alternatehistory.com

ATL Texas Idea

Texas remains a part of Mexico

This was the product of 2 10 hour drives and a weekend without Internet connection. Because of that, this is entirely prior knowledge and logic, with no research. There are obviously going to be many problems with this, and because it was only a few days of writing, everything is up for debate, up to and including major plot points and entire arcs. Whenever I came to a question I couldn't answer, I just chose the outcome I liked the best. I have lots of questions and things I'm unsure of, and I'll make a list of all the ones I can think of at the end of the outline.

(I need to add annotations defining all the terms I use and the historical events I reference in order to make it readable and make sense)
(This is just an outline. If I were to actually write this, it would be in first person perspective of various characters. I would have occasional excerpts from many historical personalities memoirs and modern textbooks and historical studies.)
(Each arc/sub-arc would get 2-5 chapters and each chapter would get 1-2 short narrative excerpts)

Arc 1 Main POV - Modern Historical Thesis
POD
Santa Anna is an even more oppressive leader, leading the republic of the rio grande to actually become a functioning resistance group with complete control in their heartland and agents throughout the country. The Tejano's are the ones to begin resistance to Santa Anna in Texas, although the white settlers soon join in (this part needs its own arc, with a detailed explanation of what Santa Anna did, how the resistance formed, and a thorough examination of the inner workings of the resistance).

Arc 2 Main POV - Biography of Stephen Austin
Tejano rebellion
The first shots of the Texas Revolution are fired by Tejano's and Mexicans in Coahuila, with the revolution spreading to Tejano's in Bexar (San Antonio). The Tejano's kick the Mexican soldiers out of the city. The Convention of 1832 occurs as OTL, with Tejano's and Mexicans precluded from joining, but when the Tejano's learn of this, they are infuriated and when the Convention of 1833 occurs, they send delegations anyways (one from Bexar, one from El Paso, and one a diplomat from the Republic of the Rio Grande). William Wharton, the OTL president of the 1833 Convention and main proponent of independence Is absent from the Convention because he accidentally shoots himself dismounting his horse (which happened historically in 1839). Because of this, Stephen Austin is elected president of the Convention. The delegates are initially barred from entering, but Stephen Austin (always the negotiator), who has always been more tolerant of the other races in Texas, allows them to go before the Convention and make their case for admittance. The delegates from the Republic of the Rio Grande go first, stating that they want to change Mexico from the inside by deposing Santa Anna and reinstating the 1824 Constitution, and that they wish for Texas to join them in this goal, with the other Tejano delegates pointing out that if Texas refuses, the Tejano's of Texas will secede from Texas and join the new Mexico. Because of the fact that the Tejano's have done virtually all the fighting so far, that the Republic of the Rio Grande could be instrumental in defeating the Mexicans, that the Texians don't want to have to deal with a civil war after they secure independence, and that many of the delegates aren't so adamant about secession anyways (most of the delegates are there in the first place, not because they hate Mexico, but because they hate Santa Anna and his oppressive acts), the Texian delegates agree to for the time being not declare independence, and instead call for Santa Anna to abdicate and for the 1824 Constitution to be reinstated (and for slavery to be made legal). After this, the Republic of the Rio Grande and Texas keep up regular correspondence and begin cooperating on military affairs.

