Our Fallen Heroes: The Story of an Alternate America

5: The Hamilton Presidency
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President Alexander Hamilton

The Alexander Hamilton Administration (1801-1805)


The Hamilton Cabinet:
President:
Alexander Hamilton (H-NY)
Vice President: Aaron Burr (R-NY)
National Secretary: William Smith (H-SC)
Monetary Secretary: Samuel Dexter (H-MA)
War Secretary: Arthur St. Clair (I-PN)
Chief Assistant: Philip Freneau (H-NJ) (1801-1803), Philip Schuyler (H-NY) (1803-1805)

Important Figures:
Speaker of the House
- Jacob Crowninshield (R-MA)
Hamiltonian leader in the Senate - Theophilus Parsons (H-MA)
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - Robert Livingston (R-NY)
Minister to France - David Humphreys (H-CT)
Minister to Great Britain - Rufus King (H-MA)

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The First Federalist: The Making of Alexander Hamilton’s America
Forrest McDonald [1]
University Press of Topeka: Calhoun, 1978

Again, the ongoing back and forth of American politics flipped sides, as the Republicans were kicked from the White House in favor the Hamiltonians. Despite it initially looking favorable for the Republicans, come election time it was clear just how split the party of Jefferson was. Clinton and his northern wing passed the torch to Aaron Burr, but James Madison and the southerners were reluctant to follow suit. In the end, it was agreed that Madison would run in an attempt to get the Vice Presidency, but he lacked commitment to the cause and did little to campaign.

Another factor that hurt the Republicans was the ongoing conflict with the British along the northern border. President Clinton had done nothing to try and stop the fighting, and across the country Americans were concerned that a full blown war with the British Empire could erupt. Together, the lack of southern support and the threat of war meant that Burr was rather comfortably defeated by Alexander Hamilton. Behind Burr came Madison, who carried Virginia, Rufus King, Hamilton’s intended Vice President out of Massachusetts, and finally John Jay, who mounted what would be his final political campaign.

Finally in control of the Executive Branch for himself, after two decades of working behind the scenes, President Hamilton quickly got to work. Clearly, the object of everyone’s attention remained the Pseudo-War, the ongoing series of conflicts on the American-Canadian border. President Clinton had done nothing about the conflict, but Hamilton was determined to end it. Always infatuated with the British, Hamilton believed with the degradation of the situation in France the US needed a new ally, and that Britain was a prime target to be that.

Using channels through the Minister to St. George’s Court, Rufus King, as well as National Secretary, William Smith, the Hamilton Administration ended the Pseudo-War in only a matter of months. In what Americans would come to refer to simply as the King-Smith Treaty, Hamilton ceded the American claims in northern Maine, while at the same time formalizing American borders in the disputed western lands all the north to Lake Nipigon.

Despite the Republican claims that Hamilton was surrendering to the British and making America look weak, a majority of the nation was pleased to see the end of what many thought could be a disastrous conflict.

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From the diary of Jennie Clarkson, amateur historian [2]
1895

April 1st, 1895

As the train crossed from Mississippi into Kansaw and neared Burr, which is not far from the border of the two, the irony of the name really started to sink into me. Burr, in the lands of Hamilton!

When President Hamilton purchased the territory from Ney some 90 years ago, I don’t think even he knew exactly what he was getting his hands on! Not that he would want to have extended the agricultural class in the way he did! Either way, Hamilton’s Purchase has clearly become the nation’s heartlands, and was the biggest expansion of territory until only twenty years ago under President {REDACTED}.

Of course, this is just boring trivia! What really is interesting is the name. Burr, as in Vice President Burr. As in Aaron Burr, the man who notoriously hated Hamilton. Even more interesting is the story of how the name of Kansaw’s capital came around.

Its decently well known that Burr had to flee the capital in disgrace, entering a self-imposed exile. And, although he largely disappears after fleeing to the new territories, it was claimed by early settlers of the west that the town that would become Burr was founded by the man himself, with it being where he spent some of his final days.

Such an interesting figure. One of the most important men in the nation with a clear path to the Presidential Palace, only to flee to the boonies and essentially falling out of history. Its sad really…

Anyway, we should pull into station in Burr soon. I will disembark there to spend the night, and by tomorrow will be on my way to New Saybrook. [3]

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The relationship between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr is one of the most compelling and tragic in all of American history. Starting as a friendship between two very similar and competitive young men, it quickly turned into a rivalry, as their opinions differed on almost all aspects. As Hamilton became the mastermind of his own party that would bear his name, Burr become the young up-and-comer in Thomas Jefferson’s Republican party and was the successor to Jefferson and George Clinton. Their decades long rivalry, which began with the war for independence, would come to a head in 1800, as both became the nominee for their respective parties.

Hamilton would manage to win the election, but thanks to the quirks of the day, Burr would become the Vice President, locking the two into a four year duel. Some things they could agree on, such as the 1802 purchase of the Louisiana Territory from President Ney of France. However, they disagreed on almost every other facet of the Administration.

One of Hamilton’s biggest causes was to try and push through the amendment that would become the 12th, barring foreign citizens the same rights to courts that an American citizen had [4]. In many ways an extension of the Alien and Sedition Acts that tore apart the Adams Administration, the 12th Amendment further pushed the Hamiltonian agenda of lessening immigration and foreign citizens influence within the nation. The Republicans, who had taken up the cause of the lower classes in which most immigrants fell, greatly opposed the Amendment, with Vice President Burr leading the charge. However, with the Republicans in control of Congress under Theophilus Parsons, any attempt to prevent it fell flat.

The disagreements between the two would continue the full four years of Hamilton’s Presidency, as the two continued to attempt to undermine each other at every turn. Of course, the President would be the one who would win out, as Hamilton was able to get the 13th Amendment passed in early 1804 [5]. This amendment finally changed the electoral system, and allowed for the creation of political tickets. In many ways this can be seen as the solid start of the two party system.

Thanks to this amendment, Hamilton was given much more free reign in who his running mate would be when he decided to break tradition, and run for his second term later in 1804.

- A long essay question in an AP US History class at Kensington High School in Nassau.​

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[1] Another real historian, as in the Clinton update.
[2] A made up person.
[3] Just trying something different with this. Some serious tidbits about the future (and present).
[4] OTL 11th Amendment for all intents and purposes.
[5] OTL 12th Amendment.

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I don't know how happy I am with the execution of this update, but I was having real problems writing it. Anyway, up next is the French Revolution, 1789-1804, and then it will be the next state update, covering the one added in the Hamilton term.
 
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