Texas still has about half the Permian basin but yeah. The main industries in the state economy will all be slightly smaller. I could see Texas become a big hub for filmmaking without LA in the US.
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The American System: A Henry Clay TL
- Thread starter TheHedgehog
- Start date
I think in the early days of filmmaking it would probably be New York and Chicago but I think Orlando and Atlanta would step up as soon as air conditioning is invented though. Atlanta is the Los Angeles of the South IOTL and Orlando is home to Disney World, Universal Studios, etc. I think if that holds true ITTL, we could see Florida and Georgia liberalizing more to the point where education between whites and blacks becomes much less unequal compared to the other parts of the Deep South ITTL's 2022. Speaking of which, I'm assuming Delaware, Kentucky, and Maryland follow the model set up by Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia ITTL due to greater industrialization? I would also think NC would follow that model over time since it became something of a manufacturing base for the South IOTL as well.
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Very interesting and realistic take on Blaine’s brand of Anglophobia and his views on diplomacy and military power
Good points, though I could see Austin or Dallas becoming a filmmaking center for reasons similar to Hollywood OTL -- its better for making Westerns and a Thomas Edison-type guy holds the filmmaking patents so going west makes it easier to dodge the patents. I don't think Texas would be as dominant as California, and Georgia/Florida would still have large film industries as well. I don't really see Florida and Georgia being more racially liberal statewide, though.
North Carolina will have a strong textile manufacturing center TTL, but IIRC, a lot of the car manufacturing stuff is a more recent development.
Thanks! Fortunately Blaine's dealings with South America didn't result in a naval embarrassment at the hands of Britain (or Chile for that matter
)
45. Four More Years!
45. Four More Years!
“After a wildly successful first term, President Blaine expected an easy renomination. During his first four years, he had overseen not only a favorable tariff, but the flexing of American commercial and diplomatic muscles in South America and the abolition, at long last, of slavery by constitutional amendment. A coalition of party leaders, including even the Stokely-Quay machine in Pennsylvania, closed ranks to ward off any potential challengers in the interest of party unity. James Garfield gave the nominating speech for Blaine, while William Mahone provided a second. Garfield, who’s 1880 speech had greatly energized the delegates, gave a long and eloquent address in which he described Blaine as an honest man who had “triumphed without patronage, and without emissaries [1], and has demonstrated nothing but courageous persistence in any course he has adopted.” The delegates cheered, and then Mahone took the stage.
President Blaine was a “man of iron,” Mahone declared, and “under his leadership we have advanced on every frontier. Civilization has been spread to more of the west. American companies have more foreign contracts than ever before. Under James Blaine, the literacy rate has never been higher. And it would be an incomplete summary of a long and story career if I did not mention that, under the able presidency of James Blaine, the morally repugnant practice of slavery was ended.” It was a brief speech, but Mahone’s energetic delivery excited the delegates. As he stepped back, the convention took up the chant “Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!” The convention proceeded to unanimously renominate President Blaine, the first time since Henry Clay that the party had done so.
The platform was primarily a defense of Blaine’s policies, especially abolition. However, two resolutions proposed further policies: the continued expansion of the navy for “the proper defense of American interests in the western hemisphere” and the ratification of an amendment prohibiting the use of government funds for supporting private religious schools. Blaine had long championed such an amendment and, despite opposition from a few delegates, it was adopted by a wide margin.”
- From CHAINS BROKEN, CHAINS SHACKLED by Edward Northam, published 2011
“…victory, party luminaries like Samuel Tilden, Thomas Bayard, and John G. Carlisle declined to mount campaigns. Even so, a number of Democrats contested the convention, most notably the reformist Governor of Ohio Richard Bishop, the conservative Indiana Congressman William English, and New York Congressman and former general Daniel Sickles. Bishop, who had served as Cincinnati Mayor before the Civil War, had served in corporate roles in various railroads before winning election as Governor of Ohio in 1876 and served a single term. As governor, he had attempted to remove the corrupt city government of Cincinnati and frequently disregarded party leaders when making appointments. He had not been renominated due to intraparty opposition, and his candidacy for president was opposed by Tammany Hall and other Democratic political machines that viewed Bishop as a threat to their power.