Arc 3 Main POV - Biography of Sam Houston, followed by Memoirs of Juan Seguín
A different Siege of Bexar (San Antonio)
On Oct. 12, Stephen Austin is unavailable to lead the army of 300 in the battle. The Mexican army numbers 647. On Oct. 22, the Texians number 453. Because of this, when James Fannin and James Bowie split the army, it remains that way (in OTL, Austin managed to regroup the army quickly). Because of this, when the Mexicans charge the weakened Texian army at Concepćion, they rout the Texians and capture or kill that half of the army at a loss of 22 men. The remaining half under Bowie flees the field and runs into Houston's reinforcement of 73 less than an hour later (as in OTL, Austin offers Houston his command, but this time, since it's earlier, and Houston has no political events he has to go to, he accepts. Fannin is MIA and assumed captured by Mexicans (not true). Bowie gives a self-promoting explanation of what had happened and urges Houston to assault the city now, explaining that most of the Mexican force was still in Concepćion and those that were still in the city had just seen the remnants of the Texian army flee and wouldn't be expecting an attack. Houston, seeing the logic in this, agrees and orders an immediate assault on Bexar. The assault is successful, if at a heavy cost. The city is captured, 130 Mexicans are killed, 61 are captured, and 150 flee the city and join with the forces at Concepćion. 60 Texians are killed or too wounded to fight and 15 desert before the battle. 50 Tejano's under Thomas Rusk arrive to reinforce the town on Nov. 2, leaving the army at an effective number of 250. On Nov. 4, 450 newly impressed Mexican soldiers arrive at Concepćion, bringing their effective number to 901. Martin dé Cos, leader of the Mexican unit, orders a siege of the town. By Nov. 22, 75 Texians have deserted due to a lack of food, and the Texians are running extremely low on ammunition, with only enough powder left for 15 shots for each soldier (the powder stores of the garrison had been destroyed during the earlier battle, leaving the Texians with plenty of ball, but no powder, and the powder set aside for cannon had been distributed out for small arms). On Nov. 22, a profesional volunteer unit of 120, the New Orleans Greys, arrive in Bexar. Unfortunately, only 45 of the unit are actually in Bexar, with the rest stuck attempting to haul an 18 pound cannon and a supply train across the wilderness, so the volunteers falls back to wait for the rest of their unit. Early on Nov. 23, the Greys spot a Mexican mule train heading for Bexar. Following rumors that this was a caravan of gold to pay the Mexican armies, and influenced by greed, the Greys launch an ambush on the convoy. Less than an hour after the Greys leave their posts near Bexar, Cos launches an assault on the city. The ambush is spotted, and 8 of the Texians die in the ensuing fight, killing 80 Mexicans, but the convoy wasn't carrying gold at all, but hay and food for the soldiers and animals. By the time the Greys return to their watch posts around Bexar that afternoon, the Mexicans had breached the city walls and 60 Texians were dead (and 300 Mexicans were dead). The remaining 37 Greys are spotted when a watchman sets a cooking fire at the top of a hill. The Greys are taken by surprise, with 26 killed or captured by the Mexicans, and the rest fleeing or hiding successfully, and their stores of food and powder seized by the desperate Mexican army, who had begun having severe food shortages. The fighting continues throughout the night, devolving into a bloody stalemate of urban warfare. The remaining Greys can do nothing but watch and hide as they wait for their comrades to return. Early Nov. 24 the 75 Greys arrive with their cannon and supplies and all the remaining Greys reorganize. The 86 strong force quickly organizes a cavalry charge on the Mexican headquarters in Concepćion, with Robert Morris famously drawing a line in the sand and saying "We all must die, you today are in the unique position to determine how. You can surrender and be executed, attempt to flee and be cut down by the Mexicans, or you can fight and die here for all Texas. If you will fight with me, cross this line!" All but 6 crossed the line. The 6 who didn't cross were given a 4th option, to run supplies to the defenders while the Mexicans were distracted, and the 6 agreed to do that. With most of the Mexican army in Bexar and the guard in Concepćion complacent and unprepared for an attack, the guards surrender without a shot, but Cos is visiting the city at the time and thus is not captured. Houston's force by daybreak numbered only 115, and Cos's numbered 464. Houston's force had managed to secure a good portion of the city by creating haphazard barricades by toppling buildings into the street, and setting snipers in the taller buildings of the city. Houston resolves to surrender at the end of the day if no reinforcements arrive. The Greys launch another cavalry charge against the Mexican forces waiting outside the city for rest. This time they encounter significant resistance and only 60 of them reach the Mexicans (it's important to remember that a portion of them stayed behind to operate the cannon). The cannon had been set up and was now bombarding the Mexican cannons, managing to temporarily silence them by causing their crews to flee. The 60 remaining Greys wreak havoc among the Mexican army causing massive casualties, but are gradually reduced by the sheer number of enemies. All 60 die fighting, causing 144 Mexican casualties, while the 18 pounder eventually managed to destroy all but 3 of the Mexican cannon, but a bayonet charge was launched on the position, which managed to silence the emplacement at a heavy cost. Cos's army now numbered only 215 (don't forget about the continued urban fighting). While Houston at the end of the day had 95. During the fight, 6 of the Greys discretely transferred their food and ammo supplies, as well as winter gear to Houston's forces. Houston resolves to keep fighting. With both sides having suffered terrible casualties, the urban fighting largely stops for a few days. On Dec. 1 Houston decides to abandon Bexar and attempt a breakout on the 3rd (due to renewed food and ammo shortages). The breakout attempt is a mixed success, managing to sneak a small party on horse out of the city but unable to remove the main force from the fighting. Houston resolves to surrender at daybreak on the 5th if no reinforcements arrive. The men on horseback encountered and joined a relief force of 300 Tejano's and Rebel Mexicans serving under Juan Seguín, a Tejano soldier who was part of the unit destroyed at Concepćion. After fleeing for his life, he turned around and began recruiting Tejano's and disgruntled Mexicans from the countryside. His force arrived in Bexar just after daybreak on Dec. 4. The relief force began to surround the tired Mexican force in the city planning to clear the city after preparations were made, but only 2 hours later, a Mexican force of 600 regulars with cannon and cavalry appeared on the horizon. The Tejano's, knowing that they would be annihilated if they stayed exposed on the field and that they didn't have enough time to clear the city, extracted the remnants of Houston's army and retreated into the Alamo, a nearby mission with defensible walls. The Texians number 382 and have several small cannon, the 18 pounder from the Greys, and plenty of food and powder, and the Mexicans number 809 and have many small cannon and enough food but have inferior powder stores, with many bullets failing to fire or bouncing off the unarmored Texians leaving nothing but a bruise. The Mexicans begin a siege on the Alamo and Houston's force is informed there will be no further reinforcements. On Dec. 5, a cannonball hits the Texian headquarters, killing Houston, Burleson, and most of the remaining white leadership. Because of this, Juan Seguín, the only man with meaningful military leadership experience, is put into overall command of the unit, and puts James Fannin in charge of the white soldiers, who at this point numbered only 46. Because of the poor treatment of the civilians of Bexar, and the fact that the unit in the Alamo was largely Tejano, the civilians assist the Texians greatly, stealing food and ammo from the Mexican army and smuggling it to the Texians. The Tejano unit fights valiantly, holding out for 60 days, until on Feb. 3, when 185 Texians (80% White) under William Travis and David Crockett arrive to retake the city (after they had learned of Sam Houston's death, the Texians had assumed the Tejano's would have surrendered). When they arrive, they're shocked to learn that the Tejano's are still fighting, and immediately move to assist them. In the following battle, the Mexicans are routed and flee the field after only an hour of fighting and the two groups join up. During the battle, Mexican leader Cos was injured and captured, and he informs the Texians of a large force led personally by Santa Anna heading for the city. The two groups reorganize and split between the Alamo and Bexar and dig in for the force to arrive, with the Tejano's and Mexicans under Juan Seguín in Bexar and the whites under William Travis in the Alamo. On Feb. 15, Santa Anna's army of 1,500 arrives at Bexar and begins to siege the city and the Alamo. Between then and Feb. 20, both sides receive minor reinforcements, with many of the civilians in Bexar joining the Tejano's stationed there and Santa Anna launching several conscription parties into the countryside. On Feb. 21, Santa Anna launches an assault on the Alamo (which the white Texans had responsibility for) and after taking 400 casualties, and having 3 attacks fail, they take the fort on the 4th assault just before dusk. They execute all the remaining Texians in view of the defenders of Bexár. The next day Santa Anna promises the Tejano's in Bexár that they and the civilians of the city will be spared if they surrender. A private vote is held among the 350 Tejano's over whether to surrender, and the result is a universal no (although 11 men subsequently flee the city in the night). And so, the Tejano's and civilians in Bexár hunker down to prepare for the inevitable assault. The assault comes on Feb. 24 after ~200 Mexicans reinforce Santa Anna. The 1,300 strong army launches 3 assaults, the first 2 fail, causing the Mexicans 300 casualties, but the third manages to gain a foothold in the city and brutal urban warfare commences. Over the course of 3 days the Mexican army slogs through the city taking an additional 400 casualties but on Feb. 26 the Tejano resistance ends with all but 9 dying fighting. Knowing that many civilians had actively aided the Texians, Santa Anna executes all men in the city older than 14. Juan Seguín is escorted out of the city during the fighting. Because of this, Juan Seguín is able to participate in the 1836 Convention. To signify the multi-ethnic sacrifice of the battle, the slogan from the battle for both the Mexicans and Texians is "Recuerde el gente de Bexár (remember the people of Bexár) and Remember the Alamo" (this slogan spreads through all of Mexico, with the Alamo part purposefully left in English to honor the dead Texians). With Sam Houston dead, Stephen Austin is made general of all Texan forces. The entire country of Mexico erupts in outrage over Santa Anna's mass execution of almost 1,000 noncombatant Mexicans, and mass rioting and declarations of independence spread throughout Mexico, with California (at this time including Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Baja California, and other minor regions), Chihuahua, and Sonora joining the Republic of the Rio Grande and the Yucatan declaring independence. The Mexican army struggles throughout the whole country to maintain order and in many places to survive, but even the military is outraged, with many city garrisons staying in their barracks and refusing orders to quell the unrest. Santa Anna is forced to return to Mexico City with his army to avoid a coup. A diplomat from the USA arrives in Texas to discuss the possibility of annexation, but he chooses a bad time since there's no actual Texian government to correspond with, so when he meets with Stephen Austin, the only reply he gets is an apology and an invitation to the 1836 Convention (which would decide whether to declare independence and create an interim government). (Stephen Austin, during the 1833 Convention, made it necessary to live in Texas to attend the Conventions. This removed most of the remaining delegates pushing for independence (many of the delegates in OTL were actually Americans who owned land in Texas but resided in the U.S.)) At the Convention, only a few delegates push for independence while Austin, the Tejano's, and a good number of the delegates push to change Mexico from within. When the American diplomat enters the Convention and notices the Mexican delegates, he insults the Convention and promptly leaves. The motion to stay within Mexico, depose Santa Anna, and reinstate the 1824 Constitution with modification passes by a narrow margin (mainly because of the Tejano delegates promising to give Texas a disproportionate amount of power in creating the new Mexico and being forced to acknowledge the sacrifices of the Tejano people by Juan Seguín (and subsequently wish to depose Santa Anna to save the Mexican people from his rule)). The Convention also decides to formally merge with the Republic of the Rio Grande and a greater convention is held on Sep. 16 (Mexican Independence Day). Stephen Austin is elected President of the Convention and Juan Seguín translates for the Convention. The group renames itself the Free Mexican Republic and reaffirms the earlier Convention's proclamation (although it took lots of debate to allow slavery to exist in Texas). The Convention stated that slavery would be allowed in Texas but only North of the Nueces River in the area currently controlled by Texas, and created multiple stipulations such as a limit to the number of slaves per person, the creation of a body to ensure the proper treatment of slaves, harsh punishments for mistreating slaves, and the offer of lucrative payment (in land) to any slave owner if he gave up his slaves (several Texian delegates leave the room upon this passing, but Stephen Austin manages to calm them down by pointing out that it'll happen whether or not they're at the Convention). Juan Seguín is elected Commander in Chief of the Free Mexican Military, and Jan. 1, 1837 is named as the date of the first election, with Stephen Austin serving as acting President until then, and Coahuila leader serving as acting Vice-President (the method of election and serving terms is the same as in OTL Texas, with 3 year nonconsecutive terms, because of this, Austin can't run for election in 1837). Stephen Austin dies on Dec. 27, leaving Coahuila guy to become acting President and making him unable to run in January. The Mexicans had assumed he would win handily and so there was no other candidate from Coahuila running. On Jan. 1 large portions of the country aren't even aware of this fact, and when the voting results come in, Coahuila guy wins handily with 40% of the vote, while Juan Seguín got 30% of the vote, Texian guy got 10% of the vote, and minor candidates got 20% of the vote. Coahuila guy is ineligible to become president, but argues that his tenure was too short to matter and calls an emergency meeting of the Convention for Jan. 30. At the Convention, the delegates are unable to come to a conclusion on whether to give the Presidency to Coahuila guy or Seguín, until Coahuila guy suggests an election by the delegates. The delegates are sufficiently tempted by the power this would give them and, realizing that a revote would take too long, agree. The Texians and the Mexicans that think Coahuila guy shouldn't be able to run outnumber the Mexicans who support Coahuila guy, and with careful negotiations with the Texians by Seguín (mainly because the Mexicans are largely unable to do the same because of the language barrier), Seguín wins the vote handily. Seguín makes a good compromise candidate because while he's ethnically Mexican, he is from Texas and can speak English, and sides with the Texians on most of the matters that they care about.

