How a bunch of fat guys falling off horses wrecked the British Empire
- Thread starter Alt History Buff
- Start date
One of the consequences of the early loss of Ireland. The two principal financial backers of the Whigs at this point in time were the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl Fitzwilliam. Both are still wealthy and powerful magnates not dispossessed Anglo-Irish but they have both lost very substantial Irish estates and aren't quite as wealthy (and even perhaps not quite as Whiggish) as they were OTL.
Chapter 195
June, 1824
The Forbidden City
The Emperor's minions tittered about as they always did, governing the Middle Kingdom from the walls of the Forbidden city. The past few years had been terrible: huge, unseasonable rains were blamed upon the ash that covered the sky. Only now was it lifting...or settling to earth, whatever the case may be.
Huge swathes of land had been emptied out and needed to be repopulated. Several million subjects in very profitable and fertile regions had died or been displaced. The rice paddies must be replanted, the river cities rebuilt. There was also the desire to expand further northwest into the heathen Muslim lands.
When several hundred Chinese peasants were discovered ready to board a ship in Guangzhou for a labor contract in Java (the Dutch island had been the center of the troubles, apparently, and the population devastated), the local governor ordered them to halt and requested advice from the Capital. Was such a thing allowed?
The ministers thought on the matter. They did not desire their people corrupted by western influences. The foreign barbarians brought nothing but opium and trouble. It was only a great regret did the Emperor approve the acquisition of as much western technology as could be purchased and hiring the foreign advisors to train the nation in their construction and use. Besides, it was humiliating that the greatest nation on earth would see impoverished peasants fleeing across the globe to scrap out a living.
The Emperor approved a law requiring passports to travel, study and work abroad (the latter would be generally refused).
If the peasants were having difficulty finding employment, then the Emperor would be happy to resettle them in the damaged areas of the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys, the northeast of the country...and wherever the Empire may seek to expand.
Speaking of the Chinese Navy, the losses of the ships via that tsunami off the coast of the Nipponese Kingdom had been made good with new construction. They were armed with the cannon from the new foundries (founded by the Dutch). With the British sniffing around ever more (well, not in recent years, with the climate problems and the destruction of so much of the Indies), it was evident that the British and maybe some of the other foreign powers may seek to intervene in China again. The Emperor demanded that his nation be ready.
In the meantime, the Nipponese had spent far too much time crowing over their random deliverance from the Chinese Navy. It was time to consider teaching the little islanders a lesson.
Maratha Empire
General Napoleon Bonaparte was already getting tired of dealing with the Marathas. It was obvious that they had no intention of granting him command of an army against the southern rebels. Bonaparte was not interested in running cannon foundries or teaching artillery students.
That was when the Chinese Emissaries arrived in his foundry and made him an offer. It promised to get the aging soldier out of this tropical hell and perhaps do something more interesting.
Philadelphia
President John Copley passed the "Negro Homestead Act" without comment. There was plenty of land out west and only a few hundred thousand Negroes. They could easily accommodate ten times this many without a problem and still never hinder any westbound migration of whites. However, funding was light to help the Negroes actually GET THERE and few of the freedmen had the means to purchase the necessities of farm life out west. Still, it was better than nothing. Reportedly, the Negroes had taken New Jersey to court, claiming that their rights had been violated as the state did not specifically enfranchise them. It was an interesting social question. Were the Negroes citizens...or not?
In the meantime, the economy improve very slowly. Copley did not look forward to the next Congressional election.
Also, the Cubans were demanding more and more autonomy, akin to the Brazilians. However, the United States could control Cuba in a way that Brazil could never be subordinated. Was this the attitude that Copley wanted to take?
In the end, he authorized the formation of a regional Legislature similar to other territories. It would control local taxation and the military governors would find their power curbed. Cuba had not been particularly restive. He viewed this as a reason to reward them for their loyalty. He knew that Veracruz and Santander would soon follow, as would eventually California, Oregon and the western territories.
Well, he supposed, that is how it should be.
London
Queen Frederica's palsy (that dismal name stuck against her desire) continued to afflict the young woman. Her eye drooped, her lip remained curled downward on one side. She had forbidden any discussions of marriage until the condition improved.
In the meantime, the Queen approved her Ministers' plans for rebuilding Sumatra and the British East Indies.
The nation's political classes were debating the continuance of slavery in the colonies. The African trade had been forbidden two decades ago about the time of the Queen's birth but this did not eliminate the institution. Like most colonies in the West Indies, the British islands of Jamaica and Barbados had a negative population growth rate among the slaves due to a combination of tropical disease, harsh working conditions and a demographic imbalance among men/women (most African slaves were male). The latest had been largely eliminated with the demise of the African trade but the populations continued to drop.
The purchase of American slaves over the years had somewhat dampened the demographic losses (though both colonies had seen their populations cut in half) in the islands but not totally. When lifespans of slaves were measure in single digit years and infant mortality was several times higher than anywhere else on earth, the population was always in decline.
Recently, there had been a renewed slave trade, this time receiving surplus slaves from "British" Brazil. With the blockade of the British Brazilian and Rio Platan coastline, many mining and coffee industries had failed. Several thousand slaves had been quietly purchased in Rio and Sao Paolo by landowners whom sought to sustain their plantations by any means possible.
"British" Brazil had, from the start, a lower percentage of slaves than in the north (20% for a total of 300,000 slaves, mainly in the mines of Minos Gerais and the coffee plantations). This was heightened by the fact that the mines were particularly brutal. Also, the demographic male/female ratio was even more skewed ensuring a low natural birthrate. When "American" Brazil emancipated, many thousands of slaves from British Brazil fled north. In less than a decade, the high mortality rate (negative 5% annually on average), low birth rate (demographic imbalance), routine individual manumissions (often of the half-breed children of a white master and his black mistress), lack of fresh slaves from Africa, exports in small lots to the British West Indies and a slow but continuous drain of escapees to the north had dropped the number of slaves from 300,000 in 1810 to 165,000 by 1825. Again, the sexual ratio eventually corrected itself but even then a disproportionate number of females were sold as house servants in the cities and would later contribute to the mulatto population.
The British would continue to drain "British" Brazil of slaves at a few thousand a year to help prop up the incredibly lucrative sugar trade in Jamaica and Barbados. Though volume of product dropped, the high prices per pound of pure cane sugar (often preferred to sugar beet syrup) continued to make the islands profitable.
June, 1824
The Forbidden City
The Emperor's minions tittered about as they always did, governing the Middle Kingdom from the walls of the Forbidden city. The past few years had been terrible: huge, unseasonable rains were blamed upon the ash that covered the sky. Only now was it lifting...or settling to earth, whatever the case may be.
Huge swathes of land had been emptied out and needed to be repopulated. Several million subjects in very profitable and fertile regions had died or been displaced. The rice paddies must be replanted, the river cities rebuilt. There was also the desire to expand further northwest into the heathen Muslim lands.
When several hundred Chinese peasants were discovered ready to board a ship in Guangzhou for a labor contract in Java (the Dutch island had been the center of the troubles, apparently, and the population devastated), the local governor ordered them to halt and requested advice from the Capital. Was such a thing allowed?
The ministers thought on the matter. They did not desire their people corrupted by western influences. The foreign barbarians brought nothing but opium and trouble. It was only a great regret did the Emperor approve the acquisition of as much western technology as could be purchased and hiring the foreign advisors to train the nation in their construction and use. Besides, it was humiliating that the greatest nation on earth would see impoverished peasants fleeing across the globe to scrap out a living.
The Emperor approved a law requiring passports to travel, study and work abroad (the latter would be generally refused).
If the peasants were having difficulty finding employment, then the Emperor would be happy to resettle them in the damaged areas of the Yellow and Yangtze river valleys, the northeast of the country...and wherever the Empire may seek to expand.
Speaking of the Chinese Navy, the losses of the ships via that tsunami off the coast of the Nipponese Kingdom had been made good with new construction. They were armed with the cannon from the new foundries (founded by the Dutch). With the British sniffing around ever more (well, not in recent years, with the climate problems and the destruction of so much of the Indies), it was evident that the British and maybe some of the other foreign powers may seek to intervene in China again. The Emperor demanded that his nation be ready.
In the meantime, the Nipponese had spent far too much time crowing over their random deliverance from the Chinese Navy. It was time to consider teaching the little islanders a lesson.
Maratha Empire
General Napoleon Bonaparte was already getting tired of dealing with the Marathas. It was obvious that they had no intention of granting him command of an army against the southern rebels. Bonaparte was not interested in running cannon foundries or teaching artillery students.
That was when the Chinese Emissaries arrived in his foundry and made him an offer. It promised to get the aging soldier out of this tropical hell and perhaps do something more interesting.
Philadelphia
President John Copley passed the "Negro Homestead Act" without comment. There was plenty of land out west and only a few hundred thousand Negroes. They could easily accommodate ten times this many without a problem and still never hinder any westbound migration of whites. However, funding was light to help the Negroes actually GET THERE and few of the freedmen had the means to purchase the necessities of farm life out west. Still, it was better than nothing. Reportedly, the Negroes had taken New Jersey to court, claiming that their rights had been violated as the state did not specifically enfranchise them. It was an interesting social question. Were the Negroes citizens...or not?
