President Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson shot down 1835

Hnau

Banned
The 'Firebrand' Presidency
Part One

Theodore Frelinghuysen was known before winning the 1848 presidential election as the "Christian Statesman", grandson of Theodorus Frelinghuysen, one of the four key leaders in the First Great Awakening. Despite taking a stand against the inhumane treatment of the Native Americans in the Indian Removal Act of 1830, he a somewhat unremarkable New Jersey Senator and Mayor of Newark until being put on the Whig presidential ticket with Henry Clay in 1844.

In June of 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a free state in the Union after considerable wrangling. Congress could hardly dispute the fact that Wisconsin was far north of the Missouri Compromise line, and met all requirements of becoming a state. However, this upset the balance between free states and slave states in the Senate, with 15 free and 14 slave. This alarmed the South considerably, with many fearing the beginning of a free state stranglehold in Congress and the demise of slavery. The Raleigh Conference had been held earlier in March over the issue, inviting Southern politicians to come together and discuss what could be done to preserve their institutions. Though extremists did appear to throw their vote in for secession, it was determined that the best plan included the establishment of the doctrine of popular sovereignty over the western territories. By giving the people of a state the ability to determine whether a new state should be free or slave, slavery could be extended into the west, passed the Missouri Compromise line. At the Democratic National Convention, presidential hopeful Lewis Cass, who had frequently championed popular sovereignty, took the nomination with a platform on keeping the Union stable.

Anti-slavery Democrats left the Party for abolitionist former president Martin van Buren, running under the Free Soil Party. This division severely weakened the Democrats. Both parties would be running against Theodore Frelinghuysen, the anti-slavery former vice president, who made it known that he saw no reason why the slave states should have any right to trespass the Missouri Compromise line. This led pro-slavery Whigs to unite under the Union Party, with their candidate Daniel Webster.

The controversial presidential election of 1848 was between free and slave states, with Lewis Cass taking only four free states: New Hampshire, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois. The high number electoral votes of the North pushed Frelinghuysen into power regardless of the entirely unanimous decision of the South. In his inaugural address, Frelinghuysen declared the beginning of a new era of compassion, where the Republic would be strengthened through the making of a righteous agenda. Everyone knew Frelinghuysen spoke of combating slavery.

The election of a politician so determined to keep slavery contained began a firestorm immediately, but prematurely. The last lame duck session of the 30th Congress began that December, but aged President Henry Clay declared that he would veto any serious legislation that could be passed in that short amount of time, speaking pointedly of popular sovereignty. While debates raged, they were forced to realize that nothing could be done at that time. Incoming Congressmen awaited March, 1849 in order to push forward Lewis Cass’ champion idea without him and hope for the best.

However, Southern delegates once again gathered at a convention in Nashville between February 9 and 15. Many Unionists and moderates had switched to the Anti-Union faction, angry that the electoral college system had given the nation another northern President, and one that was so unconcerned with the issues of the South. A slim majority agreed to sign the Intents and Principles Manifesto, which stated that the South was committed to the Federal Union as long as the Constitution was adhered to, and stressed that the Constitution protected slavery as rights to property. It also listed greivances against the South for the last eight years and declared that states held the right to secede if they were mistreated.

In the last half-month of his term, when the aging President Henry Clay received the Intents and Principles Manifesto, the old Compromiser realized that the disturbances in the South could very well lead to a war between the states and the dissolution of the union if he knew his Vice President well enough. Therefore, he reversed his position with the lame duck Congress and declared that he would not stain his long and successful presidency with a presidential veto at the very end. Publicly, President Clay reaffirmed that the Union was neither dissolvable nor capable of being left by one or several states, and hoped that this would help somewhat against the sectional struggle. Following this announcement, Congress railroaded the thought-impossible "Western Territories Bill" into discussion. On February 24th and 26th respectively, the Senate and House of Representatives passed the Bill by a slim margin, which established popular sovereignty in the territories while conceding to Free Soilers the abolition of the slave trade in Washington D.C.

The Western Territories Act painted the picture for the rest of Frelinghuysen's term, as well as the next decade. In his inaugural address, President Frelinghuysen announced publicly his disapproval with the legislation and Henry Clay, and declared that "the whole nation and people will regret in pain and sadness the evil that was of last week planted in the Republic."
 
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Hnau

Banned
Ideas about Frelinghuysen's term
- Christian evangelical determined to set right everything wrong in the Union, sees his victory as a sign that the people are ready for and want a solution to the evils of the Republic and the world

- There are some filibustering expeditions against Cuba that he will denounce. However, he will be adamant against apologizing to Spain, as he will be clashing with them over the arrest of Americans near Cuba. Leads to poorer relations with Spanish than under Fillmore.