Arc 4 Main POV - Memoirs of Juan Seguín
Free Mexican Republic
The new Free Mexican Government organizes and begins making plans to overthrow Santa Anna and consolidate their control over Mexico (subverting, merging with, or destroying other rebel groups). Meanwhile, the reception of the Convention's decision in Texas is mixed and very heated. Also, the USA and Mexico come to an agreement on their border. The western border between Texas and Oklahoma extends all the way to California, which has OTL borders. Mexico sells this land for $15,000,000, which is put towards Mexico's debt to the USA (the U.S. government gave the FMR large loans to help them win the Civil War against Santa Anna). (This needs its own long arc explaining in detail the evolution of the Mexican and Texian governments, their relationship, the war with Santa Anna's Mexico, and an examination of the effects on the USA)

Arc 5A Main POV - Study of Austin's influence on immigration to Texas, followed by
Letters from Texians to their ethnic homelands
Immigration
When the Texians decide to stay part of Mexico, they also decide that they need more white people to avoid being overwhelmed by the Mexicans (because racism), and so a variety of groups are courted by the Texian government. Negotiations between Stephen Austin and Joseph Smith (which existed OTL, infact, Smith had already decided to move the Mormons to Texas, and had already received permission from the Texians, but was arrested and jailed before he could carry out this plan) are very successful, and by early 1836 the 30-50,000 Mormons have moved into Texas and built a city in the Panhandle region. After the formal creation of the government, Interim-President Austin begins communicating with various ethnic groups that had travelled to Texas (he communicated with many, such as Germans, Irish, British, Italians, Spanish, Peninsulares, etc. but the 2 most successful were the Germans and Irish). When a German community leader, Johann Friedrich Ernst, was approached by Austin, he agreed enthusiastically, for he had already been writing about Texas to his German friends. Ernst offered to move to Germany and found and run an organization to advertise for and help move Germans to Texas with Texian funding. Austin agreed and after a vote by the interim government, funding was secured for Ernst's Adalsverein. The Irish settlement near Corpus Christi, when approached by Austin, also agreed to set up an organization in Ireland and write letters to friends and families encouraging them to come to Texas. Southern and Northern Americans were also encouraged to immigrate to Texas. Texas also decided to institute a massive free land grant to all European and American immigrants (40 acres per family) and set aside large tracts of land for each of the organizations (North-West to Germans, South-West to Irish, etc.). These policies are ridiculously successful and backfire spectacularly. The Great Famine in Ireland occurs less than a decade later, with 1/4 dying or leaving the country. At first, most emigrants travel to the British Isle, but travel there is soon heavily restricted, next many travel to Canada, but their ports become clogged with Irish vessels, there're so many immigrants that Canada is forced to convert an island into a refugee camp (immigrants had to be put under quarantine to avoid a plague) and the island quickly becomes overcrowded, disease-ridden, and starving, with a 60% mortality rate, next many Irish go to America, but the undeclared war with Britain over Oregon causes Britain to ban emigration to the country for several years, finally the majority of Irish emigrants go to Texas and find exactly what they want, an unpopulated, welcoming, Catholic-friendly land of immigrants with free land and government participation. The Texan-Irish emigration organization and letters from the Irish already there convince a massive number of Irish to emigrate to Texas. German immigration picked up massively after the 1848 revolutions (a series of rebellions by communists, serfs, socialists, and anarchists against the absolute monarchies of Germany led by Karl Marx) failed, with 100s of 1,000s of radical leftists emigrating to Texas.