In the meantime, the economy improve very slowly. Copley did not look forward to the next Congressional election.
Also, the Cubans were demanding more and more autonomy, akin to the Brazilians. However, the United States could control Cuba in a way that Brazil could never be subordinated. Was this the attitude that Copley wanted to take?
In the end, he authorized the formation of a regional Legislature similar to other territories. It would control local taxation and the military governors would find their power curbed. Cuba had not been particularly restive. He viewed this as a reason to reward them for their loyalty. He knew that Veracruz and Santander would soon follow, as would eventually California, Oregon and the western territories.
Well, he supposed, that is how it should be.
London
Queen Frederica's palsy (that dismal name stuck against her desire) continued to afflict the young woman. Her eye drooped, her lip remained curled downward on one side. She had forbidden any discussions of marriage until the condition improved.
In the meantime, the Queen approved her Ministers' plans for rebuilding Sumatra and the British East Indies.
The nation's political classes were debating the continuance of slavery in the colonies. The African trade had been forbidden two decades ago about the time of the Queen's birth but this did not eliminate the institution. Like most colonies in the West Indies, the British islands of Jamaica and Barbados had a negative population growth rate among the slaves due to a combination of tropical disease, harsh working conditions and a demographic imbalance among men/women (most African slaves were male). The latest had been largely eliminated with the demise of the African trade but the populations continued to drop.
The purchase of American slaves over the years had somewhat dampened the demographic losses (though both colonies had seen their populations cut in half) in the islands but not totally. When lifespans of slaves were measure in single digit years and infant mortality was several times higher than anywhere else on earth, the population was always in decline.
Recently, there had been a renewed slave trade, this time receiving surplus slaves from "British" Brazil. With the blockade of the British Brazilian and Rio Platan coastline, many mining and coffee industries had failed. Several thousand slaves had been quietly purchased in Rio and Sao Paolo by landowners whom sought to sustain their plantations by any means possible.
"British" Brazil had, from the start, a lower percentage of slaves than in the north (20% for a total of 300,000 slaves, mainly in the mines of Minos Gerais and the coffee plantations). This was heightened by the fact that the mines were particularly brutal. Also, the demographic male/female ratio was even more skewed ensuring a low natural birthrate. When "American" Brazil emancipated, many thousands of slaves from British Brazil fled north. In less than a decade, the high mortality rate (negative 5% annually on average), low birth rate (demographic imbalance), routine individual manumissions (often of the half-breed children of a white master and his black mistress), lack of fresh slaves from Africa, exports in small lots to the British West Indies and a slow but continuous drain of escapees to the north had dropped the number of slaves from 300,000 in 1810 to 165,000 by 1825. Again, the sexual ratio eventually corrected itself but even then a disproportionate number of females were sold as house servants in the cities and would later contribute to the mulatto population.
The British would continue to drain "British" Brazil of slaves at a few thousand a year to help prop up the incredibly lucrative sugar trade in Jamaica and Barbados. Though volume of product dropped, the high prices per pound of pure cane sugar (often preferred to sugar beet syrup) continued to make the islands profitable.
Regarding the US, wouldn't private charities or groups be willing to fund or supply Negro Homesteaders with supplies/tools to move out West?
Regarding the British, what about convict labor being used in the Caribbean?
Regarding the British, what about convict labor being used in the Caribbean?
Good point. I did mention private charities in past chapters helping escaped slaves from Carolina but this would be a big ask as there are 200,000+ newly free slaves plus what other freedmen wanted to go west. I think the government would have to be involved and 19th century governments were not set up for this. Charities would help some people but the effectiveness would be scattered.
I think I did have a blurb about France using the lesser Antilles as prisoner islands but can't remember if I had the British doing it in Jamaica or Barbados.
Chapter 195
January, 1825
Beijing
General Napoleon Bonaparte, at last, had been given a proper army. Granted 20,000 soldiers to train in the "western style", Bonaparte was able to determine the equipment and, to an extent, uniforms, of his army. There was a battle raging between the various ministers whom represented traditionalist versus modernizing factions in all facets of Chinese life, notably the army as well.
Bonaparte spent months (with his horde of French translators) investigating the format of the Chinese Army and deemed it outdated and inefficient in virtually all areas. This echoed what every foreign advisor had stated for decades. As the highest ranking foreigner to be given a commission in the army, Bonaparte was granted four brigades to drill as he pleased. He purchased tens of thousands of modern muskets, set up foundries and armories, rebuilt the cavalry, training the artillerymen.
It was the most fun he'd had in ages.
In the meantime, the Chinese sought revenge upon the Nipponese for their "defeat" at sea (really, it was the elements that did the job) and decided to put the little Nipponese Emperor in his place. However, the Emperor was persuaded to allow an army under the old style to invade Nippon.
40,000 men would be ferried across the Whale Sea to the main island of Nippon. The natives were waiting for them.
Philadelphia
President John Copley was getting tired of this job. The Centralist Party Convention was only months away and he feared internal dissention on his renomination.
Several issues divided the Centralists, most notably the massive influx of immigrants from Europe. In the past, this had universally been considered a good thing. However, over half were Catholics and a large portion of the rest were Orthodox, Jews and god-knows-what else.
The Centralists tended to find support among the Protestant gentry. The latest estimates were that the 1830 Census would reveal well over a million Catholic immigrants had arrived during the decade, even in New England, a region that historically despised Catholics. French, German, Irish and other communities had spread from Halifax to Salvador. The Brazilian territories, Louisiana and Caddo (vital to the new wine industry) had taken a disproportionate share but all the Eastern cities had "French Quarters" these days and "Little Germanies" and "Corktowns". A young nation with a huge quantity of land available, this should have been universally welcomed. The foreigners also broke up the demographics of Brazil, thus ensuring a base of support for the Americans separate from the Portuguese-speaking population.
The Federationists, wisely, had officially welcomed these new Americans. The Centralists may pay the price for that in the coming elections.
After years of economic recession, Copley did not like his chances in November.
London
The Queen remained unable to move the right side of her face due to the continuing Palsy. Her doctors were at a loss to explain the cause. It had not been a stroke. But Frederica was forced to restore Court Days and her previous public life, including plans for the first summer public procession in years. The Queen now spoke...adequately...but her characteristic smile had now been replaced with a carefully formed regal nod. Her sisters would visit in the summer for her procession (provided they were not with child), this year it would be a six week journey through Scotland and northern England. Their children were deemed old enough to partake.
Now entering her mid-twenties, there was more talk of the Queen marrying but Frederica refused under her current condition. Time would tell.
January, 1825
Beijing
General Napoleon Bonaparte, at last, had been given a proper army. Granted 20,000 soldiers to train in the "western style", Bonaparte was able to determine the equipment and, to an extent, uniforms, of his army. There was a battle raging between the various ministers whom represented traditionalist versus modernizing factions in all facets of Chinese life, notably the army as well.
Bonaparte spent months (with his horde of French translators) investigating the format of the Chinese Army and deemed it outdated and inefficient in virtually all areas. This echoed what every foreign advisor had stated for decades. As the highest ranking foreigner to be given a commission in the army, Bonaparte was granted four brigades to drill as he pleased. He purchased tens of thousands of modern muskets, set up foundries and armories, rebuilt the cavalry, training the artillerymen.
It was the most fun he'd had in ages.
In the meantime, the Chinese sought revenge upon the Nipponese for their "defeat" at sea (really, it was the elements that did the job) and decided to put the little Nipponese Emperor in his place. However, the Emperor was persuaded to allow an army under the old style to invade Nippon.
40,000 men would be ferried across the Whale Sea to the main island of Nippon. The natives were waiting for them.
Philadelphia
President John Copley was getting tired of this job. The Centralist Party Convention was only months away and he feared internal dissention on his renomination.
Several issues divided the Centralists, most notably the massive influx of immigrants from Europe. In the past, this had universally been considered a good thing. However, over half were Catholics and a large portion of the rest were Orthodox, Jews and god-knows-what else.
The Centralists tended to find support among the Protestant gentry. The latest estimates were that the 1830 Census would reveal well over a million Catholic immigrants had arrived during the decade, even in New England, a region that historically despised Catholics. French, German, Irish and other communities had spread from Halifax to Salvador. The Brazilian territories, Louisiana and Caddo (vital to the new wine industry) had taken a disproportionate share but all the Eastern cities had "French Quarters" these days and "Little Germanies" and "Corktowns". A young nation with a huge quantity of land available, this should have been universally welcomed. The foreigners also broke up the demographics of Brazil, thus ensuring a base of support for the Americans separate from the Portuguese-speaking population.
The Federationists, wisely, had officially welcomed these new Americans. The Centralists may pay the price for that in the coming elections.
After years of economic recession, Copley did not like his chances in November.
London
The Queen remained unable to move the right side of her face due to the continuing Palsy. Her doctors were at a loss to explain the cause. It had not been a stroke. But Frederica was forced to restore Court Days and her previous public life, including plans for the first summer public procession in years. The Queen now spoke...adequately...but her characteristic smile had now been replaced with a carefully formed regal nod. Her sisters would visit in the summer for her procession (provided they were not with child), this year it would be a six week journey through Scotland and northern England. Their children were deemed old enough to partake.
