"Null and Void" - Jackson in 1824
Lists of Presidents of the United States
What if Andrew Jackson did not fall victim to a "rotten deal" in 1824, and consequently led his wing of the Democratic-Republicans to victory?
1824: Andrew Jackson / John C. Calhoun (Democratic-Republican) [1]
1828: Henry Clay / John Q. Adams (National Republican) [2]
1832: Henry Clay / John Q. Adams (National Republican) [3]
1836: John Floyd / Henry Lee (Nullifier) [4]
1840: John Floyd / Henry Lee (Nullifier) [5]
1844: Lewis Cass / James K. Polk (Democratic-Republican) [6]
1848: Henry Clay / Daniel Webster (National Republican) [7]
1852: James K. Polk / Robert J. Walker (Democratic-Republican) [8]
1856: Stephen A. Douglas / Millard Fillmore (Democratic-Republican / American) [9]
1860: Robert M. T. Hunter / John Bell (Democratic-Republican / American) [10]
1864: Robert Toombs / John Bell (Democratic-Republican / American) [11]
1868: Robert E. Lee / Thomas J. Jackson (Military Government) [12]
1872: George W. Randolph / Thomas Bragg (Country) [13]
1876: George W. Randolph / Thomas Bragg (Country) [14]
1880: James Longstreet / Fitzhugh Lee (Country) [15]
1884: James Longstreet / Fitzhugh Lee (Country) [16]
1888: Isham G. Harris / Lucius Q. C. Lamar II (Liberal) [17]
1892: John B. Gordon / Benjamin R. Tillman Jr. (Country) [18]
1896: Richard P. Bland / Edward S. Bragg (Liberal) [19]
1900: Richard P. Bland / Edward S. Bragg (Liberal) [20]
[1] The collapse of the Federalist Party in the 1824 election would result in the ascendency of the new two-party system in the United States; Jackson took the Presidency with the Democratic-Republicans, whilst Clay and his allies fractured off to form the new opposition National Republicans.
[2] In 1828, the Clay/Adams ticket narrowly defeated a second Jackson attempt at the Presidency following the union of the two tickets to send Jackson out of office.
[3] Despite both sides losing votes to the Nullifier Party in 1832, Clay managed to return for a isolationist and containing second term. The annexation of Texas was just defeated in the House, whilst the Nullifiers continued to make ground against both parties.
[4] The 1836 election would be one of the closest in history, but in a shock result both the Democratic-Republicans and the National Republicans would be ousted by the up-and-coming Nullifier Party led by John Floyd and Henry Lee.
[5] During the first Nullifier administration, tensions between North and South (and the political parties) increased dramatically. Angered by an apparently pro-slavery bias within government, New England in particular began discussing secession openly. The 1840 government was therefore extremely fractious; Floyd, losing popularity fast, was controversially endorsed by former Vice President John C. Calhoun. The popular vote lay heavily in the favour of the National Republicans, but Floyd - with the support of the South - carried the Electoral College. Anarchy ensued, and parts of the North rose up in angry confrontation. Whilst the country remained united throughout the entire term (largely thanks to the mediation of prominent liberal figures), the second Nullifier government had to play it safe and settled for the addressing of pro-state economic policies (foiled by Northern filibuster) and the settlement of the Pacific Northwest.
[6] The Nullifier Party would finally lose the Presidency to Lewis Cass, who successfully garnered votes from the crucial South with his inclusion of former Governor Polk as his running mate.
[7] By 1848, tensions in the United States were at an all-time high; the Free-Soil Party (newly incorporated by Martin Van Buren) gained control of both Houses and a large number of governorships in the North. They threatened secession from the Union as Cass attempted to incorporate more slave states from Mexico. The country fell back to secure hands, as Henry Clay agreed to run for President for a third time. The Great Compromise of 1849 called for no further expansion into the Pacific or Mexico, and the restriction on the creation of new states (free or slave). Following the passing of the Compromise, the elderly Clay left most governmental matters to his Vice President (Daniel Webster).