Arc 5B Main POV - Legal Documents
After the 1836 Convention, a law is passed stating that every immigrant family was granted 40 acres of land upon arrival, and in order to keep this as a possibility (you could divide Texas this way among 4,200,000 families) a law is passed limiting the amount of land an individual person could own to 64,000 acres (100 sq. mi.). Many ranches are drastically shrunk, but the land owners are compensated fairly, and the law holds. Also, a law is passed stating that all uninhabited land is formally state property. With so much land under state control, the state controls the price of land and most land sales.

Arc 6 Main POV - Memoirs of Henry Clay and Historical Analysis
America
With Texan annexation being a non-issue, Henry Clay wins the 1844 election. In 1845, the British, encouraged by the weak response of Clay, build a fort along the Columbia river and formally annex the area. In response, the U.S. forces in the area launch an attack on the fort, which fails, but does cause deaths on both sides, and the U.S. Navy interdicts several British ships. The British and American navies have a brief and inconclusive battle, with neither side losing any ships, and the British, already stretched thin by the large number of wars their involved in, negotiate an end to hostilities after only a few weeks. Vancouver Island is given to the US and the 49th parallel otherwise becomes the official border between Canada and the U.S. Because of the hostilities, immigration between America and Britain is stopped for several years. Henry Clay doesn't want war with Mexico, especially due to the hostilities with Britain, so he blocks all attempts to overtly support Texas or begin negotiations with them, not that Texas even wants to.

Arc 7A Main POV - Letters of immigrants, mainly from the CSA and Legal Documents
Instability from mass immigration (slavery)
Not everything is happy in Texas after the revolution. The issue of slavery (which the Texians thought they had already solved) comes back with a vengeance after the ACW. Between 1830 and 1860, over 2,000,000 Germans, Irish, Mexicans, Free Blacks, Mormons, and other anti-slavery groups had immigrated to Texas, but they had accepted the compromise over slavery, but after the ACW, over 1,000,000 refugees from the CSA came to Texas with almost 1,000,000 slaves, and promptly began agitating for slavery throughout all of Texas, with many purposefully moving into Southern and Western Texas in open defiance of the anti-slavery laws there. A compromise is reached where slavery will be allowed in all of Texas if Texas gives up its Indian land to Mexico (what Texas lost OTL), creates an organization for the proper treatment of slaves, and implements a sizable slave labor tax (not monetary, but rather where the government gets a portion of the labor time of the slave) of 4 months (so slavery will be allowed to exist in all of Texas but 1/3 of the slave's labor will be put towards government projects).

Arc 7B Main POV - letters between Karl Marx and Joseph Engels
Joseph Engels
When the 1848 revolutions fail, Karl Marx returns to England but due to the massive German emigration to Texas, Karl Marx decides to send Joseph Engels (co-writer of the Communist Manifesto) to Texas to escape the reach of the reactionaries in Europe for a few years. While there, Engels experiences the famine from overcrowding, and decides that he must do something for these people. Engels goes before the Texian government in 1850 with his radical proposals for complete government control of the economy, and is unanimously rejected, but afterwards, a Tejano representative meets with him outside the hall and teaches Engels about the Mat'i and Encomienda systems of forced labor of the populace, and Engels manages to convince him to co-author a plan to reintroduce this for public works in Texas. Early 1851, Engels and the Tejano present their plan to reintroduce the Mat'i system, and to their shock, it's not a unanimous rejection, but fails. Engels, thoroughly dejected, and disgusted by the slavery, leaves Texas for England soon afterwards, but his ideas don't. The plan reaches the Mexican government and, knowing that Texas is suffering horribly, modify the deal and carefully present it to the Texian government mid-1855. After much debate, the Germans, Irish, and a portion of the Texians vote the system into law. "Every able free man over the age of 16 will give 1 month of their labor to the government of Texas yearly for public service projects. Fair substitution will be allowed."

Example of letter from Marx to Engels:
The revolutions are a failure. You must flee Germany. I have taken exile in Britain, but am under constant watch. I fear for my life as I fear for yours. One of us must survive to continue the revolution, and so you must go with our fellow Germans and flee to Texas for several years. Do what you can to spread the knowledge of Communism to the peoples there, but keep yourself alive. If all goes well return to Europe sometime in in 1852. Burn this letter.

