Liberty Forever: A Trans-Atlantic Timeline (v2)

Hey, I posted some of this timeline a while ago, and I felt like I rushed it and didn't fill in the gaps I should have, so I've tried to flesh it out and add some plausibility. I'd appreciate any critiques you guys have.

Chapter I: The Vermont Crisis
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Initial situation of the United States in 1789.

In early 1789 the United States was once again a new country. It had just ratified the constitution and in March of that year its new congress took its seats. By December of the year a few straggler states had sent congressional delegations and the functions of government were underway. Many politicians organized themselves into Pro-Administration and Anti-Administration factions, though these would soon turn into the Federalist and Jeffersonian or Democratic-Republican factions. Also notably, a Western Confederacy of Indians had organized recently and was preparing to resist the US.

Senate Elections of 1789
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By December 1789 Rhode Island had still not ratified the Constitution and did not yet have a Senator. Vermont was not a state. The Pro-Administration party dominated the Senate. John Langdon, senator from New Hampshire, is in the political center and while currently Pro-Administration, his policies are moving towards Anti-Administration slowly.

Senate - 24 Seats
Pro-Administration - 18
Anti-Administration - 6

House Elections of 1789
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The House was less dominated by Pro-Administration representatives, but they still obtained a majority.

House of Representatives - 65 Seats (includes late elections)
Pro-Administration - 37
Anti-Administration - 28

State Governors

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Not yet in every state was the office of Governor yet recognized as a very important office in national politics. Edmund Randolph was a political independent governor of Virginia who largely accomplished nothing. Rhode Island was governed by the independent John Collins, who had just lost much of his popularity by backing the constitution. John Hancock governed New York, though affairs were often handled by the Lieutenant Governor Samuel Adams, a noted Anti-Administration spokesperson. The northern state of New York was also notably governed by the Anti-Administration George Clinton.
State Governors - 14 (including Vermont)
Pro-Administration - 8
Anti-Administration - 2
Non-Partisan - 4

2 December 1789 - Violence breaks out in Westminster between a group of New Yorker landowners and their supporters, and a group of self proclaimed "Green mountain boys" supporting Vermont's independence and opposing New York's claim to jurisdiction over Vermont, and the ownership of much of Vermont's land by New York landowners. 2 New Yorkers are killed, a man and a woman, and outraged New York newspapers deem this event "The Second Westminster Massacre."

13 December 1789 - George Clinton, governor of New York, has not pressed on the issue of New York's right to Vermont in almost 5 years. He is still in contact with powerful New Yorkers in Vermont, and this controversy and their outcries cause him and the legislature to authorize military pacification of Vermont. New York militia units along the border with Vermont begin to move in, ostensibly to pacify rebels and protect New Yorkers living in Vermont. Fighting between New York militamen and the Green Mountain Boys begins, with the New Yorkers obviously having a massive numerical and supply advantage. Vermont governor Moses Robinson and his precedent Thomas Chittenden, as well as Ira Allen, rally the militias of the Republic and offer New York as much resistance as possible.

30 December 1789 - Discussions about the violence in Vermont begins in Congress. The political parties largely have no unified position on the issue. New York Anti-Administration Representatives in the House, led by William Floyd, argued in favor of their invasion, and the Pro-Administration representatives and senators largely stay silent or support the enlargement of their state. Fellow Anti-Administration Northerner Samuel Adams encourages his delegation to support George Clinton's move, and largely they stay silent, with Elbridge Gerry supporting the invasion in the House. New Hampshire governor John Sullivan, representatives Samuel Livermore and Abiel Foster, and senator John Langdon strongly oppose the invasion, due to New Hampshire's old competing claim on Vermont and their desire for New York not to annex the small state. They try to portray the issue as a partisan one, with Anti-Administrationers Clinton and Samuel Adams supporting the war and Pro-Administrationers opposing it. However, the federal administration, being controlled largely by the influence of Adams and Hamilton on President Washington, stays neutral due to Pro-Administration leader Alexander Hamilton, with support from John Adams, warning the president against hasty action in Vermont that could shatter the union. Some speculate he was acting in his home state of New York's interests.

4 January 1790 - The New Hampshire state legislature adopts a bill reaffirming it's claim over the New Hampshire Grants (known as Vermont to most), and condemning New York's invasion and attempt to unlawfully subjugate its peoples. Movement of troops to protect the Grants is authorized. The Pro-Administration faction in New Hampshire is largely abandoned by Pro-Administration partisans nationwide, and reaches out to all of its state politicans to support the war.

15 January 1790 - New York troops reach Westminster to find New Hampshire troops defending the city. Initially thinking them to be Green Mountain Boys, shots are fired and a major engagement between New York and New Hampshire forces takes place.