English began his career as a conservative ally of Jesse Bright in the Indiana legislature, before emerging as a staunch Unionist during the Civil War. He was elected to congress in 1862, though he retired just six years later. After spending a decade in private business in Indiana, he reentered politics to serve as Treasury Secretary under President Hendricks, a fellow Indianan. When English’s preferred candidate Thomas Bayard of Delaware declined to run for president, he stepped in instead. Finally, Daniel Sickles was a New York congressman who had served in congress briefly before the war. During the Civil War, he served as a general and commanded a corps under General Sherman before his disobedience of orders led to his dismissal from field command. Shortly after, Sickles resigned his commission and entered private law practice in New York City. In 1876, he reentered politics and was elected to the House with the secret backing of Tammany Hall.
Bishop, with the support of reformists like Thomas Hendricks and Samuel Tilden, narrowly led on the first ballot. Sickles, despite his poor service record in the army, was able to leverage his military past and support from the New York delegation to emerge with a close second. The conservative English lacked any notable supporters and came in a disappointing third. Subsequent ballots saw Bishop sink slowly, as his lack of momentum or new supporters caused several of his delegates to desert. Sickles and English became the two frontrunners, trading the lead on the next five ballots. With Bishop’s campaign collapsing, Tilden and Hendricks looked elsewhere, both endorsing English. However, Tilden was still viewed with some suspicion for leading a walkout of reformists in 1880. The impasse remained until the 12th ballot, when Sickles secured a deal with the southern delegations who had previously been either neutral or for English. Sickles promised them significant patronage opportunities and federal non-interference in the Black Codes being passed by southern governments.
This was enough and on the 13th ballot, Daniel Sickles received the Democratic nomination for President. For vice president, the convention nominated Senator John W. Daniel of Virginia, a leading southern conservative and statewide rival to William Mahone.”
-From IN THE SHADOW OF JACKSON by Michelle Watts, published 2012
“President Blaine and the Whigs largely ran an above-the-fray and restrained campaign. Blaine campaigned little, making occasional speeches in New York and Indiana. Whig surrogates largely emphasized Blaine’s accomplishments and touted the strong economic recovery. “America is more respected among her peers than ever before on the world stage, and more prosperous than ever before at home,” declared the young mayor of Lynchburg, Coleman B. Elkins [2]. “To stray from the present course would be a poor decision indeed.”
However, some Whig campaigners did make limited attacks on Sickles. His disobedience under Sherman was emphasized in their speeches. As one declared, “so-called ‘General’ Sickles is a duplicitous man, utterly without morals. He abandoned his duty on the field of battle to go and chase glory and was justly punished upon his failure, a failure which unnecessarily jeopardized his commander’s army against the foe.” The Democrats had little to attack Blaine with on policy and they could not effectively counter even the limited character attacks made on Sickles. Mostly, they criticized the raising of the tariff and attacked the proposed religious education amendment as anti-Catholic. While this was true in practice, the supposedly secular intent of the amendment and Blaine’s recent standoff with the United Kingdom combined to assuage some Irish voters, while the Wide Awakes once more took to the streets to persuade voters of the benefits of the Whig platform.
President Blaine was reelected by a decisive margin [3], sweeping the entire north (including Indiana, which had narrowly gone for Pendleton in 1880) and making gains in the upper south, winning Missouri. However, he narrowly lost Delaware, which he had won in 1880, and lost Jefferson and Shasta, as the Democrats had played on anti-Chinese sentiments and accused Blaine of favoring Chinese immigrants over citizens. Despite these losses, the Whigs expanded their congressional majorities and Blaine still increased his margin over 1880, defeating Sickles by over 10 percentage points and 125 electoral votes, the closest thing to a landslide in that era of politics.”
-From THE EVOLUTION OF THE WHIGS by James Welter, published 1997
[1] Roscoe Conkling said this about Ulysses Grant during the OTL 1880 RNC.
[2] Fictional – he’ll be important later.
[3] I know this is kind of a short chapter, but the 1884 election just isn’t that interesting and I wanted to get it out of the way quickly.