Now entering her mid-twenties, there was more talk of the Queen marrying but Frederica refused under her current condition. Time would tell.
Chapter 196
April, 1825
Philadelphia
President John Copley was stunned. His own party had voted to replace him atop the ballot in favor of that obnoxious ass, Daniel Webster. With the continued poor economic times, Copley would be the Party whipping boy in hopes that the public would not blame the Centralists as a whole. Copley was humiliated but also a bit relieved. The continuous economic and political crisis of the past few years had worn the man down before his time.
Let the arrogant ass Webster take his turn at the helm, see how he liked it.
The Federationists, smelling blood, battled among themselves. Speaker of the House Clay (the Centralists had lost control of Congress in 1823 and Clay returned to the Speaker position after two years out of power). Adams and Clay were the frontrunners, William Crawford having been struck by a stroke and no longer in the running. Half a dozen other candidates emerged but it came down to Clay and Adams again.
This time, Clay won out over the sullen Adams.
In November, the nation would choose between to arrogant young hotheads.
Honshu
The Chinese army outnumbered the Nipponese at least two to one. Mongolian and Manchu Bannermen and impressed Han infantry of the old style dominated the Chinese forces. The navy had wiped aside any Nipponese resistance by water and disgorged the army upon a quiet corner of Honshu.
The Nipponese, the Shogun newly confident after the Tsunami annihilated the Chinese fleet a few years before, fully expected to destroy the Chinese at land as easily as at sea.
He proved to be right. The Chinese forces were an organizational mess and fell into a Nipponese trap. Within a five hour period, the Nipponese had surrounded, cut off and wiped out a substantial portion of the Chinese army. The would-be conquerors retreated to defensible heights and immediately pressed for assistance from China.
Beijing
General Napoleon Bonaparte grinned. Not bad, he thought of his rapidly improving forces. Not great. But getting better.
Mannheim, the Palatinate
The German states once again met. They had largely forced the Empress to retreat on some key issues lest she be pushed to the Empire's outskirts.
Now, the Germans wanted more. The dozens, maybe, hundreds of little polities of the Holy Roman Empire were broken up by Ecclesiastical states and free cities. Surely, these could be formed into one unified "open" area in which all the major powers of Germany may travel, trade, etc with without restriction.
This last grab for power would infuriate Maria Theresa II.
London
Frederica, Dowager Princess of Wales, was dead after a short illness. She had planned on partaking in the summer procession with her daughters and granddaughters but now would never be granted the opportunity to even meet her granddaughters.
The Dowager Princess would be buried in Westminster next to her late husband. They marriage had been largely a sham but they would rest together. Queen Frederica was devastated. She had been close to her mother, the odd little German woman one of the few people who did not try to tell her what to do.
Her sisters would arrive for the belated funeral and go into mourning. Then, the family would continue on the summer procession a bit late.
Stockholm
The House of Hanover continued to grow. Three out of four of King Frederick's children, including both of his sons and one of his daughters, produced legitimate issue over the past few weeks. Similarly, his brother Alfred, "King" of Courland, would have his second child, a boy this time.
The Cape
The Zulu emissaries agreed not to destroy the coastal Dutch cities in exchange for an annual tribute of modest value. In truth, this far southwest was stretching even Shaka's reach and the Zulu army was not set up for besieging European cities. The Dutch were allowed a small stretch of the coast with which to act as a port for passing ships...but that was all. By now, more and more Dutch settlers were boarding ships for New Holland, where their ranching and farming skills were greatly in need.
April, 1825
Philadelphia
President John Copley was stunned. His own party had voted to replace him atop the ballot in favor of that obnoxious ass, Daniel Webster. With the continued poor economic times, Copley would be the Party whipping boy in hopes that the public would not blame the Centralists as a whole. Copley was humiliated but also a bit relieved. The continuous economic and political crisis of the past few years had worn the man down before his time.
Let the arrogant ass Webster take his turn at the helm, see how he liked it.
The Federationists, smelling blood, battled among themselves. Speaker of the House Clay (the Centralists had lost control of Congress in 1823 and Clay returned to the Speaker position after two years out of power). Adams and Clay were the frontrunners, William Crawford having been struck by a stroke and no longer in the running. Half a dozen other candidates emerged but it came down to Clay and Adams again.
This time, Clay won out over the sullen Adams.
In November, the nation would choose between to arrogant young hotheads.
Honshu
The Chinese army outnumbered the Nipponese at least two to one. Mongolian and Manchu Bannermen and impressed Han infantry of the old style dominated the Chinese forces. The navy had wiped aside any Nipponese resistance by water and disgorged the army upon a quiet corner of Honshu.
The Nipponese, the Shogun newly confident after the Tsunami annihilated the Chinese fleet a few years before, fully expected to destroy the Chinese at land as easily as at sea.
He proved to be right. The Chinese forces were an organizational mess and fell into a Nipponese trap. Within a five hour period, the Nipponese had surrounded, cut off and wiped out a substantial portion of the Chinese army. The would-be conquerors retreated to defensible heights and immediately pressed for assistance from China.
Beijing
General Napoleon Bonaparte grinned. Not bad, he thought of his rapidly improving forces. Not great. But getting better.
Mannheim, the Palatinate
The German states once again met. They had largely forced the Empress to retreat on some key issues lest she be pushed to the Empire's outskirts.
Now, the Germans wanted more. The dozens, maybe, hundreds of little polities of the Holy Roman Empire were broken up by Ecclesiastical states and free cities. Surely, these could be formed into one unified "open" area in which all the major powers of Germany may travel, trade, etc with without restriction.
This last grab for power would infuriate Maria Theresa II.
London
Frederica, Dowager Princess of Wales, was dead after a short illness. She had planned on partaking in the summer procession with her daughters and granddaughters but now would never be granted the opportunity to even meet her granddaughters.
The Dowager Princess would be buried in Westminster next to her late husband. They marriage had been largely a sham but they would rest together. Queen Frederica was devastated. She had been close to her mother, the odd little German woman one of the few people who did not try to tell her what to do.
Her sisters would arrive for the belated funeral and go into mourning. Then, the family would continue on the summer procession a bit late.
Stockholm
The House of Hanover continued to grow. Three out of four of King Frederick's children, including both of his sons and one of his daughters, produced legitimate issue over the past few weeks. Similarly, his brother Alfred, "King" of Courland, would have his second child, a boy this time.
The Cape
The Zulu emissaries agreed not to destroy the coastal Dutch cities in exchange for an annual tribute of modest value. In truth, this far southwest was stretching even Shaka's reach and the Zulu army was not set up for besieging European cities. The Dutch were allowed a small stretch of the coast with which to act as a port for passing ships...but that was all. By now, more and more Dutch settlers were boarding ships for New Holland, where their ranching and farming skills were greatly in need.
Chapter 197
November, 1825
Philadelphia
The battle between the young bucks was among the closest in history in the electoral college, but Clay won by over 5% of the popular vote and was given a clear mandate in Congress when the Federationists won majorities in both house (14 seats in the House, 4 in the Senate).
Webster, an elitist snob from New Hampshire, returned home with the intent of being elected to the House in the next election cycle (neither the two New Hampshire Senate seats would be up for reelection in 1827).
Clay was, shall we say, a politician whom followed the winds. He saw that the Jeffersonians were effectively dead as a faction in the Federationists and realized that he need to keep the Party along the middle ground where disaffected Centralists may defect to the Federationist side. The lines blurred a great deal as the general platforms became ever more similar.
London
Queen Frederica regretted saying goodbye to her sisters and nieces but had to get back to business in the fall. The Summer procession went well. The nation remained in mourning for the Queen Mother but life went on.
Then, after remaining in power for virtually her entire life, the Tory government fell apart due to a mixture of a poor economy and infighting. Spencer Percival, in poor health, opted to retire from politics after nearly two decades trying to keep the assorted power brokers of the Tory Party together.
Lord Liverpool, Canning and Castlereigh would inherit but this fractious coalition were never able to maintain their unanimity.
Eventually, the Whigs under Lord Grey would assume command of a weak majority. Not terribly much would change but there was greater move towards Catholic and Jewish Emancipation as well as some Electoral Reform.
The Queen made few such public comments but followed the matter closely. Her Palsy did not appear to be fading thought the pain was not what it once was. She made no efforts to reconsider marriage.
Honshu
After months of preparations, General Bonaparte's army was dispatched to Honshu to preserve what was left of the Chinese forces that had been crushed by the Nipponese. By most accounts, the Nipponese Empire under the latest Shogun was corrupt and incompetent, their victory over the Chinese notwithstanding.
Bonaparte's weapons of choice had arrived from Britain, France and America. His men had been moderately well drilled in their use, the Emperor having been generous with ammunition. It was a good thing because Bonaparte had been able to determine defective ammunition supplies and have them destroyed. The foreman of the Powderhouse was prosecuted as a result. His replacement ensured properly formed cartridges. By the end of 1825, the riflemen had reportedly fired off thousands of rounds each while the musketmen had fired over 100. That was highly unusually given the high cost of ammunition. In France, it had been common for some soldier not to fire a round for years at a time in spite of an official budget for all men to fire two rounds a year to "accustom them to the recoil".
