolver where its 9-shot cylinder revolves around a separate central barrel of larger caliber than the chambers in the cylinder proper. The central barrel is smooth-bore and can function as a short-barreled .60 caliber or 20 gauge shotgun with the shooter selecting whether to fire from the cylinder or the smooth-bore barrel by flipping a lever on the end of the hammer. Flipping the lever up caused the movable striker to fall upon the primer set directly under the hammer, discharging the lower barrel, while leaving it in the standard position would fire the chambers in the cylinder, much like any other revolver. The Revolver was reloaded by pulling a pin on the front go the trigger guard which caused the butt of the gun to drop allowing for the rear of the cylinder and central tube to be exposed and the spent casings extracted and new bullets loaded. Thee carbine and Rifle were designed along the same pattern as the pistol but had a longer barrel and were chambered in a more powerful .45-70 caliber round. The Rifle and Carbine version both featured a lug to attach a bayonet something unheard of for Carbines at that time.
Both Jackson and Lee (who had not agreed on anything since before the war of 1805) were in agreement. McKnight was given a high level job at the massive Old Dominion Arsenal in Richmond, Virginia, and the Commonwealth Army bought his patients out right and complete for just over 500,000 Continental Gold Dollars (They would have to scrap 4 ships of line to come up with this money); as both men were in complete and total agreement the House of Delegates would have no problem passing the 1833 Small arms and Ordnance Act.
The McKnight family of small and long arms would be adopted as the 1833 McKnight Richmond Rifle, 1833 McKnight Palmetto Carbine,, and McKnight Augusta Revolver. Based upon the arsenal that each model was initially produced in. Although the complexity of the guns would make production difficult at first once production of the parts had been standardized production would become quicker. The production of ammunition for the guns would be done in North Carolina’s two small armories at Nashville and Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as St. Augustine Florida. The weapons would first see action with Scott’s Marine Brigade in the Mississippi War in 1837. By the end of the decade enough have been produced to equip one Infantry Division and one Cavalry Division in the Armies of each of the Continental States; as well as the entire Falkland Defense Force wit (all 6,000 men). The State Government of Falkland chose the carbine version for its entire force because it “better fit the fighting style of the Falkland Defense Force” there was also the fact that it was cheaper than the long rifle version.
The Generals of the Commonwealth were quick to realize that these new small and long arms were a game changers as one man equipped and trained with a McKnight Rifle or Carbine had the fire power of a company armed with traditional muskets or rifles. The only thing close was the Northerners in the Federal Republic with their Breech loading Hall Rifle and their new model Breech Loading Rifle with an improved breech loading system that was starting to enter service.
Secretary of War Henry Lee IV and the Commonwealth Commanding General Judah Gildstine formed a committee of Generals two from each state army to come up with new tactical theories for deploying unis armed with the new rapid firing rifles. The results of this committee would not be completed until the 1840’s.
The Massive military spending by the Commonwealth Government made a lot of state governments unhappy as the Commonwealth levy duties upon the states to get its funding not the citizens of the states. This would lead to the Commonwealth Chartist Party receiving lots of support from elected state government officials going into the 1834 Election. This push would be met by the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party’s grassroots support. The results would see the CMDP retain the Majority but see the CCP and the SNA make inroads into their majority.
Election of 1834
Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party: 68 seats
Commonwealth Chartist Party: 50 seats
State Nationalist Alliance: 28 seats
Anti Masonic Party: 1 seat
(1) 1830 census and 1830’s house of delegates breakdown by state
CSA states// 1830 census// 1832 house seats per state
Dominica// 450,800// 11
Falkland// 18,500// 1
Florida// 120,000// 3
Georgia// 1,162,700// 29
Maryland// 452,850// 11
North Carolina// 1,521,100// 38
South Carolina// 325,233// 8
Virginia// 1,842,250// 46
CAS Total// 5,893,433// 147
(2) This happened OTL
(3) He and his family moved to the FRA after the New English Civil War he still invents his Navy Colt Revolver TTL Covered in the Up coming FRA Chapter
(4) This is the OTL Berdan Primer.
