James II: King of America

As a note - the next instalment will focus on what's been going on in Europe in the 1780s and introduce Queen Augusta and should be posted by the middle of next week.
 
So, i discovered your TL today and i really liked it, i make some flags if you are interested

Feel free to post them, I'm sure everyone would be interested in seeing the creations! :)

Glad you're enjoying the thread. It probably veers a little bit into melodrama at times, but I am enjoying writing it and hope you continue to enjoy reading it.
 
For the Federal Kingdom itself, I would recommend something based on the traditional Stuart coat of arms. While the checkerboard pattern and yellow tone would to us suggest a hazard label, to a 17th century mind that use for such a colour choice has not yet been codified and it certainly looks distinctive.

The flag would likely be in a 1:2 aspect ratio like British-influenced flags tend to be. Perhaps a standard tricolour arrangement, with a compass star with eight points to denote the eight constituent colonies in the canton?

A quick and dirty mock-up I made in paint would be like this:
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In a more time-consuming and elaborate version, keeping with the pomposity and complexity of most 18th century flags, I would expect the compass star for example have the needle pointing north be crowned and the three other cardinal directions marked by fleur-de-lys or thistles or somesuch.
 
Part 6. The Magnificent Revolution (1785 - 1795)
Meanwhile in Britain


Frederick I of Great Britain had several daughters, but only one son, with Augusta of Saxe Gotha. And his son died prior to Frederick, and left no heirs, which made his eldest daughter, Augusta, his heir presumptive. When Augusta became Queen in 1785, her son Frederick the Black, was created as the new Prince of Wales.

Augusta_of_Great_Britain%2C_duchess_of_Brunswick-Wolfenb%C3%BCttel.jpg


Augusta's youngest sister was Caroline Matilda, Crown Princess and then Queen Consort, of Albion. Which means that the relationship between the two countries were eased by the two women's sisterhood. With Augusta's succession to the throne, the crown of Hanover, which had been held by the King of Great Britain for the past seventy years, moves sideways to Augusta's uncle, William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland.

It was customary that when a new King or Queen was crowned, that an election was held, and the possibility of a new Prime Minister arose. It was this that would cause the first seeds of dissent to arise with the people she would rule.

Despite being married to a German Duke, Augusta was often described as being very English, very cynical and very independent. With her brother passing away shortly before her father, she had never been intended to become Queen and her education as a result lacked in the tools required to rule.

Charles, Duke of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, having governed the German Duchy on the banks of the Rhine, took the reigns in Britain and began to rule the country through his wife. But the Duke was a renowned womanizer, with a multitude of mistresses, several of whom were married, and married to Members of Parliament. Oblivious to the fact that his affairs had caused a domino effect, Charles petitioned his wife to sponsor a Bill in Parliament to have him declared King jure uxoris, with the rights and privileges thereof.

Francis Osborne, the Duke of Leeds, and Prime Minister at the time advised the Queen that her ministers were unhappy with being ruled by her husband through her, and that him ruling directly would never do. The motion and bill would not pass through Parliament. Augusta, in turn, relayed this to her husband who merely suggested that she appoint those of her friends who either agreed with the plan, or who would support it to win her favour, to the House of Lords with the intent that they could push the bill through into law.

Thomas Townsend, the Foreign Secretary, got wind of the plan by the crown and advised the Queen that should the couple attempt to force it through, she would face the resignation of her entire government. Stacking the Lords was a little bit too much like proroguing Parliament, both were within the powers of the crown but that didn't mean it was a wise idea to exert those powers.

Parliament held it's breath, the next move was made by the Queen. Charlotte created Charles as Duke of Portsmouth, which gave him the right to sit in the House of Lords. And it was a right he took full advantage of, taking a lead role among the nobility by virtue of being husband of the Queen.

In Brunswick, Charles had brought in a cashflow by renting out his soldiers to the Grand Duchy of Rhode Island which frustrated Parliament. But the larger gambit was making it be known to the British public of the Queens desire to appoint her husband as King and of the Prime Minister's attempts to block it.