With French artillery, British muskets and American rifles, the modern Chinese force disembarked upon Nipponese soil and would face the same army of Samurai whom had routed the Chinese forces before.
Moscow
Czar Paul retreated ever further from public life, his son and heir Alexander now truly governing the nation on a regular basis. Disappointed that so many Russians resented him, the Czar ceased to interact as he got older.
Almost without his involvement, the Russian Empire continued to expand west and southwest. The Caucasus, after years of warfare, had been largely cleaned of rebellious Muslims. The Circassians had been expelled into the Ottoman, which was fighting yet another civil war (no one knew the reason behind this one. It was assumed another Porte had been murdered.). The Turks, Arabs, etc had been likewise expelled from Pontic Greece, Armenia and Assyria, Georgia, Ossentia, etc. The Chechyans, Avars and other Muslim tribes of the east had been pushed back fifty miles, as were many of the small tribes of Dagestan, into the semi-independent state of the Azeris (nominally a vassal of the Persians). The Buddhist Kalmyks were largely left alone.
The Russians also continued to march into the lands of the Turkic tribes, the Kazaks most notably. Paul was not in a mood to deal with them and ten years ago had ordered them pushed back. The tribesmen fought a near continuous war that became a near continuous retreat. The land opened up was granted to Russians (most of the Caucasus was reserved for the local peoples provided they behaved) in need of free land. Still, the movement into Central Asia and Siberia was slow.
Spain
After years of defacto retirement, King Ferdinand of Spain died on his country estate. He had not been much of a King but still was generally liked.
His son, Infante Carlo of Spain, was crowned King of Spain and Emperor of the Americas. His wife, Maria, was brought in from Portugal to be crowned as well. His dispatched letters to his brothers in the Americas where they served as nominal Kings.
He then went back to plotting the return of Rio Plata, New Spain and Brazil to his family line, just as he'd done for years while Regent. Spain was still not ready for the next war, but he was determined to get it closer.
In the meantime, he demanded to know why the partisan attacks on the British occupying Rio Plata had been slowed.
November, 1825
Philadelphia
The battle between the young bucks was among the closest in history in the electoral college, but Clay won by over 5% of the popular vote and was given a clear mandate in Congress when the Federationists won majorities in both house (14 seats in the House, 4 in the Senate).
Webster, an elitist snob from New Hampshire, returned home with the intent of being elected to the House in the next election cycle (neither the two New Hampshire Senate seats would be up for reelection in 1827).
Clay was, shall we say, a politician whom followed the winds. He saw that the Jeffersonians were effectively dead as a faction in the Federationists and realized that he need to keep the Party along the middle ground where disaffected Centralists may defect to the Federationist side. The lines blurred a great deal as the general platforms became ever more similar.
London
Queen Frederica regretted saying goodbye to her sisters and nieces but had to get back to business in the fall. The Summer procession went well. The nation remained in mourning for the Queen Mother but life went on.
Then, after remaining in power for virtually her entire life, the Tory government fell apart due to a mixture of a poor economy and infighting. Spencer Percival, in poor health, opted to retire from politics after nearly two decades trying to keep the assorted power brokers of the Tory Party together.
Lord Liverpool, Canning and Castlereigh would inherit but this fractious coalition were never able to maintain their unanimity.
Eventually, the Whigs under Lord Grey would assume command of a weak majority. Not terribly much would change but there was greater move towards Catholic and Jewish Emancipation as well as some Electoral Reform.
The Queen made few such public comments but followed the matter closely. Her Palsy did not appear to be fading thought the pain was not what it once was. She made no efforts to reconsider marriage.
Honshu
After months of preparations, General Bonaparte's army was dispatched to Honshu to preserve what was left of the Chinese forces that had been crushed by the Nipponese. By most accounts, the Nipponese Empire under the latest Shogun was corrupt and incompetent, their victory over the Chinese notwithstanding.
Bonaparte's weapons of choice had arrived from Britain, France and America. His men had been moderately well drilled in their use, the Emperor having been generous with ammunition. It was a good thing because Bonaparte had been able to determine defective ammunition supplies and have them destroyed. The foreman of the Powderhouse was prosecuted as a result. His replacement ensured properly formed cartridges. By the end of 1825, the riflemen had reportedly fired off thousands of rounds each while the musketmen had fired over 100. That was highly unusually given the high cost of ammunition. In France, it had been common for some soldier not to fire a round for years at a time in spite of an official budget for all men to fire two rounds a year to "accustom them to the recoil".
With French artillery, British muskets and American rifles, the modern Chinese force disembarked upon Nipponese soil and would face the same army of Samurai whom had routed the Chinese forces before.
Moscow
Czar Paul retreated ever further from public life, his son and heir Alexander now truly governing the nation on a regular basis. Disappointed that so many Russians resented him, the Czar ceased to interact as he got older.
Almost without his involvement, the Russian Empire continued to expand west and southwest. The Caucasus, after years of warfare, had been largely cleaned of rebellious Muslims. The Circassians had been expelled into the Ottoman, which was fighting yet another civil war (no one knew the reason behind this one. It was assumed another Porte had been murdered.). The Turks, Arabs, etc had been likewise expelled from Pontic Greece, Armenia and Assyria, Georgia, Ossentia, etc. The Chechyans, Avars and other Muslim tribes of the east had been pushed back fifty miles, as were many of the small tribes of Dagestan, into the semi-independent state of the Azeris (nominally a vassal of the Persians). The Buddhist Kalmyks were largely left alone.
The Russians also continued to march into the lands of the Turkic tribes, the Kazaks most notably. Paul was not in a mood to deal with them and ten years ago had ordered them pushed back. The tribesmen fought a near continuous war that became a near continuous retreat. The land opened up was granted to Russians (most of the Caucasus was reserved for the local peoples provided they behaved) in need of free land. Still, the movement into Central Asia and Siberia was slow.
Spain
After years of defacto retirement, King Ferdinand of Spain died on his country estate. He had not been much of a King but still was generally liked.
His son, Infante Carlo of Spain, was crowned King of Spain and Emperor of the Americas. His wife, Maria, was brought in from Portugal to be crowned as well. His dispatched letters to his brothers in the Americas where they served as nominal Kings.
He then went back to plotting the return of Rio Plata, New Spain and Brazil to his family line, just as he'd done for years while Regent. Spain was still not ready for the next war, but he was determined to get it closer.
In the meantime, he demanded to know why the partisan attacks on the British occupying Rio Plata had been slowed.
Chapter 198
April, 1826
Honshu
The Corsican General had shattered the Samurai army over the course of three battles. Men whom had trained as warriors for decades were cut down like wheat before the superior firepower of the Chinese army. The repeating rifles, though they still jammed too often, sliced through the ranks of the Nipponese swordsmen and impressed commoners.
Bonaparte's mastery of artillery also was decisive. His "grapeshot" would mow through entire lines of soldiers, his cunning use of the high ground made the obsolete Nipponese artillery even more useless. Peasants fled and the Samurai growled in frustration. Entire great families saw the flower of their dynasties cut apart by the barbarian army.
Eventually, the Nipponese fled to their mountain strongholds but these stone fortresses had not been designed for modern French artillery. They were quickly and easily shattered.
Bonaparte's elite modern army marched forward while the rest of the Chinese forces were left in a garrison role.
The humiliating defeats of the previous fall had not been forgotten as the Chinese took a heavy toll upon the Nipponese. Champions of the modernization factor in Beijing would point to this discrepancy in outcome to press the Emperor and his Mandarin puppet-masters to continue the upgrade of the forces from the ancient style of bannermen.
Smelling blood, the Chinese diverted ever more forces to Nippon. The Chinese Navy, recently rebuilt in the face of the losses to the tsunami, circled Nippon and wiped out any Nipponese naval forces (and any civilian ships as well, even down to petty fishing boats). As a mountainous nation, Nippon depended greatly on the sea for internal trade (there was very little external trade, mainly with China and the Dutch Republic).
With the Dutch Republic barely able to control their own colonies and having lost the valuable island of Java (only now were the Dutch even learning the staggering number of dead from the volcanic eruptions), they were not capable of intervening militarily. The British, which never forgot the defeat to the Chinese Navy in Guangzhou, were more interested in ongoing opium trade negotiations with the Emperor (he would flatly refuse after months to years of stalling) than intervening in a hermit land with which they've never traded.
Moscow
After years of pseudo-retirement, Czar Paul I of Russia, the Liberator, died. He would leave a mixed legacy.
He prevented Habsburg-Wettin domination of Europe by keeping Poland and Saxony from uniting with the Hereditary lands. He was responsible for the creation of White Russia (under a younger son) and the new states of the Balkans. He conquered and pushed back much of the Islamic influence in the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia, as well as the Central Asian plains. He move his nation ever further into Siberia.
The quantity of wars in which the Czar participated in Europe was actually lower than Russia traditionally involved itself. His great-grandchildren would rule the Swedish-Hanover-Norwegian-Pomeranian-Finnish Kingdoms and his Grandson would rule Mecklenburg. There was no compelling threat to his Kingdoms by any single power.