21 January 1790 - Violence between New York and New Hampshire troops in Vermont spreads, and they are soon at war.

22 January 1790 - Congress takes a vote on the war, with a bill drafted by William Floyd condemning Vermont's violence against New Yorkers and New Hampshire's interference in New York pacifying an area hostile to it. The bill states that the federal government will support New York and that punishments will be levied against the state of New Hampshire, leaving the specifics to be drafted in future legislature. John Adams and Alexander Hamilton pressure Northern Federalists to support the bill, seeing it as an end to the crisis, and strengthening the federal government as they will be seen as the deciders of the crisis. Assuming that the South in general will oppose this expansion of the major northern states' power, they realize that every northern vote will matter. Pennsylvania is split between Pro- and Anti-Administration factions. Some Pennsylvanians have died in the war against the Indian Western Confederacy and complain the federal government not doing enough against the Indians. The Pennsylvania delegation is able to secure a guarantee from the President and the Anti-Administration leaders Hamilton and Adams that Pennsylvania will be compensated with lands taken from Indians when the federal government recovers the territory from the Western Confederacy. President Washington, wanting an end to the war with the union intact, convinces secretary of state Jefferson to gain the support of the Virginia delegation. Jefferson, along with a bipartisan group of other Southerners, uses this opportunity to extract concessions from the administration in the area of Western land claims and obligations owed by those states to the Federal government. In a surprising move, the Pro-Administration delegation of Connecticut also votes against, fearing that this violation of a state's sovereignty sets a bad precedent for big states to bully smaller states like Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut.
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Map of the vote in the Senate.
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Map of the vote in the House.


3 February 1790 - Massachusetts forces are sent into New Hampshire by Lieutenant Governor Adams. This is viewed as a military action authorized by the bill passed by Congress. Adams calls New Hampshire a "rogue state", and condemns their militiamen as rebels and insurrectionists against the federal government and their fellow states. New Hampshire begins to be rapidly occupied from both sides by New York and Massachusetts.

15 February 1790 - New York forces complete their occupation of Vermont. Under New York law it is considered a part of New York state from this point on.

3 March 1790 - Rather than have any more bloodshed, John Sullivan, governor of New Hampshire and commander of their militia, surrenders and the fighting ends. New Hampshire is effectively subsumed into Massachusetts, connecting them to their holding of Maine and propelling them into an even larger dominance of New England.

15 March 1790 - Benjamin Franklin dies, and is mourned throughout the union, especially in Pennsylvania. His replacement as president of Pennsylvania, the first governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas Mifflin, gives a speech commemorating the great American statesman.

30 March 1790 - Congress finishes working out the details of the Land Ownership Bill of 1790. The bill gives claims on New Hampshire (newly unclaimed land due to the majority's view that New Hampshire's statehood had been revoked upon entering war with a federally supported force) to Massachusetts, certifies New York's claim to Vermont, and grants much of Ohio Country to Pennsylvania. Some say that Pennsylvanian legislators took advantage of the mourning for the recently dead Franklin. Pennsylvania also purchases the small spike of territory that Virginia owns between them and Ohio Country for a price that is profitable to Virginia. Connecticut's claims in the Northwest are also granted to Pennsylvania due to the absurdity of Connecticut ever exploiting land it can't even reach. The western claims of Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia are certified by the federal government, and many of those states' debts are forgiven (North Carolina especially was previously expected to have to cede its Western territory due to obligations to the federal government).
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In the wake of the Land Ownership Bill the balance between regions shifts slightly. North and South are not yet synonymous with Free and Slave, as New York and New Jersey retained slavery, and Massachusetts was the only northern state to have completely abolished it, with others taking gradual approaches. Slavery's territory is expanded slightly due to it now being legal in New York's Vermont territory, despite a partial ban in the Vermont constitution. It's power has also shrunk due to all slaves in New Hampshire (which was undergoing gradual abolition) being freed by the annexing government of Massachusetts. The change in number of states however equalizes the North-South split in numbers of states. There are 6 traditionally northern states and 6 southern states. Either sectionalist faction is able to block a bill in the senate by themselves, and this protection, as well as the times being far too early for talk of national abolition, keeps the sides at relative peace.
 
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Chapter II: The First Look West

May 5 1790 - Country Party (Rhode Island's antifederalists) member Arthur Fenner takes the governorship of Rhode Island, having been elected due to anger against Governor Collins for supporting the constitutional convention that is now set to cause Rhode Island to ratify the Constitution.

May 29 1790 - Rhode Island ratifies the Constitution.

June 1790 - Rhode Island's delegation to Congress arrives. The Senators consist of Jonathan Hazard and William West, two Country Party politicians who have been inspired to run for office to protect Rhode Island from the large states surrounding it.

July 1790 - Hamilton and Adams advise Washington to propose an economic plan including tariffs for raising revenue and subsidies for factories, in an attempt to industrialize the economy (the latter is a quite radical proposal and doesn't get as far as the others). To raise revenue, a tax on spirits is imposed. The most common spirit produced in America at the time is whiskey, especially popular in western Pennsylvania. Congress passes most of this, with light subsidies to encourage growth of industry included. The coinage of gold and silver is also beginning in earnest now. Farmers grumble about being taxed on the whiskey they love to make from their spare grains.

August 1790 - General Josiah Harmar is put in charge of an army of militiamen by the federal government. The force has a large number of Pennsylvanian militiamen sent by its government to help secure its new territory, as well as Virginians and some contributed from states further north and south. He is sent into Northwestern territory and the Ohio Country (now part of PA) to pacify the rebellious Indians of the Western Confederacy. With his massive numerical superiority from the swell of recruited Pennsylvanians, he smashes the Indians in many battles and gains ground for the US.

October 1790 - Colonel James Wilkinson joins General Harmar with a force of militiamen from Kentucky, a region of Virginia whose independence he has been championing.

1790 - The census of 1790 takes place, but census takers are not able to take statistics in the war zones of Vermont and New Hampshire, so their populations are not added to the House of Representatives representation of their annexing states until the next census and reapportionment.

February 1791 - The first Bank of the United States is chartered by the soon to be re-elected Congress, part of an expansion of federal control over fiscal policy championed by Alexander Hamilton and supported by Adams and Washington.

Senate Elections of 1791
March 4 1791 - Senators elected in 1791 take their seats, including Anti-Administration Aaron Burr of New York, who defeats state assemblyman Rufus King, a staunch Federalist nominated to replace the aging Philip Schuyler. Anti-Administration William Maclay is also reelected in Pennsylvania. The Jeffersonian and Pro-Administration factions have each lost a senator due to New Hampshire's loss of statehood. There are also two Rhode Island Country Party senators who are not fully aligned with the Jeffersonian Anti-Administration faction. The "party" affiliation of the other senate seats remains the same.
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24 Seats (Change numbers are since last election)
Pro-Administration - 16 (-2)
Anti-Administration (Jeffersonian) - 6 (-)
Country Party - 2 (+2)

House Elections of 1791
The representatives elected in the former Vermont and New Hampshire bring the Federalist party's percentages down in New York and Massachusetts, as state governments are forced to spread their congressional districts across their annexed area, expecting a reapportionment soon. Note that the Connecticut federalists are still in conflict with national federalists and it is uncertain whether they should be viewed as the same party. Pro-Administration Benjamin Bourne narrowly holds onto his seat in Rhode Island against a Country Party challenge. In Western Pennsylvania (including the annexed Ohio Country) some Whiskey tax evaders tar and feather tax collectors and proudly support anti-administration candidates. The violence does not spread much due to most tax evaders having ample space in the Ohio Country to settle down and not be bothered, and are therefore not motivated to take up arms against tax collectors. The district encompasing all of the Ohio Country is one of half of the state's districts that elect Anti-Administration candidates.
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62 Seats (3 less seats due to New Hampshire losing statehood)
Pro-Administration - 33 (-4)
Anti-Administration (Jeffersonian) - 26 (-2)
Anti-Administration (New Hampshire and Vermont faction) - 3 (+3)

May 1791 - The Federal government finds out, to its surprise that Colonel Wilkinson, who was thought to be fighting against the Western Confederacy in the Northwest Territory, is actually in Spanish Louisiana in New Madrid, with a small part of his Kentucky militia force. Certain letters between Spanish officials and Colonel Wilkinson were written in some kind of code that the government was unable to break. However, a theory spread that Wilkinson was being funded and armed by the Spanish to fight a war for neighbouring Kentucky's independence in order to weaken US influence in the west. However, some critics of this theory point to the fact that there was no evidence of recently received funds or arms, and suggest that perhaps his support had recently been cut off and he was angrily demanding more from the Spanish, explaining the presence of his soldiers. Wilkinson's later actions are pointed to as further evidence of this. Wilkinson took the fifth amendment, and was dishonourably discharged from the military but not found to be guilty of more than going AWOL. Kentucky statehood, which was set back by the government guaranteeing Virginia's right to its western lands, goes out of favor, and supporting Kentucky's separation from Virginia earns many charges of being Spanish sympathizers or agents.

September 1791 - The Pro-Administration faction begins to be called by the old label for supporters of the constitution, Federalists, while the Jeffersonian Anti-Administration members of the government begin to be called Jeffersonian or Democratic-Republicans, the old names slowly fade away.

17 December 1791 - Virginia ratifies the Bill of Rights and the first 10 amendments to the constitution come into effect.

February 1792 - Both houses of the Delaware state legislature vote to abolish the property requirement to vote, saying it is against the principles of a republic to limit the suffrage only to the wealthy, and rebelling against Federalist "elitism". They join Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Georgia as the only states without property requirements to vote, though most of them have a tax requirement still.

April 1792 - The Apportionment Act of 1792 is passed, authorizing the reapportionment of the House of Representatives and by proxy electoral votes for the 1792 elections that will produce candidates that take their seats in early 1793. This begins a tradition of reapportioning the house immediately before the next presidential election or midterm after a census.

August 1792 - Envoys from Revolutionary France arrive in the temporary capital of New York, and invite George Washington to join the revolutionary Constitutional League. Advised by Hamilton and Adams to stay away from the French and wary of foreign engagements himself, Washington refuses and sends the men safely back to France.
 
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