Because despite his affairs, Charles was generally well liked by his subjects and wanted to make several reforms. He used private funds from Brunswick to sponsor arts, science and math. He wished to reform elections, with some cities having no representation and others having a lot. The clash of power between monarch and government was like setting a match to dry kindling.

Several protests began to sweep across England, first in the country and then within cities such as London. Even though they were in conflict, and perhaps to try and stop further inflammatory acts, the Duke of Leeds advised the Queen and her family to abandon London for the relative safety of Beaumaris Castle in Wales. In actuality, this had a negative effect, being perceived by the public that the Prime Minister had driven the Queen from London and forced her into isolation in Wales.

That November, on Gunpowder Treason Day, the public burned effigies of the Duke of Leeds. Members of the Lords demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister ad events started to spiral out of control.

In Hanover, William Augustus and his wife, Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, watched the events developing in Britain with a smug satisfaction that he would never have let things build to crisis point. When Augusta begged her Uncle to take in her daughter and invalid sons, he refused for fear that the protests and riots would spread, however unlikely, to Hanover and thus Frederick the Black returned to Brunswick by ship from Anglesey whilst her other children were forced to remain in Wales.

If the Prince of Wales was alone, at least it wasn't in the increasingly unstable Britain.

Augusta turned to her sister, by that point, the Queen of Albion, to give refuge to Princess Caroline, and her two invalid brothers who had no claim to the crown, George and August. Which left only Augusta and Charles in Wales. The Queens sisters had married minor German princes and were likewise safe from harm.

Parliament had attempted to quash the civil unrest, having brought in the army to control the crowds. But that would only take them so far, and in 1790, the Houses of Parliament were set on fire in an act that would otherwise have been declared accidental, but was realised as arsen when a young man burst onto the stage where the Prime Minister was speaking, claimed he started the fire, and then shot the Prime Minister dead.

The young man was never even imprisoned, he was shot on the spot and with his death came martyrdom. The riots continued and with the Queen resident in Wales, Townsend stepped up as Prime Minister.

This was the beginning of the end. By the following Spring, the aged Field Marshall Henry Conway had martialed the armed forces and taken Townsend captive. Far from releasing the imprisoned Queen and Duke of Portsmouth, Conway had effectively led a military coup, usurped the deposer and all but declared himself as President of Britain aside from pockets of Parliamentarian and Royalist resistance across the country. The Queen and the Duke of Portsmouth were restricted to the grounds of Beaumaris Castle.

With the country relatively stable for the first time in 3 years and the Prince of Wales having returned from Brunswick, Conway headed to Wales for an audience with the Queen. In a bold move, Conway offered to recognise the Duke of Portsmouth as King jure uxoris even though the crown would retain almost no power with authority sitting with the Field Marshall.

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Augusta cautiously agreed, believing such a move would be in the best interest of Britain. It was a move that should have worked, except Conway died a couple of years later, to be succeeded by Charles Moore, Marquess of Drogheda. Moore had rather different ideas about the role of Field Marshall and given the royal family had become almost purely ceremonial, he sought to remove them from the throne immediately and take onboard the crown lands as part of the government purse.

Moore gave an ultimatum, either Augusta, Charles and Frederick could voluntarily leave Britain, or he would have them imprisoned for life. Augusta knew that imprisonment likely meant execution and agreed to exile.

But Moore knew that the proximity of the Queen and her heir apparent in Brunswick would be dangerous, so he made a gamble, a power grab in which he handed Brunswick to Hanover and the Prince Elector. Augusta did wonder how much hand that her Uncle had in the enforced abdication claim.

But as it stood, by the summer of 1795, Augusta, Charles and Frederick were on a ship bound for the only territories they had been given permission to retain - the (at that time) sparsely populated and rather bleak Canadian colonies.

Augusta had started the year as Queen of Great Britain, she ended it as Queen of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, living at the (later rechristened) Albionoria Palace in Halifax.

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America had acquired another monarchy.