Still, history would know him best as the "Liberator" of the serfs. While he softened harsh penal laws and did his best to prevent onerous taxation on the newly freed peasants, he patently refused to grant any form of Parliament along the French, Dutch, British, Swedish, American, etc lines. He lived and died an absolute monarch, though one legitimately desiring the best for his subjects.
In an act of spite, he even paid down debts by selling many of his hated mother's paintings in the Hermatage, the great works being scattered across Britain, France and America, for the most part. Indeed, President Burr in his final year of office even authorized the formation of a "national gallery" with public museums in Philadelphia, Boston and New York based upon the American government's purchase of several hundred of these works of art and large numbers of private donations over the years. Mr. Brunel started construction on these buildings during the Copley Administration and expected it completed within the year. Paul I justified this by stating that he should not ask the peasants to shoulder the burden of war when various artworks seen by only a few nobles resident in Saint Petersburg.
The Czar's modernization policies were largely failures, though anyone would have struggled with the magnitude of the problems. Russia was not ready in terms of infrastructure to employ millions of peasants moving to the cities. This lack of opportunity led many to start seeking new lives abroad. The numbers, at first, would be minor, especially to a nation of over forty million citizens. Fifty thousand people per year going to Greece, Poland (particularly the Jews), Finland (mainly Finns under Russian jurisdiction), America, American Brazil, etc, wasn't even a blot on the ledger. The nation, like most of Europe, was experiencing a population boom and no administration official thought the exodus even merited attention, much less actively trying to stop it. This would increase over the years but no attempt was made to halt the outflow of "undesirables and malcontents".
Alexander I of Russia took over, a middle-aged man whom had been training for this his entire life. While he lacked his father's irrationality, he was eccentric in his own ways, always looking to mysticism. Plodding and unimaginative, little changed under the new Regime. Massive reforms like liberation of the serfs were rare, even minor reforms spread out over his reign. Alexander attempted to continue internal improvements for infrastructure, modern industry, education for the masses, expansion out west via land grants. However, none of this was ever done fast enough for the expanding Russian population whom desired not only economic improvements but political reform.
Still, there was promise. His line was stable. His eldest daughter and heir had just given birth by her husband, a minor prince named Leopold, a younger son of the Saxe-Coburgs.
His second daughter was now married to the heir of Sweden, Norway, etc and had also just given birth.
The future seemed bright despite all the problems of his dynasty.
April, 1826
Honshu
The Corsican General had shattered the Samurai army over the course of three battles. Men whom had trained as warriors for decades were cut down like wheat before the superior firepower of the Chinese army. The repeating rifles, though they still jammed too often, sliced through the ranks of the Nipponese swordsmen and impressed commoners.
Bonaparte's mastery of artillery also was decisive. His "grapeshot" would mow through entire lines of soldiers, his cunning use of the high ground made the obsolete Nipponese artillery even more useless. Peasants fled and the Samurai growled in frustration. Entire great families saw the flower of their dynasties cut apart by the barbarian army.
Eventually, the Nipponese fled to their mountain strongholds but these stone fortresses had not been designed for modern French artillery. They were quickly and easily shattered.
Bonaparte's elite modern army marched forward while the rest of the Chinese forces were left in a garrison role.
The humiliating defeats of the previous fall had not been forgotten as the Chinese took a heavy toll upon the Nipponese. Champions of the modernization factor in Beijing would point to this discrepancy in outcome to press the Emperor and his Mandarin puppet-masters to continue the upgrade of the forces from the ancient style of bannermen.
Smelling blood, the Chinese diverted ever more forces to Nippon. The Chinese Navy, recently rebuilt in the face of the losses to the tsunami, circled Nippon and wiped out any Nipponese naval forces (and any civilian ships as well, even down to petty fishing boats). As a mountainous nation, Nippon depended greatly on the sea for internal trade (there was very little external trade, mainly with China and the Dutch Republic).
With the Dutch Republic barely able to control their own colonies and having lost the valuable island of Java (only now were the Dutch even learning the staggering number of dead from the volcanic eruptions), they were not capable of intervening militarily. The British, which never forgot the defeat to the Chinese Navy in Guangzhou, were more interested in ongoing opium trade negotiations with the Emperor (he would flatly refuse after months to years of stalling) than intervening in a hermit land with which they've never traded.
Moscow
After years of pseudo-retirement, Czar Paul I of Russia, the Liberator, died. He would leave a mixed legacy.
He prevented Habsburg-Wettin domination of Europe by keeping Poland and Saxony from uniting with the Hereditary lands. He was responsible for the creation of White Russia (under a younger son) and the new states of the Balkans. He conquered and pushed back much of the Islamic influence in the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia, as well as the Central Asian plains. He move his nation ever further into Siberia.
The quantity of wars in which the Czar participated in Europe was actually lower than Russia traditionally involved itself. His great-grandchildren would rule the Swedish-Hanover-Norwegian-Pomeranian-Finnish Kingdoms and his Grandson would rule Mecklenburg. There was no compelling threat to his Kingdoms by any single power.
Still, history would know him best as the "Liberator" of the serfs. While he softened harsh penal laws and did his best to prevent onerous taxation on the newly freed peasants, he patently refused to grant any form of Parliament along the French, Dutch, British, Swedish, American, etc lines. He lived and died an absolute monarch, though one legitimately desiring the best for his subjects.
In an act of spite, he even paid down debts by selling many of his hated mother's paintings in the Hermatage, the great works being scattered across Britain, France and America, for the most part. Indeed, President Burr in his final year of office even authorized the formation of a "national gallery" with public museums in Philadelphia, Boston and New York based upon the American government's purchase of several hundred of these works of art and large numbers of private donations over the years. Mr. Brunel started construction on these buildings during the Copley Administration and expected it completed within the year. Paul I justified this by stating that he should not ask the peasants to shoulder the burden of war when various artworks seen by only a few nobles resident in Saint Petersburg.
The Czar's modernization policies were largely failures, though anyone would have struggled with the magnitude of the problems. Russia was not ready in terms of infrastructure to employ millions of peasants moving to the cities. This lack of opportunity led many to start seeking new lives abroad. The numbers, at first, would be minor, especially to a nation of over forty million citizens. Fifty thousand people per year going to Greece, Poland (particularly the Jews), Finland (mainly Finns under Russian jurisdiction), America, American Brazil, etc, wasn't even a blot on the ledger. The nation, like most of Europe, was experiencing a population boom and no administration official thought the exodus even merited attention, much less actively trying to stop it. This would increase over the years but no attempt was made to halt the outflow of "undesirables and malcontents".
Alexander I of Russia took over, a middle-aged man whom had been training for this his entire life. While he lacked his father's irrationality, he was eccentric in his own ways, always looking to mysticism. Plodding and unimaginative, little changed under the new Regime. Massive reforms like liberation of the serfs were rare, even minor reforms spread out over his reign. Alexander attempted to continue internal improvements for infrastructure, modern industry, education for the masses, expansion out west via land grants. However, none of this was ever done fast enough for the expanding Russian population whom desired not only economic improvements but political reform.
Still, there was promise. His line was stable. His eldest daughter and heir had just given birth by her husband, a minor prince named Leopold, a younger son of the Saxe-Coburgs.
His second daughter was now married to the heir of Sweden, Norway, etc and had also just given birth.
The future seemed bright despite all the problems of his dynasty.
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Chapter 199
November, 1826
Honshu
While he continued to win battle after battle with his reformed forces, Napoleon Bonaparte of the Chinese Army faced a near constant insurgency by fanatical peasant militia. The Samurai had been massacred en masse in the battles, dying with great, if futile, bravery. But, in truth, a peasant with a week's experience with a modern firearm was the equal to any samurai.
The mountainous country was almost impossible to tame outside the cities or ports. Most of the largest population areas of Honshu had been taken but the Chinese army stretched ever further apart. Without a major army to face, the reformed Chinese army was less effective in an occupational role.
However, Nippon had its weaknesses as well. Transportation on the islands was almost impossible and the peasantry was dependent upon sea transport, entirely in the hands of the Chinese. Food became difficult to come by as armies halted plantings, harvests and distribution of rice.
Hunger became a problem as the winter set in.
Philadelphia
President Henry Clay was juggling many balls. Arkansaw had applied for statehood and had been denied by Congress. Lacking a stable territorial government, no one saw how the Territory was ready for statehood.
The supporters of the freedmen were getting irritated by the harsh treatment they continued to receive in certain states and lack of tangible support for resettlement or training. The recent laws demanding 100% youth schooling did not appear to be getting applied to Negroes.
What's more, several cases of freedmen dying on the frontier for lack of food, shelter or basic necessities put the government settlement scheme in a bad light. Clay could point out that most of the 20,000+ immigrants entering the United States a month weren't exactly given horses, wagons, food, clothing, farming implements, seed, etc for a settlement west so why should the freedmen expect this?
However, he was wise enough not to say this. Somehow, Clay found the money for additional resources for freedmen to settle west. Already American Negroes owned land in ratios unheard of by peasants in the old world. What more did they want?