Arc 7C Main POV - Modern Historical Thesis and interviews of Texians
Compromise between Capitalism and necessary projects
The sustained mass immigration to Texas from around the world from the 1830s through the 1860s causes a massive famine and water shortage that kills several 100,000 people. The Mexican and Texan government step in and begin massive public works projects (reservoirs, aqueducts, dams, artificial lakes, canals, river diversion, mass forest planting, riding north or south and mass purchasing cattle to cowboy back to Texas, factory building and working, building road networks, building train lines, etc.) using a part time forced labor system (like the Egyptians) where the people above the age of 16 live and work normally for 11 months and for 1 month they work on government public works projects (of course it just so happens that people are allowed to send substitutes and many Anglo-Texians own slaves, so it becomes common practice for rich and middle class Anglo-Texians to always have at least one slave to send as a substitute). The Texian and Mexican governments begin courting successful and radical environmental engineers from the USA to run this program. Under this system, the famine and water shortage ends and as long as the system continues, the immigration can continue without causing another crisis (since the amount of labor available for the public works scales with population). During the time people had to work in this system, the people were fed, clothed, and adequately housed by the government. This fact led a minority of people (the extreme poor) to sell themselves to work under this system full time (government indentured servitude). Also slave labor was redirected to these projects for a portion of the year and prison labor became the norm. All but the worst prisoners worked full time under this system, being so common place that prisons were almost entirely replaced with work camps. This idea came from the Mit'a system of the Inca and the Encomienda system of Spain (part-time forced communal labor on public works). This system isn't too different from the serfdom in Germany, the slavery of the Blacks, the British treatment of the Irish, or the leftovers of the Encomienda system of the lower class Mexicans, and all groups accept it eagerly, after all, 1 month of labor a year for your unending freedom and everyone having access to food and water is a good trade for most of these people. Because of this system, Texas industrializes extremely quickly (compared to OTL) and the public works to avoid starvation transforms into a concerted effort to terraform and industrialize Texas, with entire forests and lakes built every year. By 1920, an area of Texas between Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Galveston, and Corpus Christi has been transformed from grassland and desert into forests and farmland, with a complex statewide irrigation system of diverted rivers, artificial lakes, aquifers, reservoirs, canals, and dams, with the rest of the state left as semi-arid ranch land, but even there there's been improvement. This transformation comes at the expense of the groundwater, and when the oil boom comes, pollution of the groundwater becomes a severe problem. The immigration boom never stops, with successive reasons and origins, after the CSA refugees, there was a migration by unpaid factory workers from New England and recently freed townsharing blacks from the south, after that the oil boom, after that refugees from Europe from WWI, after that refugees from the Dust Bowl, and after that refugees from the lead up to and aftermath of WWII.

Act 7D Main POV - History Textbook
Women
When the men went away for their mandatory service, women took over their jobs for the month they were gone, and service in the program became optional for women with payment (after the extreme poor began taking refuge in the program).

Arc 7E Main POV - Interviews of state servants, various Directors of the SLF
Expansion of the State Labor System
The Texian government loves this program (The State Labor Force for the Benefit of the People of Texas), as it gives them the same effect as a state slave army without the negative connotation, but what they like even more are the indentured servants of the state, and so the Texian government offers a handsome payment for any slaves the Texians are willing to part with, becoming indefinitely indentured servants of the state. Many petty criminal punishments are changed to be a period of servitude to the state, for example, the punishment for petty theft changes from a fine and a short jail sentence to a 4 month servitude to the state, and other similar petty crimes. By 1890, 1 in 3 slaves in Texas are indefinitely indentured servants of the state, also between 1870 and 1890, the slave population almost halves, especially in agriculture, where industrialization is quickly making slave farm labor economically inviable. Slavery is changing in Texas. Where in 1870, it was mainly rural and agricultural, now most slaves are urban, either as housekeepers or factory workers. Under Mexican and Texian law, every slave has the right to the ability to read, a 5th grade education, and reasonable work schedules (maximum work time was set as a 14 hour work day and no labor on Sunday or National holidays). Of course many slave owners initially try to circumvent or ignore these laws, but the Mexican and Texian governments are very serious about enforcing these laws (the Mexican government is eager because of their religious and moral beliefs, while the Texian government is eager because they can seize the slaves for the State Labor Force). Since most factories are built and run with government labor, they are owned by the government. By 1900, 4 in 5 slaves are Servants of the State, and the civilian owned slave population has dropped by half since 1890. The government increases the minimum forced labor from 1 month a year to 6 weeks a year. Almost all civilian slaves at this point are domestic servants. 2/3 of the indefinite Servants of the State are Black, and 1/3 of Blacks are free. When the Oil Boom happens in 1901, it's government labor that builds the Oil Rigs, and that runs and owns them. In 1905, the government decides it still needs more labor, so it declares slavery illegal and appropriates all remaining slaves and puts them into the State Labor Force, it also passes a law allowing people to volunteer for extra service for a good payment (defined as equal to median income). There are 1,100,000 indefinitely indentured servants of the state in 1901, 800,000 of whom are black. The other 300,000 are extremely poor whites who sold themselves or lifetime prisoners. An additional 1-300,000 people are temporary state servants working off criminal sentences at any one time. With every able man between 16 and 50 working for the state 6 weeks every year, that translates to 300,000 of the population working for the state at any one time. The government has an effective constant workforce of 1,500,000-1,700,000, or 1/5 to 1/6 of the population, and 1/3 of the effective workforce. Since government factories use free labor, private businesses are finding it very hard to compete, and so 2 in 3 factories are either run and owned by the government, or purchase government labor. With most factories, public works projects, and ports also owned and run by the government with free labor, urban civilians are finding it very difficult to find work, since they can't compete with free. 3 in 4 civilians volunteer for government labor for at least 1 extra month a year, since it's well paying and guarantees food, water, and lodging. (The SLF has become a strange amalgamation of Socialism, Slavery, and the communal labor system of the Inca)

Act 7F Main POV - Memoirs of Union leaders and Interviews of state servants
SLF Unions
Between the 1870s and 1890s, many strikes were set up and carried out by the Servants of the State, mainly over abuses of power by their overseer/foreman (such as work on Sunday, more than 14 work hours a day, or unjust punishments such as beatings, which were outlawed). Some strikes are put down with force, but most are resolved peacefully, typically with the firing of the overseer. Eventually, there were so many complaints that the Texian government declared that overseers would be elected from the Indefinate Servants by the Servants and would be paid a salary equal to median income (minus expenses). This solved most of the abuses, actually increased productivity, and gave the Servants a semblance of economic mobility and loyalty to their overseer. Subsequently, the roles and responsibilities of the overseer are defined, and other positions are created; the overseer is in charge of all of the State workers in a project, the overseer has 2 assistant overseers, there are 6-24 foremen in charge of various specialized teams specific to the job (ie. For dam construction, a team for concrete, a team for materials movement, a team for maintenance, etc.) and a safety officer in each team (all of these positions are paid, with the higher ups earning more). The opportunities for upwards mobility and paid positions motivate the workers greatly and dramatically increases their productivity. Also the opportunity for a paid position within the SLF entices a significant number of the extreme poor to sell themselves to the government. By 1920, there are 1,300,000 Indefinitely Indentured Servants of the State, and 90% of them are union members. Also, many unions for the part time civilian labor have been created, and civilians have 70% union participation. There are even prison labor unions, with 50% participation. The servants in paid SLF positions have the opportunity to buy their freedom or the freedom of their family, but many refuse, since they have a stable paid position and free food and lodging. In fact, the workers of the SLF are quite happy, especially the former slaves appropriated into the program. In a survey in 1905, when asked whether, "given the option to leave the program, would you?", 30% said no, 35% said yes, and 35% said uncertain. Next, the same question was given, except minor concessions were given, 2 weeks of free days spread throughout the year, a merit-based reward system (the reward being half-days or free days), a small salary (1/24 median civilian salary), and the ability to choose which projects they work on and where, 60% said that they would stay, with 20% saying they would leave and 20% saying they were unsure. Following the results of this survey, in 1906, these measures were implemented (of course they still didn't have the option to leave, but this made the workers quite happy).