In the Commonwealth of American States the 1830’s began with a Chancellor’s Election. Following the House of Delegates Election in 1829 the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party cemented its control on the House of Delegates causing many to assume that Andrew Jackson would be in the Chancellor’s office come March of 1832. However, the Commonwealth Chartist Party was not quite ready to lie down and die just yet. When it came time for the Chancellor’s Election The Commonwealth Chartist Party would nominate the Retired General Henry Lee IV of Virginia. Lee was the most well known pro expansion member of the CCP and was a war hero same as Jackson, but also came from a family of heroes in Virginia. Of course the CMDP nominated Andrew Jackson of North Carolina. Lee would give Jackson more of a contest that Jackson had expected as Lee’s platform centered on Bringing the Island of Hispaniola into the Commonwealth as a state and their by expanding the Commonwealth, Jackson at first was opposed to this as many of the CMDP delegates wanted to divide the Territory of Hispaniola between the states. While Jackson focused his speech on forcing the issue of a toll free Mississippi River on the Republic of Louisiana, and bring Cuba into the Commonwealth via Carrot or Stick. The First Vote would hang with Jackson in the lead but short of the two vote majority. Between the two ballots Jackson would agree to the statehood of Hispaniola and to giving Lee a seat in the Cabinet with this deal in place Jackson would win on the second votes.
Chancellor Election of 1832.
First Vote: The vote is hung Jackson has more votes but short the 2 vote majority needed to win.
Andrew Jackson (CMDP-NC) 38 Votes
Henry Lee IV (CCP-VA) 37 Votes
Second Vote: Jackson wins by 3 votes.
Andrew Jackson (CMDP-NC) 39 Votes
Henry Lee IV (CCP-VA) 36 Votes
Jackson’s cabinet would be created in accordance to Cabinet Act of 1822 consisted of
Speaker of House: Gerard Chittocque Brandon (CMDP-GA)
Secretary of War: Henry Lee IV (CCP-VA)
Foreign Secretary: William Henry Harrison (CMDP-VA)
Secretary of State: Alexander Churchill (SNA-MD)
Secretary of Treasury: Cornelius Roosevelt (CMDP-Va)
Minister of Territorial Affairs: Archibald Tombs (CMDP-Sc)
The Jackson administration would commence with its plans to expand the Commonwealth on November 1, 1832 when The House of Delegates Voted to allow the Commonwealth Territory of Hispaniola became the sixth state known as Dominica after they submitted a proposed State Constitution that complied with the Commonwealth Charter and included a provision that English would be the language of Government and would be taught in addition to Spanish, and french. Their statehood would become official on November 10, 1833 but they would hold elections on November 8, 1832. Jackson’s administration would also pass the Naval Act of 1832 which provided for the construction of 8 more ships of the line and 12 more frigates and 50 sloops. All of the Frigates and Sloops were to be steam powered, it also expanded the Marine Regiment to a Brigade and promote Colonel Winfield Scott the Marine Regiment’s Commander to Brigadier General.
The 1831 House of Delegates Election would see the largest expansion in the membership of the House in the History of the Commonwealth following the 1830 census and the addition of the State of Dominica, the House would almost double going from 75 seats in the 1829 election to 147 in 1832(1). The story or the new house breakdown wasn’t that Virginia dominated the chamber but that North Carolina and Georgia thanks to skill full immigration recruitment had managed to narrow the gap with North Carolina closing to just 8 seats shy of Virginia. The election of 1832 would see the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party keep control of the House of Delegates, With the Commonwealth Chartist Party gaining seats, and the State Nationalist Alliance would see its caucus split between the Hawk and Dove wings of the party; with the doves having 14 seats and the Hawks having 11. The rally of the CCP and the dove Wing of the SNA were due in large part to the Turkish Immigrant voting block who had seen enough of war in their native lands and disliked the expansionist approach that the CMDP was taking.
Election of 1831
Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party: 76 seats
Commonwealth Chartist Party: 45 seats
State Nationalist Alliance: 25 seats
Anti Masonic Party: 1 seat
With his party retaining power in the House of Delegates, Jackson was free fully implement his agenda. He began by having Secretary of Treasury: Cornelius Roosevelt (CMDP-Va) create a discretionary funds account for the office of the Chancellor. From this account Jackson would fund a new wave of Filibusters across North and Central America, and the Caribbean Sea. The strongest focus of these Filibusters concentrations were in Louisiana and Cuba. Although the Mississippi War would come along in 1837 and allowed the annexation of the Republic of Louisiana into the Commonwealth. Cuba would take Longer to influence into coming into joining the Commonwealth but when it did join the Commonwealth it would be the ultimate victory of the Filibuster campaign. Later in his life Jackson would consider his support of the Filibusters was one of his most proudest accomplishments.