[8] The Great Compromise created a major problem for the hawkish expansionist Democratic-Republicans, and many expected a return for Webster for government (but as President). However, the 1852 election - much like 1836 - would prove extremely close. Much like the end of the Nullifier administration, Webster secured the majority of the popular vote but Polk - campaigning to review the terms of the Compromise and ensure state sovereignty on slavery - squeaking through with the support of the South. With the admission of Winnebago and Vermillion* in 1849 sanctioned by the Compromise to sate the dissatisfied North, Polk was faced with a majority of free-states and unable to declare war either on Mexico (particularly with the beginning of the Californian Western War of Independence), Texas (still a loyal American ally) or Britain (over the Pacific Northwest), and as such turned to the Caribbean. Overtures were made to Spain regarding the purchase of Cuba and Puerto Rico, and following a collapse in relations Polk authorized the beginning of the First American-Spanish War (1854-1856). Following the Treaty of Havana, Polk popularly brought the Spanish Caribbean into the Union as territories - with the goal, potentially, of bringing Cuba to statehood as soon as possible.
[9] The 1856 election would be contested by three parties; the pro-slave Democratic-Republicans advocated a state-led solution, whilst the National Republicans sought to prohibit slavery nationally. However, the rise of the American Party (led by Millard Fillmore) would represent a change of direction in the conservative-right. Initially, it looked likely that the National Republicans - under Johnston
and Frémont - would clinch the presidency. This triggered panic in the Democratic-Republicans who, controversially, entered into an endorsement arrangement with Fillmore winning the popular vote by a slim margin but the Electoral College by a landslide.
[10] The victory of the Democratic-American alliance in 1860 almost triggered the immediate secession of the most dedicated free states in the North. However, moderates in the North did not believe the results of an election to be a just cause for dividing the Union; almost immediately, plans for the future expansion of slavery into the Caribbean were immediately suspended. Urgent discussions began in all tiers of government to resolve the Slavery Crisis, and by 1858 it looked likely a diplomatic compromise could be reached. However, when John Brown staged a large slave revolt in Virginia and the subsequent governmental response, many Northerners were persuaded that the only way slavery would survive was via force, and the DemAm government was prepared to use such methods. Going into the 1860 election, many Northern states were already in a state of tense defiance - several refused to endorse the election, and following the continued "success" of the alliance (under new leaders Hunter and Bell respectively) the Northern states declared the seceded Free States of America.
[11] With the Civil War going extremely badly and with a terrible cost in human life, the Democratic-Republican caucus expelled Hunter - replacing him with Robert Toombs. The Alliance, however, was to continue and Bell remained as Vice President. The Civil War would continued as a stalemate until the decisive Union breakaway (under future leader Robert E. Lee) in 1866 and the besieging of the FSA capital in Philadelphia.
[12] However, the Lee push was proven futile following the massive Slave Rebellion across the entire United States; John Brown and his semi-allies in the FSA took control of Delaware and Kentucky, and mass desertions and sabotage played havoc with the war effort. Faced with a collapsing leadership, Lee seized power in Washington accompanied by "Stonewall" Jackson and immediately arrested the success of the Rebellion - preventing it from crossing the Potomac. Nevertheless, the Union was collapsing. In 1870, the military government was forced to recognize that the war could not be won. Recognizing the Free States of America, Lee also acknowledged the handing over of Delaware and significant swathes of territories in the former Louisiana Territory. The USA continued to claim Kentucky and Missouri (despite both comfortably occupied by Northern troops), and Lee was forced to agree to step down in 1872 for new elections.
[13] By the recklessly-called 1872 election, the United States was in complete meltdown. As Lee - dictated by the North - demobilized the Army, anarchy spread across most of the country. Slaves rose up in rebellion, and many who had served simply joined militias from all stripes in the post-war chaos. With the catastrophe of the war, both the American economy and political situation had been completed destroyed. Whilst many attempted to cling to the Democratic-Republicans, the Country Party emerged around a coalition of wartime politicians determined to forcefully correct the anarchic situation. Watched by the military elite (who still dominated decision making in government), Randolph entered as President without any competition from an organized Opposition. Troops were recalled into service (which proved much easier on paper), and whilst by 1874 a large number of slave revolts had been quelled tensions on the FSA border - increasingly one of the most fortified in the world - continued to rise, and the Texan Emancipation Proclamation placed the latter firmly into the Northern sphere; the retributionist attitude of FSA President Joel Parker did not ease any concerns.