“After a wildly successful first term, President Blaine expected an easy renomination. During his first four years, he had overseen not only a favorable tariff, but the flexing of American commercial and diplomatic muscles in South America and the abolition, at long last, of slavery by constitutional amendment. A coalition of party leaders, including even the Stokely-Quay machine in Pennsylvania, closed ranks to ward off any potential challengers in the interest of party unity. James Garfield gave the nominating speech for Blaine, while William Mahone provided a second. Garfield, who’s 1880 speech had greatly energized the delegates, gave a long and eloquent address in which he described Blaine as an honest man who had “triumphed without patronage, and without emissaries [1], and has demonstrated nothing but courageous persistence in any course he has adopted.” The delegates cheered, and then Mahone took the stage.
President Blaine was a “man of iron,” Mahone declared, and “under his leadership we have advanced on every frontier. Civilization has been spread to more of the west. American companies have more foreign contracts than ever before. Under James Blaine, the literacy rate has never been higher. And it would be an incomplete summary of a long and story career if I did not mention that, under the able presidency of James Blaine, the morally repugnant practice of slavery was ended.” It was a brief speech, but Mahone’s energetic delivery excited the delegates. As he stepped back, the convention took up the chant “Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!” The convention proceeded to unanimously renominate President Blaine, the first time since Henry Clay that the party had done so.
The platform was primarily a defense of Blaine’s policies, especially abolition. However, two resolutions proposed further policies: the continued expansion of the navy for “the proper defense of American interests in the western hemisphere” and the ratification of an amendment prohibiting the use of government funds for supporting private religious schools. Blaine had long championed such an amendment and, despite opposition from a few delegates, it was adopted by a wide margin.”
- From CHAINS BROKEN, CHAINS SHACKLED by Edward Northam, published 2011
“…victory, party luminaries like Samuel Tilden, Thomas Bayard, and John G. Carlisle declined to mount campaigns. Even so, a number of Democrats contested the convention, most notably the reformist Governor of Ohio Richard Bishop, the conservative Indiana Congressman William English, and New York Congressman and former general Daniel Sickles. Bishop, who had served as Cincinnati Mayor before the Civil War, had served in corporate roles in various railroads before winning election as Governor of Ohio in 1876 and served a single term. As governor, he had attempted to remove the corrupt city government of Cincinnati and frequently disregarded party leaders when making appointments. He had not been renominated due to intraparty opposition, and his candidacy for president was opposed by Tammany Hall and other Democratic political machines that viewed Bishop as a threat to their power.
English began his career as a conservative ally of Jesse Bright in the Indiana legislature, before emerging as a staunch Unionist during the Civil War. He was elected to congress in 1862, though he retired just six years later. After spending a decade in private business in Indiana, he reentered politics to serve as Treasury Secretary under President Hendricks, a fellow Indianan. When English’s preferred candidate Thomas Bayard of Delaware declined to run for president, he stepped in instead. Finally, Daniel Sickles was a New York congressman who had served in congress briefly before the war. During the Civil War, he served as a general and commanded a corps under General Sherman before his disobedience of orders led to his dismissal from field command. Shortly after, Sickles resigned his commission and entered private law practice in New York City. In 1876, he reentered politics and was elected to the House with the secret backing of Tammany Hall.
Bishop, with the support of reformists like Thomas Hendricks and Samuel Tilden, narrowly led on the first ballot. Sickles, despite his poor service record in the army, was able to leverage his military past and support from the New York delegation to emerge with a close second. The conservative English lacked any notable supporters and came in a disappointing third. Subsequent ballots saw Bishop sink slowly, as his lack of momentum or new supporters caused several of his delegates to desert. Sickles and English became the two frontrunners, trading the lead on the next five ballots. With Bishop’s campaign collapsing, Tilden and Hendricks looked elsewhere, both endorsing English. However, Tilden was still viewed with some suspicion for leading a walkout of reformists in 1880. The impasse remained until the 12th ballot, when Sickles secured a deal with the southern delegations who had previously been either neutral or for English. Sickles promised them significant patronage opportunities and federal non-interference in the Black Codes being passed by southern governments.