Clay knew that the Brazilians wanted either a declaration of American intentions to bring them into the political scene of the overall country (and all the complexity that brought) or a plan to encourage Brazil to independence. Clay knew that adding five new states of Portuguese speaking (though that percentage dropped daily as migrants settled in Brazil. Reportedly, 1/4 the population already spoke a language other than Portuguese) Catholics would not go down well in some quarters. But he also knew he could not keep Brazil in a subordinate role.
Clay knew that a compromise must be possible, if only he could find it. Brazil would make up at least 20% of the nation's population. That was a lot of Congressmen. Besides, what to do when Negroes took their place in Congress? What troubles there?
These questions would haunt Clay's term as he tried to reconcile the irreconcilable.
Rio Plata
Newly rearmed, the Spanish colonists crossed the Andes again, intending to rouse the peoples of the Rio Plata region outside of Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
Paris
King Philippe "Egalite", collapsed during his dinner. His final words were "My god, I think I'm having a heart attack.".
King Louis Philippe I would be crowned a month later in Reims. He was already in his early fifties but still represented a new guard around Europe (Russia, Spain, Britain).
November, 1826
Honshu
While he continued to win battle after battle with his reformed forces, Napoleon Bonaparte of the Chinese Army faced a near constant insurgency by fanatical peasant militia. The Samurai had been massacred en masse in the battles, dying with great, if futile, bravery. But, in truth, a peasant with a week's experience with a modern firearm was the equal to any samurai.
The mountainous country was almost impossible to tame outside the cities or ports. Most of the largest population areas of Honshu had been taken but the Chinese army stretched ever further apart. Without a major army to face, the reformed Chinese army was less effective in an occupational role.
However, Nippon had its weaknesses as well. Transportation on the islands was almost impossible and the peasantry was dependent upon sea transport, entirely in the hands of the Chinese. Food became difficult to come by as armies halted plantings, harvests and distribution of rice.
Hunger became a problem as the winter set in.
Philadelphia
President Henry Clay was juggling many balls. Arkansaw had applied for statehood and had been denied by Congress. Lacking a stable territorial government, no one saw how the Territory was ready for statehood.
The supporters of the freedmen were getting irritated by the harsh treatment they continued to receive in certain states and lack of tangible support for resettlement or training. The recent laws demanding 100% youth schooling did not appear to be getting applied to Negroes.
What's more, several cases of freedmen dying on the frontier for lack of food, shelter or basic necessities put the government settlement scheme in a bad light. Clay could point out that most of the 20,000+ immigrants entering the United States a month weren't exactly given horses, wagons, food, clothing, farming implements, seed, etc for a settlement west so why should the freedmen expect this?
However, he was wise enough not to say this. Somehow, Clay found the money for additional resources for freedmen to settle west. Already American Negroes owned land in ratios unheard of by peasants in the old world. What more did they want?
Clay knew that the Brazilians wanted either a declaration of American intentions to bring them into the political scene of the overall country (and all the complexity that brought) or a plan to encourage Brazil to independence. Clay knew that adding five new states of Portuguese speaking (though that percentage dropped daily as migrants settled in Brazil. Reportedly, 1/4 the population already spoke a language other than Portuguese) Catholics would not go down well in some quarters. But he also knew he could not keep Brazil in a subordinate role.
Clay knew that a compromise must be possible, if only he could find it. Brazil would make up at least 20% of the nation's population. That was a lot of Congressmen. Besides, what to do when Negroes took their place in Congress? What troubles there?
These questions would haunt Clay's term as he tried to reconcile the irreconcilable.
Rio Plata
Newly rearmed, the Spanish colonists crossed the Andes again, intending to rouse the peoples of the Rio Plata region outside of Montevideo and Buenos Aires.
Paris
King Philippe "Egalite", collapsed during his dinner. His final words were "My god, I think I'm having a heart attack.".
King Louis Philippe I would be crowned a month later in Reims. He was already in his early fifties but still represented a new guard around Europe (Russia, Spain, Britain).
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A wise politician or political party would starting courting immigrants and the freedmen with patronage. As for Brazil, perhaps forming some sort of Federation of American Republics with a common defense/foreign policy but internal autonomy would be good.
The Federationists are courting Catholics, in particular. I have the Centralists as being the heirs to the OTL Federalists and later Whigs, which tended towards the Protestantism.
I agree that the Brazilian solution you make may work in the short term but it would not be sustainable. Brazil is too large to be a defacto Puerto Rico. It would eventually clash with the US on some policy and the local government would decide to go their own way. It would only be a matter if this took 5 years or 20 years. Clay may actually push for a similar solution as you suggest. His personality was to try to forge a compromise on everything and certain things can't be had both ways.
Chapter 200
February, 1827
Algiers
For centuries, the Barbary pirates had harassed shipping and captured Europeans (with the intent of ransom or slavery) from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Occasionally, a European power would launch and assault powerful enough to force the various Kings, Sultans or Deys (or whatever) to restrict their activities. However, greater problems would seize the European minds and they would forget the Barbary states.
Powerful navies like Britain, Spain and France ensured few raids upon their flag. Everyone else had to pay. In 1827, the Dey of Algiers, a notorious pirate King had been steadily offending virtually everyone. France's navy had been so damaged over the years that the Dey had nearly a decade of unfettered raiding. The Americans were also a favorite target.
America had launched two expeditions in the past twenty years against various Barbary Kings. There had been little reward on any sustained level. By 1827, both America and France had the resources to deal with the most obnoxious of the Barbaries, Algiers.
A combined fleet of 25 warships and 4000 troops descended upon Algiers, wiping out the pirate fleet and seizing the city after a bitter battle. Despite many promises over the years, the Dey never halted the thieving for long. This time, there would be no forgiveness. The American and French retaliation was brutal, even by recent standards. The city was effectively sacked. All slaves, particularly Europeans, were freed and carried off to wherever they desired. An estimated 30,000,000 francs of goods were seized from warehouse, mosques, private homes, whatever. The Dey was arrested and sent to France for imprisonment.
If the French and Americans wanted to set an example, they did. Most of the other North African states had already been moving towards an end of slavery. The European and American fleets were too powerful, the ships too modern and large for a pirate state to exist anymore. But what the foreigners did not understand was the dynamics of politics had changed in the past few decades. The fall of the Ottoman Empire resulted in their nominal vassals like Egypt, the Levant and, of course, the Barbary States, to eject even the titular Ottoman administrators. In most cases, these were more ceremonial officials whom mainly endorsed the old order provided the Deys obeyed the general rules. Now, Deys became Kings, Kings to Emperors....etc.
Where the Ottoman once kept a general peace over the years, now the North African states turned upon one another, raiding territory in Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, Constantine, Oran, even to the borders to Morocco. Tribal chiefs outside the cities often tolerated intervention by Ottomans in ways that they never would accept from the regional Deys. Where the Ottomans approved the successions, now military coups by brothers, cousins, sons and, on one occasion, even wives of the potentates became common.
While Europe was battling one another, a similar brawl was taking place in North Africa. One of the stronger powers, Algiers, was doing well until the French and Americans wiped out the capital city. Immediately, Oran and Constantine launched assaults on the remainder with the intent of gaining control of the once rich area. Tunis and Tripoli had been fighting for years declaring one another pirates, thieves and, oddly, infidels. Morocco had largely stayed above these matters. Better governed than most of the Barbary states and with better relations with Europe and America, that larger northwestern state expected a sedate decade...until an explosion killed the Sultan and four pretenders immediately claimed the throne.
This was merely on the macro level. The diverse and mutually antagonistic tribesmen of the hills witnessed the collapse of the old order and promptly ignored any further commands from the cities. Old feuds, thought dead, were revived by the tribesmen. Rather than serving in the armies of the Deys, the tribal chiefs led raids against the cities they once protected.
Outside forces like Egypt, the shattered husk of the Ottoman and the European countries whom had once traded with the Maghreb, occasionally sided with various candidates for power, offering weapons, etc. This only made the problem worse. For nearly two generations, war in North African would become the norm rather than the exception.
February, 1827
Algiers
For centuries, the Barbary pirates had harassed shipping and captured Europeans (with the intent of ransom or slavery) from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Occasionally, a European power would launch and assault powerful enough to force the various Kings, Sultans or Deys (or whatever) to restrict their activities. However, greater problems would seize the European minds and they would forget the Barbary states.
Powerful navies like Britain, Spain and France ensured few raids upon their flag. Everyone else had to pay. In 1827, the Dey of Algiers, a notorious pirate King had been steadily offending virtually everyone. France's navy had been so damaged over the years that the Dey had nearly a decade of unfettered raiding. The Americans were also a favorite target.
America had launched two expeditions in the past twenty years against various Barbary Kings. There had been little reward on any sustained level. By 1827, both America and France had the resources to deal with the most obnoxious of the Barbaries, Algiers.
A combined fleet of 25 warships and 4000 troops descended upon Algiers, wiping out the pirate fleet and seizing the city after a bitter battle. Despite many promises over the years, the Dey never halted the thieving for long. This time, there would be no forgiveness. The American and French retaliation was brutal, even by recent standards. The city was effectively sacked. All slaves, particularly Europeans, were freed and carried off to wherever they desired. An estimated 30,000,000 francs of goods were seized from warehouse, mosques, private homes, whatever. The Dey was arrested and sent to France for imprisonment.
