Initial situation of the United States in 1789
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 incursions. 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 - 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.
22 December 1789 - The New York state legislature adopts a resolution in support of military action in the "rebellious counties" of Vermont to protect New York citizens and stop further violence.
30 December 1789 - Discussions about the violence in Vermont begins in Congress, the expectation is that soon a resolution condemning the invasion will be passed. The functions of congress are significantly slowed by discussion of the crisis.
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.
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 in a de facto war of three sides.
22 January 1790 - Congress finally passes a resolution condemning the war in Vermont and ordering a cessation of hostilities, but there are no enforcement clauses. The only opposition comes from the delegation from New York. George Washington opposes the war but takes no military action, realizing that a war between the federal government and states would likely shatter the Union altogether.
27 January 1790 - In a surprising move, Massachusetts forces advance into southern New Hampshire, ostensibly in support of the resolution in order to end the war quicker. Supporters of this move include John Hancock, governor of MA, George Clinton governor of NY, and vice president John Adams.
2 February 1790 - Intense negotiations in Congress begin over the fate of the three warring states and Vermont. Small Northern states are on the side of New Hampshire, seeing the war as an attempt by New York and Massachusetts to expand. The South is largely undecided.
4 February 1790 - The delegations from Massachusetts and New York are able to gain the support of the southern states of Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia by promising to bundle a guarantee of their trans-Appalachian western claims with a bill passed deciding the war. Most had expected these claims to be ceded to the federal government, as all claims (except Connecticut's) to the Northwest territory had. South Carolina, the only Southern state without western claims, promises to vote along with it's neighbors to avoid political isolation. With this many populous states a victory in the House of Representatives is guaranteed, but they need a majority of 14/26 Senators (7/13 states) in order to pass the senate.
5 February 1790 - A bill condemning New Hampshire and affirming New York's control of Vermont begins to be drafted. At this point it seems it will lose in the Senate, due to only 6 states being pro-New York. Intense negotiations with Pennsylvania begin regarding western expansion.
7 February 1790 - Pennsylvania comes out in support of New York and Massachusetts after being promised Connecticut's remaining Northwestern claim (Connecticut has no way of reaching this claim and is expected to cede it to the federal government soon anyways), Virginia spike of territory North of the Mason-Dixon line, and a large claim to Federal land extending to halfway across the Michigan peninsula.
10 February 1790 - The Bill to Resolve the Vermont Conflict is drafted.
Provisions of the bill include:
The westward claims of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia are to be held by those states indefinitely.
Pennsylvania is granted Virginian territory north of the Mason-Dixon line, Connecticut's claim in the Northwest, and a large amount of federal land.
Vermont is confirmed as part of New York state.
New Hampshire's statehood status is revoked due to its attack on the troops of another state. New Hampshire is considered to be in rebellion, and New Hampshire's territory shall now be administered by Massachusetts.
11 February 1790 - Congress votes on the Vermont bill. It passes the house 45-20. It passes the Senate 14-12. New Hampshire's delegation to congress leaves to return home indignantly.
14 February 1790 - New Hampshire's delegation is captured by New York troops and held as prisoners of war. New York has asserted full control over Vermont, and New Hampshire is barely hanging on to their home territory.
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 for subsumed into Massachusetts, connecting them to their holding of Maine and propelling them into an even larger dominance of New England.
The situation after the Vermont conflict.
17 July 1790 - The Residency act is signed into law by the president.
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.
3 May 1791 - The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth passes a new liberal constitution inspired by the French Revolution. Poland also begins building up its military, fearing a rebellion or invasion in reaction to this.
July 1791 - In response to a Whiskey tax passed as part of Alexander Hamilton's economic plan, distillers and farmers in western Pennsylvania proper begin to move west, away from established government control, to continue evading the tax.
17 December 1791 - Virginia ratifies the Bill of Rights and the first 10 amendments to the constitution come into effect.
May 1792 - Three French Revolutionary armies meet Austrian foes in the Southern Netherlands. General Lafayette wins a decisive victory, while General Biron routes a small Austrian force and General Dillon fights to a stalemate.