- Clashing with France and Portugal over reparations.

- Nicaragua Treaty - Britain and US renounce future control or dominion over canals to be built in Central America. This leads to closer relations, especially when Frelinghuysen becomes an adamant supporter of the liberals in the Revolutions of 1848, as Britain was to a point.

- Frelinghuysen sends American warships with soldiers to the Italian coast by May 1849, creating a crisis with France, who is intent on crushing the Roman Republic headed by Guiseppe Garibaldi. Already fearing the results of his actions and personally resenting his need to cater to the ultra-conservative Catholics, King Napoleon III uses the Americans as an excuse and orders the navy to depart.

- Frelinghuysen continues to lend support to German liberals, Hungarian republicans and the Romans, practicing brinkmanship with the Austrians. Most likely the Austrian ambassador is sent home. Catholics and slave-holders denounce his actions, while Protestants and abolitionists uphold him as the best President since Washington.

There will likely be lots of knock-on effects with the surviving Roman Republic. This might allow for a union of Piedmontese and Roman armies to come to the rescue of Venice (Swiss aid, maybe?). The Hungarians will also make greater gains with the Austrians being pushed on all sides, but the involvement of the Russians will still allow the Hapsburg Empire to endure. The Austrians will be more indebted to the Russians (falling into their camp for the Crimean War?), while Italian unification could happen much sooner. Interesting knock-on effects.
 

Hnau

Banned
The American Colonization Society and the United States' African Colony
Liberia. Beginning with the settlement of a few thousand free blacks on a wild, dangerous African coastline, by 1840 nearly 6,000 colonists had arrived and half had died. As with the election of President Monroe, a supporter of colonizationism, two decades earlier, the election of President Henry Clay would infuse the ACS with new funds and energy. The most passionate of supporters for the ACS, and its president for four years before-hand, Clay immediately sought federal appropriations to send emigrants across the sea.

In the first half of his first term, President Clay had already made a difference, increasing the rate of emigration by three times, along with the rate of re-supplying the colony with American supplies. The influx of population allowed needed skilled labor to refurbish the colony, bringing the standard of living up and reducing mortality by a large degree. Clay also personally saw to it that the myriad of colonies were united under one ACS-monitored government. By the end of Clay's term, the Commonwealth of Liberia would have a population of more than 10,000 free Blacks.

In 1846, fears over the British annexing the territory, due to it being neither an independent nation or a de jure colony, led Henry Clay to bring up the issue during talks over resolving the Oregon dispute. While the British weren't conclusive in negotiating over land rights, it did lead Clay to re-organize the Commonwealth of Liberia as the 'District of Liberia', an organized unincorporated territory with a civil government. In the colony, next to nothing changed, but it was this re-definition that allowed Liberia to become a legitimate colony of the United States, the first of its kind overseas.

President Theodore Frelinghuysen would continue the policy of supporting Liberia with federal funds and protecting it from European powers with naval ships. In the first year of his term he would declare his wish for Liberia to become a full incorporated territory of the United States, with the opportunity of statehood. By 1852 the ACS had transported nearly 15,000 free blacks to the territory.
 
The American Colonization Society and the United States' African Colony
...it was this re-definition that allowed Liberia to become a legitimate colony of the United States, the first of its kind overseas.

President Theodore Frelinghuysen would continue the policy of supporting Liberia with federal funds and protecting it from European powers with naval ships. In the first year of his term he would declare his wish for Liberia to become a full incorporated territory of the United States, with the opportunity of statehood. By 1852 the ACS had transported nearly 15,000 free blacks to the territory.

That would be 1) awsome and 2) likely drive Southerners crazy.
 

Hnau

Banned
Frelinghuysen is basically an anti-Southern president, much like Abraham Lincoln. The problem is that the nation hasn't geared up to the abolitionist tune yet: No Fugitive Slave Law means no Uncle Tom's Cabin, so northerners are still unknowing of the poor conditions in the South. Preserving the Union is a more popular ideal in both the north and south. The South would have seceded, most definitely, if Clay hadn't allowed for a last-minute 1849 Kansas-Nebraska Act analogue. The South believed that Kansas would become a southern state. Its admission as a free state caused the Southern slaveholders to become ultimately paranoid of a quarantine against slave states, that the USA was preparing for forcing abolition of slaves.

Still, Frelinghuysen is going to piss Southerners off. 1852 will be an anti-Frelinghuysen election, with Southerners building up a coalition to simply deny him re-election.
 
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