Line of Succession, Great Britain
c. 1795



Sophia of Great Britain, r. 1714-1716, m. Ernest Augustus, Elector of Hanover
a) George, Prince Elector of Hanover, d. 1714, m. Sophia Dorothea of Celle
1) George I of Great Britain and Hanover, r. 1716-1760, m. Caroline of Ansbach
a) Frederick I of Great Britain and Hanover, r. 1760-1785, m. Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
1) Augusta I of Great Britain, r. 1785-1795, of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland 1795-0000, m. Charles III of Great Britain, r. 1793-1795, of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland 1795-0000
a) Frederick the Black, Prince of Wales/Duke of Halifax, m. Marie of Baden​
2) Elizabeth
3) Louisa
4) Caroline Matilda of Great Britain*, Queen Consort of Albion, m. Philip, King of Albion
a) Louis, Crown Prince of Albion, Comte de St Pierre et Miquelon​
b) William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, Prince Elector of Hanover-Brunswick, r. 1785-0000, m. Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst​

* - Caroline Matilda abdicated her claim to the British throne upon marriage, whether this remains true for the crown of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland remains to be seen
 
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Hmm? Conway was the one who put a stop to the chaos, he could have had the prestige to force through a new regime with him at the helm, especially if he as he did kept the monarchy in at least something of a ceremonial role. Moore lacks such achievements and seemed a relatively unremarkable general. I fail to see how he could play el presidente for long.

Incidentally, who is using what set of crown jewels at the moment? Did James take any regalia with him when he fled, which have since become the crown of Albion? I'd expect Mary of Modena kept the one made for her? Who has the St Edward's crown at present?
 
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Hmm? Conway was the one who put a stop to the chaos, he could have had the prestige to force through a new regime with him at the helm, especially if he as he did kept the monarchy in at least something of a ceremonial role. Moore lacks such achievements and seemed a relatively unremarkable general. I fail to see how he could play el presidente for long.

Incidentally, who is using what set of crown jewels at the moment? Did James take any regalia with him when he fled, which have since become the crown of Albion? I'd expect Mary of Modena kept the one made for her? Who has the St Edward's crown at present?

I had not actually put thought into where the crown jewels ended up, but my best guess would be that James and Mary got very little in Albion, so you're better chance of some of them reaching America would be with Augusta and Charles a hundred years later.
 
The next part has been written - and again, it's a side step about what's happening in Europe. This time in France. The next instalment after that, I promise, will take us back to the Federal Kingdom of Albion.
 
Part 7. The Fall of Greater France (1795 - 1800)
Meanwhile in France


All three of the Orleans brothers and their father were dead. In a pretty exceptional string of bad luck, Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, Antoine Philippe and Louis Charles, Duke of Montpensier and Count of Beaujolais, all died from tuberculosis.

The Duke of Orleans had no heirs, and upon his death, the victim of a highway robbery gone awry, the role of Premiere Prince Du Sang fell to a distant cousin, Louis Joseph, Prince of Conde, who was created as Duke of Aumale upon his accession.

Britain had been subsumed by chaos, and despite some minor upheaval in rural areas, the French monarchy remained a strong institution. Ten year old Louis XVII ruled under a regency of his uncle Louis Stanislas, Count of Provence, who had married Marie Josephine of Savoy and had produced two children of his own in 1774 and 1781, the Duke of Aumale and the Duke of Guise.

It was open knowledge at the French Court that the Count of Provence harboured hopes of his nephews death so that he would be able to ascend to the throne himself. But such reports were merely scurrilous rumours, nobody would stand witness to any actions he had taken but popular gossip suggested he was behind the death of the Duke of Orleans, for reasons unknown.

And then Louis XVII fell ill. And died. The Count of Provence was now King of France, and a deeply unpopular one from the moment he was crowned. Taking the regnal name of Louis Xavier as he didn't want to be 'just another Louis', the French, rightfully or wrongly, perceived him as responsible for his nephews death and his ultra royalist tendencies, including reinstating the royal touch, did him no favours.

He may have genuinely believed in the divine rights of the King.

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A portrait of Louis Xavier at Versailles, painted c. 1797

His eldest son was made Dauphin, and as this happened, the Field Marshall of the (Second) British Commonwealth started to plan an invasion of Northern France, under the argument that he was merely protecting British authority in the Channel. The invasion took place in 1797 to moderate success.