If the French and Americans wanted to set an example, they did. Most of the other North African states had already been moving towards an end of slavery. The European and American fleets were too powerful, the ships too modern and large for a pirate state to exist anymore. But what the foreigners did not understand was the dynamics of politics had changed in the past few decades. The fall of the Ottoman Empire resulted in their nominal vassals like Egypt, the Levant and, of course, the Barbary States, to eject even the titular Ottoman administrators. In most cases, these were more ceremonial officials whom mainly endorsed the old order provided the Deys obeyed the general rules. Now, Deys became Kings, Kings to Emperors....etc.
Where the Ottoman once kept a general peace over the years, now the North African states turned upon one another, raiding territory in Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, Constantine, Oran, even to the borders to Morocco. Tribal chiefs outside the cities often tolerated intervention by Ottomans in ways that they never would accept from the regional Deys. Where the Ottomans approved the successions, now military coups by brothers, cousins, sons and, on one occasion, even wives of the potentates became common.
While Europe was battling one another, a similar brawl was taking place in North Africa. One of the stronger powers, Algiers, was doing well until the French and Americans wiped out the capital city. Immediately, Oran and Constantine launched assaults on the remainder with the intent of gaining control of the once rich area. Tunis and Tripoli had been fighting for years declaring one another pirates, thieves and, oddly, infidels. Morocco had largely stayed above these matters. Better governed than most of the Barbary states and with better relations with Europe and America, that larger northwestern state expected a sedate decade...until an explosion killed the Sultan and four pretenders immediately claimed the throne.
This was merely on the macro level. The diverse and mutually antagonistic tribesmen of the hills witnessed the collapse of the old order and promptly ignored any further commands from the cities. Old feuds, thought dead, were revived by the tribesmen. Rather than serving in the armies of the Deys, the tribal chiefs led raids against the cities they once protected.
Outside forces like Egypt, the shattered husk of the Ottoman and the European countries whom had once traded with the Maghreb, occasionally sided with various candidates for power, offering weapons, etc. This only made the problem worse. For nearly two generations, war in North African would become the norm rather than the exception.
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Chapter 201
July, 1827
Honshu
General Napoleon Bonaparte was exhausted. After nearly a year of warfare had devolved into a brutal occupation punctuated with vicious and violent partisan warfare. The only redeeming feature was the fact that the Chinese Emperor continued to pour a seemingly inexhaustible quantity of soldiers. Nearly 150,000 regulars had been pressed across the Whale Sea.
The great cities of Edo and Kyoto fell under the assault of Bonaparte's shock troops. The less modernized Chinese soldiers were left behind to garrison those lands which Bonaparte conquered. One by one, the population centers fell before the well-armed Chinese army. Bonaparte learned that the Emperor had honored him with some long and convoluted title, which apparently meant something in Chinese. He would be rewarded with wealth when he returned to China and given "foreign guest status", whatever the hell that meant.
More importantly, the Emperor and his court realized that his reorganization of his "Experimental Army" was a success, especially compared to the lack of success by the traditional armies. The Emperor ordered another 200,000 soldiers to be trained in this new manner, whatever it was that Bonaparte wanted.
By the end of 1827, the island's defenses were formally destroyed. The Emperor of the Nipponese and his Shogun captured. The Corsican treated them with all honor and, against their expectations, sent them back to Beijing. They were the Mandarin's problem now.
Shortly thereafter, the nobles of the two southern islands pressed for peace, offering tribute to the Chinese Emperor in exchange for autonomy. Bonaparte referred this to the horde of bureaucrats dispatched to "assist" him with the governance of Nippon. He didn't care either way.
By early 1828, Bonaparte would be recalled to Beijing for two reasons: overseeing the modernization of the Chinese Army en masse...and preparing for an assault upon the Muslim barbarians whom had trespassed upon the northwest corner of the Emperor's realms.
London
Queen Frederica was getting tired of this pompous ass, Lord Grey. Why must all great men be so full of themselves?
The nation continued to slowly recover but the budget remained a problem. The constant occupation of Brazil and Rio Plata barely paid for the military forces necessary to keep it down. With the loss of the Spice Island trade (like most of the East Indies, the British East Indies had fared poorly due to volcanic activity around Java) reduced to a sliver of the past, the India trade shrunk due to the Civil War and the Opium trade with China largely lost, the British knew that they must keep up the European and Americas trade in order to maintain the economy. The Tories were in chaos, threatening to split into separate parties. That may be the only thing that kept Grey in power...and in Frederica's hair.
The Queen, now twenty-five, had more or less given up on the idea of marriage. Her facial deformity, the palsy that occasionally caused pain but always embarrassment, had caused severe problems with her right eye. With the eyelid muscles hindered, grit often fell in and this eventually caused loss of sight. The loss of sight caused her to become cross-eyed.
Never a vain girl, the Queen knew that any suitable prince would only be after her wealthy and potentially power (not that she'd give that up). She intended to leave her Kingdom (hopefully in many, many years) to her sister Charlotte and her heirs. At the moment, there was only one child from the union of Charlotte and her husband, Leopold of Lippe, a girl named Augusta (who wasn't eligible to rule Lippe anyway due to Salic Law). If any male heirs were not born, Charlotte and Augusta could certainly govern Britain themselves. If that line failed, then it would be Elizabeth and her daughter Pauline.
Charlotte had one failed pregnancy in recent years but Elizabeth had never conceived again. Rumor had it both their husbands had taken mistresses.
In the end, Frederica would be satisfied with reigning for a very long time. Like her grandfather, George III, and her Uncle, the Regent William of Clarence, she was a dedicated and hard-working monarch whom did not delegate her responsibilities. She read every dispatch from the government and knew foreign policy and the inner workings of Parliament as well as any man in her service. If the woman could not be a wife or mother, then the "Goggle-eyed Queen" would be a monarch her people could be proud of.
Though hardly a reformer by nature, Frederica would not oppose the First Lord's Catholic and Electoral bills. She didn't need to. The House of Lords killed the Electoral reform and the Catholic reform recommendations turned much of the public against the Ministry. In hindsight, Grey should have concentrated on Electoral reform, which would always find support in the public. By bringing up the specter of raising Catholics to equality, they merely dampened enthusiasm among the public's more reactionary elements.
Grey's popularity fell. Eventually, the Tories would unite long enough to challenge the temporary Whig supremacy.
1828
California
The American westward migration continued for years, California and Oregon combining for 100,000 souls by 1833. If they had not been more remote, they might have prepared for statehood.
The British, having negotiated for years with the Americans, gave up the ghost. There simply was no way that the 2000 British subjects along the North American West Coast would compete with people who already outnumbered them 50 to 1.
The Treaty of Oregon conceded Vancouver Island to the British Empire while the mainland fell to America. There were multiple reasons for this: ensuring British trade with the already declining fur trapping industry, guaranteeing access to what was certainly a deeply rich fishing region, providing a convenient base for trade with China (assuming it ever resumed) and, perhaps most importantly, satiating British pride. The Americans were not particularly worried about the British presence. They could look at a map and knew that, should the two nations ever cross swords, the island would likely fall easily. Clay considered it a victory as America gave up nothing the British didn't already possess.
1829
Salvador
The people of Brazil were uncertain of how their relationship with America was progressing. It had been nearly two decades since the Americans arrived. They had largely kept their promises: manumission, open trade with whomever Brazil wanted to trade, free immigration to Brazil to feed the labor demand, local governance, etc.
But what was the end of all this? Did America want predominantly Catholic states with large populations of free Negroes voting in elections?
For the most part, "American" Brazil had prospered. There remained a large section of society whom felt legitimate gratitude for the Americans: blacks, mulattos, reformers, free traders and most of the migrant community. The "north" of Brazil had even gained over 100,000 migrants from southern Brazil, mainly disaffected Portuguese lower class colonials and some escaped slaves. Some Americans feared that the former would cause trouble. However, the lower class colonials did not generally own slaves in the south and had never been part of the rigid colonial power structure. Moving to American Brazil INCREASED their influence, not negated it.
Indeed, "British" Brazil languished for lack of trade. The British were more than willing and able but refused general trade while hostilities lasted. Without a slave trade, the mines of the interior and the coffee plantations of the south withered on the vine. Over 100,000 Portuguese would return home to Portugal or sail for the new Portuguese settlements in Africa. Combined with the 100,000 Portuguese that left for "American" Brazil, this was a demographic loss.
Due to the very slow Portuguese immigration to Brazil over the past half century, most of these people were, in fact, native born and would not necessarily be welcomed in the mother country. As they were native born, this meant that half the "official" Portuguese population were actually women, unlike many colonies which were disproportionately male due to the 5 to 1 gender ratio of new colonists (for example, there were 4 times as many men as women in California and three times as many in Oregon). A colony in demographic balance was a blessing.
Eventually, fewer and fewer Portuguese colonials (Brazilians) would return home to the moribund Iberian economy and those unhappy with British colonial rule would migrate north to "American" Brazil. There, they would mix with the myriad cultures migrating there en masse: American, Cuban, Central American, British, Irish, German, French (the largest contributor in this era), Russian, Jewish, Polish, Italian, Greek, Armenian, etc. By the end of the 1830's, the "Black Cities" of Recife and Salvador would have a startling transformation as peoples from varying cultures formed their own neighborhoods, one of the most diverse regions on earth.