[14] The crisis was heightened by the secession of Cuba and Puerto Rico as the 'Free Republics' (FRC and FRPR respectively) in 1875; led by FSA insurgents and Brownites, the North resumed an undeclared war with the USA over the sovereignty of the islands. With the reluctant acknowledgement of Cuban and Puerto Rican independence, the Country Party suffered a considerable loss of support and, come the 1876 election, the Reunification Party candidate James L. Alcorn was significant leading in the polls. The military, however, pushed for the continuation of the Country government, and consequently significant electoral fraud returned the Randolph government. Following the re-election, the United States continued to suffer mercilessly at the hands of the slave rebellions (including the declaration of 'True Tennessee') and a virtually non-existent economy.
[15] 1880 saw Randolph declining a third attempt at election, and the alternate ticket of Longstreet and Lee comfortably won the contest. Under the new military-dominated regime, the 'True State of Tennessee' was crushed and a degree of stability returned whilst the economy continued to slide. Under the Longstreet administration, gradual plans for emancipation were beginning to be drawn up to placate the slave rebellions.
[16] Ten years from the end of the Civil War, the United States remained a relic of former glories; whilst the majority of the countryside had been returned to an uneasy disquiet, the Country Party was being to address the future of the American slaves. Longstreet was becoming increasingly influenced by the abolitionist European powers of Britain and France, as the USA had become increasingly reliant upon loans from the Mother Continent. Minor administrative changes were conducted as a beginning for the radical developments soon to arrive in the United States - slave communities were granted agricultural communes to become self-sufficient until their freedom (whenever it would come), whilst state boundaries were redrawn in a bid to increase the support of the government. West Florida was fractured from Florida, and Comancheria was inaugurated from the southern half of the former Oklahoma Territory. This coincidentally complimented an addition of states to the FSA in the north across this period.
[17] Concerned with economic stagnation and pressure from the Free States in the North, Harris drove a very active foreign policy to bring the United States closer to European powers in the belief that free trade would allow the still predominantly agricultural United States to return to prosperity. A firm believer in the Jeffersonian ideal of the independent yeoman farmer, he refused to introduce tariffs to aid industrialization. When the Country Party won the 1890 mid-terms, the nation found itself in a deadlock between the President and Congress (who favoured bills to bring about tariffs on manufactured goods). The deadlock ignited a political debate over the constitutional arrangement, with Woodrow Wilson gaining national prominence with his calls for a transition towards a British parliamentary constitution.
[18] The 1890 mid-terms would leave little doubt about the likely winners of the 1892 presidential election, and so it was without much fanfare that the Country Party ticket of former Governor John B. Gordon and Benjamin R. Tillman Jr. would sweep both the popular and electoral votes. Gordon, a firm believer in slavery and segregation, would represent a step back in the process to end slavery.
[19] The 1896 election marked the end of the immediate post-civil war period, and initiated the beginning of the Third Party system in the United States. Gordon, a keen reactionary, had suffered a colossal loss of support in the mid-terms of his presidency; the American public were sick of the slavery debate, and wanted as rapid a solution as possible. Bland, therefore, seized the presidency by a comfortable margin in 1896. Only the second Liberal government in a quarter-decade, the large margins in both Houses allowed the passing of a series of Industrial Acts that kick-started American industrial growth (with European backing) and the decisive Slave Emancipation in 1898. With former slaves established in their agricultural communities as relative equals, the Liberal Party received a flood of support from the new voting population - this was significantly aided by the Liberal roots in the Democratic-Republican ideal of agricultural yeomanry and independence.
[20] With the USA finally ending its' quarter-century of severe economic depression, slave revolts, mass uprisings, and wars that couldn't be won, it wasn't a surprise that Bland was reelected in a sweep, winning every single state and over 80% of the popular vote, and gaining two-thirds (in the House), and three-quarters (in the Senate) majority in the Houses of Congress. Bland decided to set upon entering talks with Moderate Party FSA President Adlai Stevenson on possible reunification, now that the USA had ended its essentially Semi-Feudalist economy and established equality between the races.
List of States within the United States of America
(All lists updated with each post, if necessary).
- Georgia
- South Carolina
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- Arkansaw
- Florida
- West Florida
- Comancheria
The states of Kentucky and Missouri remain claimed by the United States despite the conclusion of hostilities and their desire to remain with the Free States of America.
List of States within the Free States of America
(All lists updated with each post, if necessary).
- Delaware
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Maryland
- New Hampshire
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Kentucky
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Maine
- Missouri
- Michigan
- Sioux
- Winnebago
- Vermillion
- Virginia (West Virginia)
- Kansas