Arc 7G Main POV - Jeremy Gilmer and Andrew Carnegie
The creation and management of the Texas State Labor Force
After the Program was approved in 1855, the Texians needed to create the system and appoint its leaders. So, the specifics of the program were decided upon by the start of 1857 and X was appointed chairman, with a vote on the appointment in congress every 10 years. In 1865, many skilled engineers fled the CSA for Texas, including Joseph E Johnson (head engineer of the CSA) and Jeremy F Gilmer (Quartermaster general of the U.S. and later Confederate Armies). In 1867, Jeremy F Gilmer was appointed the Director of the SLF (with Joseph E Johnston as Asst. Director and his promising Aide Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie), and he greatly changed the way the program functioned, sending out a large number of land surveyors throughout the state, and building a 10 year plan to quintuple the number of factories and create an effective water supply in every town (working his black laborers near to death in direct violation of the Mexican and Texian regulations on the labor). Gilmer proved too radical for the tastes of the Texian government and in 1877 they Appointed Joseph Johnston Director and Andrew Carnegie Asst. Director. Joseph Johnston proved to be a very effective Director, managing to fix the immediate food and water needs of the people and end the Famine, but by 1887 he was 80 years old and retired at the end of his term. Due to Johnston's age, Carnegie had effectively already been running the program, and was appointed Director in 1887, with X as Asst. Director. He continued to run the program until 1907. He was to Texas as Albert Speer was to Germany. The goals of the SLF were organized into 10 year plans, with the Director and his council working through every XXX7 year to build economic goals to be accomplished within the decade (ie. X% increase in factory numbers, X% increase in GDP, X% increase in Exports). The other responsibly of the SLF is to build and maintain the Irrigation systems, Canal systems, Road and Rail networks, etc.

Arc 7H Main POV - Memoirs of Andrew Carnegie
The Man who Built Texas
Upon arrival to Texas in 1848, Carnegie's parents had nothing but the 40 Acres of land given to them by the state. Carnegie's father, unable to find work, and their land being a useless tract of desert in the Permian basin, sold the land, rented a small shack in Austin for his family and joined the Texian Army. He eventually became a Major with the temporary rank of Colonel, joining on the tail end of the Mexican War, his brigade was part of the force that marched on Mexico City and defeated Santa Anna. While Mr. Carnegie fought in the Army, Mrs. Carnegie took all the work she could get, working as a housemaid, clothes washer, and secretary. Meanwhile, Andrew Carnegie was put to work in a Cotton Mill, the owner of the mill, X, allowed his workers to read through his large library one day a week. When Andrew showed himself to be an effective manager and leader, and eager to read in his library, X promoted Andrew as his Assistant, and allowed Andrew to read through his library with him frequently. After the war ended and his father had returned from the war, he and his father (who now had a significant amount of money saved from his service) began a land brokering business, and Andrew quickly showed his natural understanding and skill in business and management. By 1865, Carnegie and Son was the largest private land owner in Texas, with 128,000 Acres (the maximum for 2 men) including several farms and ranches and was the largest land broker in Texas. In 1867, Andrew's father is approached to join the SLF, but declines, saying that his son is the real leader of the business. Andrew Carnegie, after a talk with his father, accepts and sells 60,000 of his acres (it takes a lot of work to manage that much land) and joins the SLF as Aide to the Asst. Director.

Arc 8 Main POV - Modern Texian Economics Lesson
The Great Labor Crisis
Since the formation of the SLF, civilian labor has struggled to find jobs and compete with the free labor, but with the advent of the Oil Boom, and the government ownership of all the Oil Wells and factories, the civilian labor market collapses. In a normal economy, the Oil Boom would bring economic prosperity and full employment, but in Texas, the SLF can fulfill any unskilled labor needs the state has. In 1900, the SLF is responsible for 60% of the economic output of Texas, but in 1905 (several years into the oil boom) the SLF is responsible for 80%. While the Business owners, Stock Brokers, and Technical and Creative fields are secure, the unskilled civilian laborers have no work, unable to compete with the SLF. The Texian civilian sector has 30% unemployment, with a further 50% having work for less than 8 months a year. The Populists are voted into power in a landslide election in 1909, and they manage to pass a constitutional amendment stating that SLF labor will immediately stop being used in any government or private factory, oil rig, farm, or other profit producing industry in 1911. The SLF can only be used for Public Works Projects. Also, the mandatory service in the SLF is moved back from 6 weeks to 1 month. These policies backfire spectacularly. In response to this, the Texian industry, which is overbuilt due to the availability of free labor (a manufacturing bubble), collapses, with massive factories operating at 1/10 capacity or filing bankruptcy. Now the unemployment crisis is combined with a massive collapse in industry to cause a massive GDP and Exports decrease, as well as the closure of X% of factories and X% of oil rigs. The Populists steadfastly refuse to repeal the amendment, and instead decide to begin subsidizing industry. This policy manages to reopen the factories and put the population back to work, but the Populists refuse to borrow money from the Mexican or foreign governments, instead printing more Texian currency. This mass printing undermines the value of the Texian Currency, and begins a death spiral of a manufacturing bubble and hyperinflation.