On a more above the counter legal note Jackson would use the period between 1832 and 1835 would be the most productive period of Jackson’s administration. It was during this period that Jackson was introduced to a South Carolina inventor named Isac McKnight he had developed a new gun with an new ammo that seemed promising. McKnight was a gun smith who had spent his life working at various arms companies around the world most notably he had worked with French Gunsmith Clement Pottet who had developed the first Center fire Cartridge back in 1829 (2); and with Samuel Colt (3) in the Federal Arsenal in New York, where he had seed Colts early work on his revolvers. McKnight had developed his own version of both technologies and combined the two. The McKnight Bullet was a fully contained Brass casing with a Conical Bullet at the top, at the base was the McKnight Primer. (4) McKnight married his bullet with his revolver designs to create the McKnight Revolver which was not only the first revolver to have a brass cartridge. When Chancellor Jackson and Secretary of War Lee met with McKnight at the Palmetto Armory in Charleston S.C. McKinght had not only his cartridge and revolver handgun to show off but a full length and carbine version of a prototype Revolving Rifle using his cartridge.
The pistol was featured a nine shot .40 caliber revolver where its 9-shot cylinder revolves around a separate central barrel of larger caliber than the chambers in the cylinder proper. The central barrel is smooth-bore and can function as a short-barreled .60 caliber or 20 gauge shotgun with the shooter selecting whether to fire from the cylinder or the smooth-bore barrel by flipping a lever on the end of the hammer. Flipping the lever up caused the movable striker to fall upon the primer set directly under the hammer, discharging the lower barrel, while leaving it in the standard position would fire the chambers in the cylinder, much like any other revolver. The Revolver was reloaded by pulling a pin on the front go the trigger guard which caused the butt of the gun to drop allowing for the rear of the cylinder and central tube to be exposed and the spent casings extracted and new bullets loaded. Thee carbine and Rifle were designed along the same pattern as the pistol but had a longer barrel and were chambered in a more powerful .45-70 caliber round. The Rifle and Carbine version both featured a lug to attach a bayonet something unheard of for Carbines at that time.
Both Jackson and Lee (who had not agreed on anything since before the war of 1805) were in agreement. McKnight was given a high level job at the massive Old Dominion Arsenal in Richmond, Virginia, and the Commonwealth Army bought his patients out right and complete for just over 500,000 Continental Gold Dollars (They would have to scrap 4 ships of line to come up with this money); as both men were in complete and total agreement the House of Delegates would have no problem passing the 1833 Small arms and Ordnance Act.
The McKnight family of small and long arms would be adopted as the 1833 McKnight Richmond Rifle, 1833 McKnight Palmetto Carbine,, and McKnight Augusta Revolver. Based upon the arsenal that each model was initially produced in. Although the complexity of the guns would make production difficult at first once production of the parts had been standardized production would become quicker. The production of ammunition for the guns would be done in North Carolina’s two small armories at Nashville and Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as St. Augustine Florida. The weapons would first see action with Scott’s Marine Brigade in the Mississippi War in 1837. By the end of the decade enough have been produced to equip one Infantry Division and one Cavalry Division in the Armies of each of the Continental States; as well as the entire Falkland Defense Force wit (all 6,000 men). The State Government of Falkland chose the carbine version for its entire force because it “better fit the fighting style of the Falkland Defense Force” there was also the fact that it was cheaper than the long rifle version.
The Generals of the Commonwealth were quick to realize that these new small and long arms were a game changers as one man equipped and trained with a McKnight Rifle or Carbine had the fire power of a company armed with traditional muskets or rifles. The only thing close was the Northerners in the Federal Republic with their Breech loading Hall Rifle and their new model Breech Loading Rifle with an improved breech loading system that was starting to enter service.
Secretary of War Henry Lee IV and the Commonwealth Commanding General Judah Gildstine formed a committee of Generals two from each state army to come up with new tactical theories for deploying unis armed with the new rapid firing rifles. The results of this committee would not be completed until the 1840’s.
The Massive military spending by the Commonwealth Government made a lot of state governments unhappy as the Commonwealth levy duties upon the states to get its funding not the citizens of the states. This would lead to the Commonwealth Chartist Party receiving lots of support from elected state government officials going into the 1834 Election. This push would be met by the Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party’s grassroots support. The results would see the CMDP retain the Majority but see the CCP and the SNA make inroads into their majority.
Election of 1834
Commonwealth Manifest Destiny Party: 68 seats
Commonwealth Chartist Party: 50 seats
State Nationalist Alliance: 28 seats
Anti Masonic Party: 1 seat
(1) 1830 census and 1830’s house of delegates breakdown by state
CSA states// 1830 census// 1832 house seats per state
Dominica// 450,800// 11
Falkland// 18,500// 1
Florida// 120,000// 3
Georgia// 1,162,700// 29
Maryland// 452,850// 11
North Carolina// 1,521,100// 38
South Carolina// 325,233// 8
Virginia// 1,842,250// 46
CAS Total// 5,893,433// 147
(2) This happened OTL
(3) He and his family moved to the FRA after the New English Civil War he still invents his Navy Colt Revolver TTL Covered in the Up coming FRA Chapter
(4) This is the OTL Berdan Primer.
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