| Presidential vote | 1 | 2 | 3 | … | 13 | Vice-Presidential vote | 1 |
| D. Sickles | 212 | 221 | 232 | 381 | J. Daniel | 739 | |
| W. English | 217 | 223 | 241 | 203 | |||
| R. Bishop | 245 | 225 | 193 | 57 | |||
| Other | 81 | 86 | 89 | 14 | Other | 16s |
This was enough and on the 13th ballot, Daniel Sickles received the Democratic nomination for President. For vice president, the convention nominated Senator John W. Daniel of Virginia, a leading southern conservative and statewide rival to William Mahone.”
-From IN THE SHADOW OF JACKSON by Michelle Watts, published 2012
“President Blaine and the Whigs largely ran an above-the-fray and restrained campaign. Blaine campaigned little, making occasional speeches in New York and Indiana. Whig surrogates largely emphasized Blaine’s accomplishments and touted the strong economic recovery. “America is more respected among her peers than ever before on the world stage, and more prosperous than ever before at home,” declared the young mayor of Lynchburg, Coleman B. Elkins [2]. “To stray from the present course would be a poor decision indeed.”
However, some Whig campaigners did make limited attacks on Sickles. His disobedience under Sherman was emphasized in their speeches. As one declared, “so-called ‘General’ Sickles is a duplicitous man, utterly without morals. He abandoned his duty on the field of battle to go and chase glory and was justly punished upon his failure, a failure which unnecessarily jeopardized his commander’s army against the foe.” The Democrats had little to attack Blaine with on policy and they could not effectively counter even the limited character attacks made on Sickles. Mostly, they criticized the raising of the tariff and attacked the proposed religious education amendment as anti-Catholic. While this was true in practice, the supposedly secular intent of the amendment and Blaine’s recent standoff with the United Kingdom combined to assuage some Irish voters, while the Wide Awakes once more took to the streets to persuade voters of the benefits of the Whig platform.
| James Blaine | Daniel Sickles | |
| Electoral Vote | 288 | 130 |
| Popular Vote | 4,233,519 | 3,485,563 |
| Percentage | 54.3 | 44.7 |
President Blaine was reelected by a decisive margin [3], sweeping the entire north (including Indiana, which had narrowly gone for Pendleton in 1880) and making gains in the upper south, winning Missouri. However, he narrowly lost Delaware, which he had won in 1880, and lost Jefferson and Shasta, as the Democrats had played on anti-Chinese sentiments and accused Blaine of favoring Chinese immigrants over citizens. Despite these losses, the Whigs expanded their congressional majorities and Blaine still increased his margin over 1880, defeating Sickles by over 10 percentage points and 125 electoral votes, the closest thing to a landslide in that era of politics.”
-From THE EVOLUTION OF THE WHIGS by James Welter, published 1997
[1] Roscoe Conkling said this about Ulysses Grant during the OTL 1880 RNC.
[2] Fictional – he’ll be important later.
[3] I know this is kind of a short chapter, but the 1884 election just isn’t that interesting and I wanted to get it out of the way quickly.
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Wow.
5 updates in the past week. 5.
And a good quality of information as well. Its amazing and impressive. Consistent.
Oh man, now this is a good man to see go down into defeat.
5 updates in the past week. 5.
And a good quality of information as well. Its amazing and impressive. Consistent.
Oh man, now this is a good man to see go down into defeat.
It’s a shame Garfield was capped and Blaine lost to Cleveland OTL, they were two of the few good statesmen of that time. Both deserve some rehabilitation IMO
Hmm it could work here, I’ll have to see. By the time the next Whig’s in office he’d be ~62
Thanks so much!
And yeah, Sickles is one of those people that just deserves to lose.
No sir! Blaine and his Blainiacs are indomitable!
Morrison Waite did die in 1888… so could work if that’s the route you go down!
He’s not on the court TTL (thank god) but Ebenezer Hoar died in 1895 OTL, so that could get moved up a couple years for whatever reason and boom, Garfield’s on the court.
Ohhhh I must have misread that part then! Hoar would def be a big upgrade