Arc 9A Main POV - Historical Thesis
WWI Neutrals
Mexico is allied with America (this is because White Texians are a large part of the country, the fact that Mexico is unified and stable, that Mexico is a liberal democracy, and that the border disputes were peacefully resolved with the benefit to America), and when WWI begins, Mexico and America form a 3rd party (American-British relations are still slightly soured from the "war" of Oregon, and since America had little sympathy for Britain OTL, this pushes them over the edge into neutrality) of neutral powers willing to trade with both sides. Gandhi is very supportive and sends letters to Mexico and America congratulating them. Other countries that join are the Nordic states, all of South America, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. (Need a detailed walk through of the changes to the war, how the 3rd party evolves, and the political makeup of the participating countries)

Arc 9B Main POV - Historical Thesis and Memoirs of Karl Liebknacht
The End of the Great War
The Export boom from WWI temporarily stops the death spiral in Texas, with the influx of wealth stopping the printing of Currency. (Add Karl Liebknacht's grandiose biased view of WWI, explaining the differences to OTL WWI, and why they occurred). WWI in ATL is fought to a mutual exhaustion in early 1919, with France collapsing from Union uprisings and mutinies, the British army mutinying and leaving the front en masse, and a Communist Unionist and reactionary uprising in Germany, and an army mutiny. The French government falls and is quickly and almost painlessly replaced by a communist/socialist sympathizing military junta, while the revolutions in Germany are put down brutally by Freikorps and secret police. Karl Liebknacht is one of the leaders of the communists in Germany, he is released from prison in Nov. 1918, and is escorted from the prison all the way across Berlin to the Soviet Embassy by a crowd of 5,000 workers. On January 1, 1919, he gives a speech at the steps of the Reichstag in front of a crowd of 100,000 workers calling for revolution, and for an immediate end to the war. The guards at the Reichstag and nearby military units join the crowd, and by the end of his speech, the crowd is over 200,000. The crowd disperses on his orders to convince their friends and unions to join, and to spread the news of the revolution throughout the city, and on Jan 2, a massive army of workers (poorly armed) march on the Reichstag and other important government buildings, seizing them and forcing the Reichstag to sign a declaration of peace, but the Communists aren't the only paramilitary organization. Having heard of the plan for Communist revolution on Jan 1, the Freikorps mobilizes against the Communists, and on Jan 2, the streets of Berlin run red with massive fighting between Communists, Freikorps, and loyalist military remnants. After a week of fighting, the Freikorps manages to defeat the Workers and the government remnants in Berlin and declares themselves the new government of Germany. They aggressively attempt to continue the war, but the armies have already mutinied and left the trenches. The war comes to a forced end, and civil fighting in Germany continues. Karl Liebknacht narrowly escapes capture by the Freikorps when Rosa Luxembourg sacrifices herself to allow him to escape. Liebknacht is sentenced to death in absentenia, and he flees the country. Liebknacht has family in Texas, and he had been following the industrial collapse in the country closely. He flees Germany and joins his migrant family there. In Britain, Edward VIII had been disillusioned by his long service in the horrors of Trench warfare, experiencing a friendly fire artillery incident where several of his friends died, a gas attack, and a Christmas party between the Germans and his unit. When the mutiny occurs, he joins them, and secures them transport and pardons for their return to Britain. On the way back to Britain, a military coup is attempted in London without his knowledge, and while the coup is defeated, Kind Edward VII is assassinated. Edward VIII is now King of Britain, and he has a radical agenda. He wants to isolate the country, grant independence to the whole empire, and foster friendly relations with all countries. He begins exercising powers that haven't been used in centuries (refusing assent, dismissing Parliament, refusing to appoint officials, etc.), and the ambiguity over the power's legal status leaves Parliament confused and unsure how to legally oppose him. Meanwhile, WWI had been keeping Texas afloat, and the war gave Texas enough time to stabilize its economy (the Populists had managed to stay in power in 1912, 1915, and 1918 because everyone had work and pay).

Arc 9C Main POV - Excerpts of Theses by Karl Liebnacht
The World after WWI
After the DNVP Freikorps defeated the Socialists and Loyalists in Berlin, they arrested Kaiser Wilhelm for attempting to end the war, and attempted to organize a conservative government, but infighting quickly started between various factions (the main conflict was between the Statists and Monarchists, but there were many other factions), and the infighting and continued resistance outside of Berlin precluded any true government to form. Lacking German resistance, the newly organized France occupies the Rheinland. The Statists execute Kaiser Wilhelm, which ends any association between the factions. The army, which had already mutinied and left the trenches, returned to a country in chaos, and were largely forced to join a faction, live in fear, or flee the country (Texas, Mexico, and America set up programs to help Germans and French to leave their country and escape the violence, and millions accepted over the course of the programs). Germany slowly coalesces into 4 main country-wide factions, the Monarchists, the Fascists (dictatorship), the Socialists, and the Communists, and many local factions (for example Bavaria secedes and forms a Monarchy with the support of the U.S. and Mexico). Austria-Hungary is similarly thrown into complete chaos. Italy, America, Mexico, Britain, the USSR, and Japan become the temporary world powers, with the U.S. supreme among them. The U.S., Mexico, Italy, Japan, and Spain are allies and begin interfering in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Britain and Socialist France break their alliance, France and Russia ally, and Britain is left in the cold scrambling for allies in this unexpected world order. The United Nations (the alliance led by the U.S.) begins vocally supporting Indian independence, and Britain cracks down on the Indians, executing Mahatma Gandhi and violently dispersing protesters. Japan begins their interference in China and the Pacific, and their relations with the UN become strained. After an oil and steel embargo is put in place on Japan by the UN (hoping to halt the war effort), Japan leaves the UN and allies with Britain. Britain isn't picky with their allies right now and with mounting tension in India, they're sympathetic to Japan's struggle in China and Korea. The world has polarized into 3 factions: The Imperialists (Britain, The Commonwealth, and Japan), The Communists (France and The USSR), and the UN (America, Mexico, Italy and Spain). The flash points of the world are: the Civil War in Germany, the Civil War in Austria-Hungary, the Indian resistance movement and other unrest in the British Empire and Commonwealth, the Japanese invasion of China, German Revanchism, Italian African ambitions, Gibraltar, the increasing radicalism in Texas, and Imperialism in the Middle East.


Other notes

The Texas State Labor Force
After the Program was approved in 1855, the Texians needed to create the system and appoint its leaders. So, the specifics of the program were decided upon by the start of 1857, and X was appointed chairman, with a vote in congress every 10 years. In 1867, many skilled engineers fled the CSA for Texas, including Joseph E Johnson (head engineer of the CSA) and Jeremy F Gilmer (Quartermaster general of the U.S. and later Confederate Armies). In 1867, Jeremy F Gilmer was appointed the Director of the SLF with Joseph E Johnston as Asst. Director and his promising Aide Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie, and greatly changed the way the program functioned, sending out a large number of land surveyors throughout the state, and building a 10 year plan to quintuple the number of factories and create an effective water supply in every town (working his black laborers near to death in direct violation of the Mexican and Texian regulations on the labor). 1877 they Appointed Joseph Johnston Director and Andrew Carnegie Asst. Director. Joseph Johnston proved to be a very effective Director, managing to fix the immediate food and water needs of the people and end the Famine, but by 1887 he was 80 years old and retired at the end of his term. Due to Johnston's age, Carnegie had effectively already been running the program, and was appointed Director in 1887, with X as Asst. Director. He continued to run the program until 1907. He was to Texas as Albert Speer was to Germany. The goals of the SLF were organized into 10 year plans, with the Director and his council through every XXX7 year to build economic goals to be accomplished within the decade (ie. X% increase in factory numbers, X% increase in GDP, X% increase in Exports). The other responsibly of the SLF is to build and maintain the Irrigation systems, Canal systems, Road and Rail networks, etc.