Upon the seizure of northern Brazil (to American eyes, in reality the Brazilians liberated themselves), this region had been 60% black or mulatto, 35% white and 5% Indian. This obviously did not account for assorted Indian halfbreeds. By 1840, it would be 60% white, 35% assorted black or mulatto and 5% Indian. The vast lands beckoned to a continent that had suffered ecological and economic calamities to the extent that over 1,000,000 Europeans or Americans of (primarily) European origin would descend upon the continent. The whites would generally flock to cities while the blacks and mulattos, descendants of slaves, quietly controlled the lands of the countryside. Decades of distribution of land to the freedmen resulted in a huge number of small landowners, free men whom defended their hard-won prerogatives. This would, in fact, prove to be a model for North American land grants to Negroes, though seldom as well enacted or followed through.
Portuguese would remain the primary language, with English a "official" co-language of government, with French being a strong third.
July, 1827
Honshu
General Napoleon Bonaparte was exhausted. After nearly a year of warfare had devolved into a brutal occupation punctuated with vicious and violent partisan warfare. The only redeeming feature was the fact that the Chinese Emperor continued to pour a seemingly inexhaustible quantity of soldiers. Nearly 150,000 regulars had been pressed across the Whale Sea.
The great cities of Edo and Kyoto fell under the assault of Bonaparte's shock troops. The less modernized Chinese soldiers were left behind to garrison those lands which Bonaparte conquered. One by one, the population centers fell before the well-armed Chinese army. Bonaparte learned that the Emperor had honored him with some long and convoluted title, which apparently meant something in Chinese. He would be rewarded with wealth when he returned to China and given "foreign guest status", whatever the hell that meant.
More importantly, the Emperor and his court realized that his reorganization of his "Experimental Army" was a success, especially compared to the lack of success by the traditional armies. The Emperor ordered another 200,000 soldiers to be trained in this new manner, whatever it was that Bonaparte wanted.
By the end of 1827, the island's defenses were formally destroyed. The Emperor of the Nipponese and his Shogun captured. The Corsican treated them with all honor and, against their expectations, sent them back to Beijing. They were the Mandarin's problem now.
Shortly thereafter, the nobles of the two southern islands pressed for peace, offering tribute to the Chinese Emperor in exchange for autonomy. Bonaparte referred this to the horde of bureaucrats dispatched to "assist" him with the governance of Nippon. He didn't care either way.
By early 1828, Bonaparte would be recalled to Beijing for two reasons: overseeing the modernization of the Chinese Army en masse...and preparing for an assault upon the Muslim barbarians whom had trespassed upon the northwest corner of the Emperor's realms.
London
Queen Frederica was getting tired of this pompous ass, Lord Grey. Why must all great men be so full of themselves?
The nation continued to slowly recover but the budget remained a problem. The constant occupation of Brazil and Rio Plata barely paid for the military forces necessary to keep it down. With the loss of the Spice Island trade (like most of the East Indies, the British East Indies had fared poorly due to volcanic activity around Java) reduced to a sliver of the past, the India trade shrunk due to the Civil War and the Opium trade with China largely lost, the British knew that they must keep up the European and Americas trade in order to maintain the economy. The Tories were in chaos, threatening to split into separate parties. That may be the only thing that kept Grey in power...and in Frederica's hair.
The Queen, now twenty-five, had more or less given up on the idea of marriage. Her facial deformity, the palsy that occasionally caused pain but always embarrassment, had caused severe problems with her right eye. With the eyelid muscles hindered, grit often fell in and this eventually caused loss of sight. The loss of sight caused her to become cross-eyed.
Never a vain girl, the Queen knew that any suitable prince would only be after her wealthy and potentially power (not that she'd give that up). She intended to leave her Kingdom (hopefully in many, many years) to her sister Charlotte and her heirs. At the moment, there was only one child from the union of Charlotte and her husband, Leopold of Lippe, a girl named Augusta (who wasn't eligible to rule Lippe anyway due to Salic Law). If any male heirs were not born, Charlotte and Augusta could certainly govern Britain themselves. If that line failed, then it would be Elizabeth and her daughter Pauline.
Charlotte had one failed pregnancy in recent years but Elizabeth had never conceived again. Rumor had it both their husbands had taken mistresses.
In the end, Frederica would be satisfied with reigning for a very long time. Like her grandfather, George III, and her Uncle, the Regent William of Clarence, she was a dedicated and hard-working monarch whom did not delegate her responsibilities. She read every dispatch from the government and knew foreign policy and the inner workings of Parliament as well as any man in her service. If the woman could not be a wife or mother, then the "Goggle-eyed Queen" would be a monarch her people could be proud of.
Though hardly a reformer by nature, Frederica would not oppose the First Lord's Catholic and Electoral bills. She didn't need to. The House of Lords killed the Electoral reform and the Catholic reform recommendations turned much of the public against the Ministry. In hindsight, Grey should have concentrated on Electoral reform, which would always find support in the public. By bringing up the specter of raising Catholics to equality, they merely dampened enthusiasm among the public's more reactionary elements.
Grey's popularity fell. Eventually, the Tories would unite long enough to challenge the temporary Whig supremacy.
1828
California
The American westward migration continued for years, California and Oregon combining for 100,000 souls by 1833. If they had not been more remote, they might have prepared for statehood.
The British, having negotiated for years with the Americans, gave up the ghost. There simply was no way that the 2000 British subjects along the North American West Coast would compete with people who already outnumbered them 50 to 1.
The Treaty of Oregon conceded Vancouver Island to the British Empire while the mainland fell to America. There were multiple reasons for this: ensuring British trade with the already declining fur trapping industry, guaranteeing access to what was certainly a deeply rich fishing region, providing a convenient base for trade with China (assuming it ever resumed) and, perhaps most importantly, satiating British pride. The Americans were not particularly worried about the British presence. They could look at a map and knew that, should the two nations ever cross swords, the island would likely fall easily. Clay considered it a victory as America gave up nothing the British didn't already possess.
1829
Salvador
The people of Brazil were uncertain of how their relationship with America was progressing. It had been nearly two decades since the Americans arrived. They had largely kept their promises: manumission, open trade with whomever Brazil wanted to trade, free immigration to Brazil to feed the labor demand, local governance, etc.
But what was the end of all this? Did America want predominantly Catholic states with large populations of free Negroes voting in elections?
For the most part, "American" Brazil had prospered. There remained a large section of society whom felt legitimate gratitude for the Americans: blacks, mulattos, reformers, free traders and most of the migrant community. The "north" of Brazil had even gained over 100,000 migrants from southern Brazil, mainly disaffected Portuguese lower class colonials and some escaped slaves. Some Americans feared that the former would cause trouble. However, the lower class colonials did not generally own slaves in the south and had never been part of the rigid colonial power structure. Moving to American Brazil INCREASED their influence, not negated it.
Indeed, "British" Brazil languished for lack of trade. The British were more than willing and able but refused general trade while hostilities lasted. Without a slave trade, the mines of the interior and the coffee plantations of the south withered on the vine. Over 100,000 Portuguese would return home to Portugal or sail for the new Portuguese settlements in Africa. Combined with the 100,000 Portuguese that left for "American" Brazil, this was a demographic loss.
Due to the very slow Portuguese immigration to Brazil over the past half century, most of these people were, in fact, native born and would not necessarily be welcomed in the mother country. As they were native born, this meant that half the "official" Portuguese population were actually women, unlike many colonies which were disproportionately male due to the 5 to 1 gender ratio of new colonists (for example, there were 4 times as many men as women in California and three times as many in Oregon). A colony in demographic balance was a blessing.
Eventually, fewer and fewer Portuguese colonials (Brazilians) would return home to the moribund Iberian economy and those unhappy with British colonial rule would migrate north to "American" Brazil. There, they would mix with the myriad cultures migrating there en masse: American, Cuban, Central American, British, Irish, German, French (the largest contributor in this era), Russian, Jewish, Polish, Italian, Greek, Armenian, etc. By the end of the 1830's, the "Black Cities" of Recife and Salvador would have a startling transformation as peoples from varying cultures formed their own neighborhoods, one of the most diverse regions on earth.
Upon the seizure of northern Brazil (to American eyes, in reality the Brazilians liberated themselves), this region had been 60% black or mulatto, 35% white and 5% Indian. This obviously did not account for assorted Indian halfbreeds. By 1840, it would be 60% white, 35% assorted black or mulatto and 5% Indian. The vast lands beckoned to a continent that had suffered ecological and economic calamities to the extent that over 1,000,000 Europeans or Americans of (primarily) European origin would descend upon the continent. The whites would generally flock to cities while the blacks and mulattos, descendants of slaves, quietly controlled the lands of the countryside. Decades of distribution of land to the freedmen resulted in a huge number of small landowners, free men whom defended their hard-won prerogatives. This would, in fact, prove to be a model for North American land grants to Negroes, though seldom as well enacted or followed through.
Portuguese would remain the primary language, with English a "official" co-language of government, with French being a strong third.