June 1792 - Austrian troops move into an annex Salzburg and Trent (South Tyrol), with the excuse of needing to secure Austrian border due to the threat of revolutionary forces. Europe, focused on the Revolution, does not notice much, although Venice is outraged and many small German states begin to fear Austrian power.
July-August 1792 - French revolutionary envoys are sent to countries that are seen to be fellow "lovers of liberty" by the constitutional monarchist and moderate republican governing alliance. The French attempt to gather allies to protect themselves from Austrian and Prussian counter-revolutionary war. Emissaries are sent to Britain, the USA, the Dutch Republic, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Ragusa, the Republic of Lucca, the Republic of Genoa, the Swiss Confederacy, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (an elective monarchy) and Tuscany (formerly the Republic of Florence). They are generally well received except in Tuscany, where they are seen to be agitators for the return of the old republic and are thrown in jail.
September 1792 - Anger and suspicion against Louis XVI comes to a head in France, and the people of Paris demand action. The Legislative Assembly is split into three factions, each commanding around one third of the votes. One group are conservative Feuillants, who will under no circumstances vote to kill the king, another is the Marais (or the Plain), who are an amorphous group who are aligned with neither side, who split largely on the vote, and the third are Jacobin republicans who want to depose or execute the king (especially the radical Montagnards). The assembly votes to create a new government and legislature, the National Convention, abolishing the monarchy (desired by republicans and much of the centre), but including immunity for the king and guaranteeing him safe passage out of the country if he so wishes (desired by monarchists, some of the center and notable group of moderate republicans from the Gironde). This compromise creates a situation that is not as outrageous to the rest of Europe as killing the king would be, and the king quickly chooses to flee to his Bourbon relatives in Spain. French public opinion turns greatly against Spain. France's reputation is slightly tarnished in Britain for abolishing the monarchy, but the humane treatment of the king is respected and the British are generally glad at the end of Bourbon control in France.
November 1792 - The election of 1792 occurs. George Washington is assured of winning the presidency, however politicians in small states that are angry over Washington's complacency during the Vermont crisis and the resolution of the crisis rally against the ascendancy of the large states by nominating John Langdon, from the vanquished New Hampshire, as their presidential candidate. Langdon is a notable ex-Senator (captured and allegedly tortured by New York soldiers after New Hampshire's statehood was revoked) who signed the constitution. Washington carries one electoral vote from every elector except those from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and South Carolina. Those electors each use one of their votes on a surprising candidate: Themselves. This is to protest against Washington, and also to make sure that they don't end up with a tie between two candidates of the anti-Washington faction. Each of them uses their second vote to vote for Langdon. The rest of the states are rather split on their second vote. Virginia votes for Jefferson. George Clinton of New York takes North Carolina, Georgia and New York. Incumbent Vice President Adams is voted for in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The surprising Vice Presidential winner is John Langdon, due to carrying a multitude of small states.
The presidential election results. Blue, orange and green states each used one vote for Washington, while red states each wasted one votes. For their second vote, they voted as follows:
Blue: John Adams
Orange: George Clinton
Green: Thomas Jefferson
Red: John Langdon
December 1792 - Russian forces invade Poland in response to the new liberal constitution. Polish forces are heavily, but not hopelessly (assuming Prussian support due to their alliance) outnumbered. Prussia agrees to abandon its ally and Austria agrees to join the war provided Russia joins the war against revolutionary France.
2 January 1793 - The election of the National Convention in France occurs, the first election to be conducted by universal male suffrage. The Montagnards win 183 seats, the Girondins win 215 seats, with the Feuillant conservatives (who had supported the now-abolished constitutional monarchy) winning 181 and the shrinking nonaligned Marais winning 170. The president of the Convention, who is the executive authority of the nation, is elected to a 1 year term by the convention. Jacques Pierre Brissot leads the moderate republicans from the Gironde (known as Girondists) and is elected President of the Convention, a compromise between hardcore Republicans (the Montagnards) and more conservative factions like the Feuillants and Marais. He is viewed as France's leader during this revolutionary period. The leaders of the conservatives are General Lafayette, busy in the field, and Antoine Barnave, a conservative member of the National Convention. The Marais is amorphous and leaderless, but notable includes Abbe Sieyes, a clergyman and famous writer of "What is the Third Estate?" Meanwhile, the radical Montagnard republicans are lead by Robespierre, with a slightly more moderate faction of the Montagnards following Georges Danton.