As a security measure, Louis Xavier of France created New France as a Kingdom in its own right, placing the sixteen year old Duke of Guise as King in suzerainity to Greater France. If Greater France, however unlikely, fell fully to the British, then New France would survive as it's own independent nation and should Greater France be restored to the House of Bourbon, the countries and crowns would be reconnected.

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The Citadel Palace in Quebec, residence of the early Kings of New France

Charles, Count of Artois, brother of the new King, fled to Spain and the court of Philip VI with his family. This left the King, the Dauphin and the Prince of Conde in France as the last bastion of the monarchy. British troops moved further south, Louis Xavier moved the French Court further south out of its reach.

Eventually the British caught up with the French retreat, placing Louis Xavier and the Dauphin on trial before beheading them. France needed a puppet monarch, at least in the interim, and the Prince of Conde was placed on the throne, the closest male line claimant outside the main royal line (the King of Spain was closer but was forbidden from claiming the French crown - and would the Commonwealth want a Spanish puppet King on the French throne?) largely against his will.

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Louis Joseph "The Puppet", painted c. 1800

The Count of Artois licked his wounds, whilst news reached New France that the Duke of Guise was now King of both New and Greater France. At least Charles, now the legitimate King of Greater France, was safe on the other side of the ocean in what was now being mockingly termed New Europe, given it was home to two British royal lines, and now one French one.

And the British wouldn't ever consider an attempt to reassert their claim to their former colonies, and claim New France, would they? A move like that would be pure madness.



Line of Succession, France
c. 1800


Charles, Duke of Vendome
a) Antoine, King of Navarre
1) Henry IV, King of France
a) Louis XIII
1) Louis XIV
(3 Generations)
a) Louis, Dauphin of France
1) Louis XVI, r. 1774-1795
b) Louis XVII, r. 1795-1797​
2) Louis-Xavier, r. 1797-1800
a) Louis-Xavier, Dauphin of France
b) Charles Antoine, King of New France, r. 1797-0000​
3) Charles, Count of Artois
a) Louis Antoine, Duke of Angouleme
b) Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry​
2) Philippe, Duke of Orleans
(3 Generations)
a) Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, d. 1795
1) Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, d. 1794
2) Louis Antoine, Duke of Montpensier, d. 1795
3) Louis Charles, Count of Beaujolais, d. 1794​
b) Louis, Prince of Conde
(6 Generations)
1) Louis Joseph I, r. 1800-0000
a) Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon​
 
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How did France go down without a fight like that?

They didn't. But once the British had land in northern France, it became easier for them to land more troops. They were more willing to use canons etc, and slowly the French had cause to fall back. The initial landing occurs in late 1797, but France doesn't fall until 1800, so it's a process that takes about two years as the held territory moves further south.

Ultimately, I probably skimped on a little description on the grounds that this is all background for some stuff that happens in Albion but would have bulked the Albion section up to rather imeieldly proportions.
 
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It did seem more than a little strange that France would lose such a war so easily. At least some description of the war might have been merited.
 
It did seem more than a little strange that France would lose such a war so easily. At least some description of the war might have been merited.

Noted for next time. Hopefully this is the last time we're going to jump away from Albion and America for a while, the next instalment is 75% written, takes us to Florida and is titled 'The Treaty of the Spanish Marriages'

I'm planning on doing another addendum after Part 10, which will give you the Albionaisse line of succession, as well as that for Rhode Island, New England, Newfoundland & Nova Scotia, and New France (and maybe others).
 
I made a flag for TTL Virginia, check it

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Green: It represents the fertile soils of Virginia and the richness that such soils bring, also represent their flora and nature.
Red: It represents the color of the Tudor Rose, the dynasty which Elizabeth I, the original "Virginia" come from
Blue: Represents James' crossing of the Atlantic, and your arrival in Virginia. Also represents the travel made by all the settlers of Virginia.
"Ferax": "Fertile" in Latin, representing not only the fertility of the virginian soil, but also the fertility of Virginia to make the nation of Albion happen in the first place. "Without Virginia, Without Albion"
Date of Establishment: More a case of regional pride than actually having any meaning. Using the flag to throw in the face of everyone you came from the first state of the kingdom :p
 
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