Texas population
OTL
1830 ~50,000
1850 ~200,000
1860 ~600,000
1880 ~1,600,000
1900 ~3,000,000
1910 ~4,000,000
ATL
1830 ~100,000 (addition of Mormons)
1850 ~1,000,000 (addition of Irish and Germans)
1860 ~2,600,000 (addition of Irish and Germans)
1880 ~5,000,000 (CSA refugees and their slaves)
1900 ~7,400,000 (mass immigration from Europe and the South)
1910 ~10,000,000 (oil boom and fast reproduction)

ATL Texian politics
1830s -
No consolidated political parties
1840s -
An anti-immigrant party begins to form, but the state is filled with far too many immigrants for them to gain power
1850s - Statists win all 3 presidential elections
The debate over renewing the Encomienda splits Texas into Statists (poor, largely immigrant) and Populists (made up of middle class and rich whites and immigrants, and slave owners, although the party isn't specifically in favor of slavery), and the first two large successful parties are formed. The Statists dominate due to the large number of Germans.
1860s - Statists win 2/Populists win 1
The influx of CSA refugees changes the party system massively, with most joining the Populist party and bringing relative balance between the 2. The populist party campaigns on bringing an end to the SLF, protecting slavery, and limiting immigration.
1870s - Populists win 2/ Statists win 1
The SLF begins seriously competing with poor whites and immigrants for employment, and a large portion of them join the Populist party, and many rich land and factory owning whites join the Statist party. The issue of slavery in both parties becomes muddled. The Populist party campaigns on stopping the SLF from putting urban poor out of work and limiting future immigration.
1880s - Statists win 2/Populists win 1
Status quo, with a consolidation of what happened in the 1870s, with more and more poor whites and immigrants joining the Populist party, and the middle and upper class joining the Statism party.
1890s - Populists win 2/Statists win 1
The Boll Weevil kills off the cotton industry (affected fields have 50-90% loss), the last major privately owned industry in Texas. There is mass migration to the cities, and the cities are temporarily overwhelmed, with famine again spreading throughout the state. Poor whites and immigrants join the Populist party en masse, while the urban middle and upper class in reaction join the Statist party. Also, the rural people largely join the Populist party. The anti-immigrant portions of the Populist party are overwhelmed. Slavery is outlawed and slaves are appropriated by the state. The minimum service in the SLF is changed to 6 weeks.
1900s - Populists win 3
The Statists attempt to pass a law allowing servants of the state to vote (they would predominantly vote Statist), but it fails. The oil boom kicks off, but the civilians never see any benefit, with all of the money and work going to the state. The Populist party wins massively running on a platform of banning the SLF from working in state or privately owned factories, Oil Rigs, farms, foundries, etc. and instead returning them to their original purpose of public works projects. The Populists also return the mandatory labor from 6 weeks to 1 month.


My Questions

What things could Santa Anna do to cause Mexicans and Tejano's in northern Mexico to rebel against him?
What would a successful Northern Mexican revolt look like who would be potential leaders of it, etc.?
My changes to the Texian political leadership have made it so that by the 1836 Convention, most of the OTL important Texians are dead or butterflied away, who are possible important Texians to take their places?
In the 1833 convention, I've made several important changes to get rid of most of the delegates who were for independence, would my changes have been enough to avoid a Declaration of Independence?
In Arc 3 (the battles of Bexar), does the way the battle plays out seem reasonable? I know absolutely nothing about how urban warfare worked in these days. Is there anyone who is an expert on this?
Would the Texians and Mexicans be willing to accept the compromise I've created?
Would the push for immigration be able to draw so many people to Texas? I've made it so that about 1/4 of Irish and German emigrants end up in Texas, does that sound reasonable?
How large would the CSA exodus to Texas be? Would they bring lots of slaves? Would it sour Mexican-American relations?
Something seems odd about the way Texas centralizes, is this reasonable?
Could a Texas supported with slave and free labor industrialize this quickly?
Could a massive terraforming project be successful at the time, would it significantly improve the landscape within 60 years, and would it significantly damage the groundwater? Without expansion into Mexico being an option, would there be a greater push for Oregon, where else would the USA attempt to expand, i.e. the Caribbean, Canada, Pacific Islands, could this involve the USA in the scramble for Africa?
Could Britain and America avoid a full war, or would Americans actually push for war? With Britain spread so thin and involved in so many conflicts, could America take win the war? What would the effect of minor conflict/full warfare between them be on their relations, trade, etc.? What about the effect on the American psyche?
Would the CSA refugees restart a push for independence from Mexico? What would Texas's cultural makeup be like with so many different ethnicities and political beliefs look like? Could Texas hold itself together?
Do you think Marx might send Engels to Texas? Do you think Engels would be willing to support a return of the Encomienda system, or is it too foreign to his way of thinking?
Would Texas suffer a massive Famine and water shortage with this many people so quickly? Would the SLF be enough to stop the crisis?
How quickly would Texas industrialize?
Is this a reasonable speed for slavery to shrink?
What could a labor force of this size accomplish?
Does Andrew Carnegie's story sound reasonable?
Is this a reasonable evolution of unions, and reaction by the government?
Does the economic collapse in 191X sound probable, and is the way I portray a Populist reaction to an economic collapse correct?
Would a strong neutral alliance network manage to keep Italy from joining the war?
I'm very uncertain of Arc 9 and think it needs a complete rework.
Wherever there's an X I need that to be filled.
What are your general opinions about this Outline? Did you enjoy it? Did it sound reasonable, or is it a bunch of crap?
Where could the story go from here?
What could be a possible title?
If I were to actually write this, I would need a beta or even co-writer (I have very little writing experience, and would have lots of trouble writing this entirely on my own).
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