20 January 1793 - John Langdon's term as Vice President begins. He attempts to be as disruptive to the administration as possible, performing essentially no executive function for Washington. The country looks at this as the result of a flawed electoral system, and there are discussions of amending the constitution to avoid this uncooperative situation from occurring again.
15 February 1793 - The Constitutional League is formed as France's war with Austria and Prussia continues. The initial members of this league are Venice, a republic like France and outraged at Austria for their incursions into Italy, and the Dutch Republic, who had been promised a share of the Austrian Netherlands, provided they help in the war. All members declare war on Austria and Prussia. The Polish Lithuanian commonwealth also joins the constitutional league, seeing them as the only ally it can obtain against its ongoing invasion by its neighbours. The French allow the Dutch to administer all of the isle of Saint Martin as a further gesture of friendship.
23 March 1793 - A coalition is formed to oppose France and revolution. It consists of Austria (along with most of the Holy Roman Empire, especially the Rhineland) and Prussia, already at war with Revolutionary France; as well as Spain, where Louis XVI has been lobbying for a fight to return him to the throne of France; the Papal States, outraged at the secularization of France; and the Italian states of Sardinia, Parma, Modena, Sicily and Tuscany, staunch monarchists who fear the spread of the revolution. All members declare war on France and its allies.
April 1793 - The French Republic, emboldened by its new allies and eager to defeat the coalition against it, raises massive new armies in numbers never seen before in Europe. The war machine of the most populous country in Europe fires up.
May 1793 - Prussia and several other coalition members, with the Emperor's support, annexes several small statelets on its borders to make them more solid and defensible.
June 1793 - The Eleventh Amendment is proposed, which would give each elector one vote, which they cast for a ticket consisting of a President and a Vice President. If no ticket recieves a majority, the House of Representatives votes on the two highest tickets to determine a winner.
July 1793 - The invasion of the Southern Netherlands is completed, and it is partitioned between France and the Dutch Republic. France takes the southern half, Wallonia and Luxembourg, as well as the region around Brussels. The Dutch take the northern half, Flanders, with Antwerp being the largest city in their cession.
August 1793 - The Ottoman Empire takes advantage of the confusion in Europe to quickly invade and annex Montenegro, making it a Vilayet of the Empire.
September 1793 - French troops make good progress into Sardinia and the Venetian army holds its borders against onslaughts of Austrians and Italian monarchists, with much French aid. As French lines draw nearer and French victory seems assured, the Republics of Genoa and Lucca declare for France and join the Constitutional League.
October 1793 - Dutch forces finish subjugating East Frisia, annexing it from Prussia. This happens as French and Dutch forces continue into the Rhineland and defeat several Prussian armies, setting up a defensive line at the river Rhine to repel further Austrian and Prussian attacks.
Jaunary 1794 - The Eleventh amendment is ratified by Virginia and comes into effect.
February 1794 - Due to defeats in Italy, the Netherlands and the Rhineland, Austria and Prussia are eager to eliminate the polish war from their list of problems. A peace is settled ceding Danzig and Poznan to Prussia, Kraków to Austria and a strip of eastern territory to Russia. Russia is disappointed that the constitution of 1791 is preserved but sees France as a bigger threat to monarchism in Europe.
March 1794 - French forces move into and annex Avignon from the Papal State, as well as Andorra.
April 1794 - The Swiss Confederacy joins the Constitutional League and moves its forces to help in the war in Italy and the southern HRE. It quickly occupies Liechtenstein. The French permit the Swiss to admit Geneva as a full member of the Confederacy.
May 1794 - By now French, Venetian and Genoan forces have pushed the Austrian forces in Italy back to the borders of Austria itself. The Republic of Ragusa, on the Adriatic coast, joins the constitutional league and begins to strongly align itself with Venice. Sardinia, Modena, Parma, Austrian Milan and Trent are occupied. Sardinia is partitioned between France and the newly created Ligurian republic, a merger of Genoa, Lucca and the newly annexed territory. The Ligurian republic also annexes Parma, Modena and Milan. France takes the Isle of Sardinia. Venice annexes Trent and much of Austria's adriatic coast.
November 5 1794 - The Jay Treaty is passed, improving relations between the United States and Britain. The Maine boundary dispute is resolved, with the United States receiving control of the territory in return for promising to support the British in the event of a war with Spain.
December 1794 - The fighting in Europe stops as representatives from the coalition and the constitutional league go to the negotiating table. It is clear that the constitutional league has the coalition beat, but the question is how much they will gain in the peace. Negotiations are tense and stretch on for months.
February 1795 - The British, who have been neutral to positive on the French Revolution thus far, see that France has triumphed in its current conflict and seeking gain at the expense of France's enemy Spain, and make overtures to France with an offer to join the constitutional league. They offer to move forces in to put down the Haitian revolution, provided they are allowed free reign to seize Spanish colonies in the event of a war with Spain. France accepts this offer and British forces move to take Haiti from the slave revolt controlling it.
March 1795 - A peace treaty is signed between the Coalition and the Constitutional League. It confirms all annexations made thus far by the constitutional league and also significantly enlarges the Electorate of Brunswick-Luneberg, renamed the Kingdom of Hanover by the treaty. Ragusa is also formally added to Venice by the treaty. Liechtenstein is admitted as a canton of the Swiss Confederacy. Also confirmed by the treaty are the expansion of Bavaria and Saxony through wartime "mediatizations" of lands surrounding them. The Emperor formally transfers the vassalage of neighboring princes to the enlarged territories, but it is in effect annexation.
Europe after the War of the Coalition. Light grey denotes a multitude of HRE statelets.
May 1795 - Russia joins the Coalition against the revolution, eager to deter another war for the expansion of dangerous revolutionary activities in Europe.
November 1796 - The election of 1796 takes place. George Washington has decided not to run again, giving the Democratic Republicans under Jefferson a chance to seize the presidency. They nominate Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr for vice president. The Federalists nominate John Adams, former Vice President and party leader, with Thomas Pickney as his running mate. John Langdon is nominated by the newly formed Justice Party, who aim to "end the tyranny of the large states". Jonathan Trumbull Jr. is his running mate, a senator from Connecticut (the largest state that the party hopes to win). On election day Jefferson sweeps the south and wins Maryland (which has recently switched to using the popular vote) due to vote splitting between Federalists and Justice party members. The Justice party competes with the DRs in South Carolina, but narrowly loses. They carry the states of Delware, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Federalists carry only New York and Massachusetts, but come second in electoral vote count. Jefferson wins a majority of the electoral college and becomes the president-elect.
The election of 1796. Jefferson/Burr - 69. Adams/Pickney - 28. Langdon/Trumbull - 23.
20 January 1797 - President Jefferson and Vice President Burr take office, pledging to preserve liberty at home and abroad, expressing support for France and its constitutional league.
March 1797 - President Jefferson rallies support for France among the American populace, and the senate passes a treaty formally joining the constitutional league. Federalists are moderately opposed to this, although pleased that this alliance will bring them closer to Britain. Joining the leagues war puts the United States at odds with Spain, and the US people begin to speculate at gaining land to the west at Spain's expense in the event of a war.
April 1797 - Portugal, longtime ally of Britain and rival of Spain, joins the Constitutional League.
May 1797 - Denmark, seeking expansion into Northern Germany that would certainly be opposed by the Holy Roman Emperor, joins the Constitutional League. They are considered eligible for membership because of their parliament and relatively non autocratic monarchy. Sweden responds by joining the coalition, fearing annexation by Denmark in an effort to recreate the Kalmar union.
August 1797 - Russian, Prussian and Austrian forces move into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in a surprise invasion, sparking the Second War of the Coalition. Almost all of Europe outside of the Republic of San Marino (friendly to France, but surrounded by the Papal States), the Ottoman Empire and the Knights of Malta are parties in this conflict.
The warring parties of the Second War of the Coalition.
Last edited: