Well it depends on the country -- democratic societies with strong civil liberties like the US or the UK would be less receptive to preachers of violent revolution, but a country like, say, Russia (IOTL) or Brazil (at least the way it'll turn out TTL) would be more open to the idea of a violent Bakuninist revolution. On a global scale, TTL will see less communism of any stripe.
The rise of the Roman Republic, despite its evolution from revolutionary government to moderate mercantilist government, has definitely inspired radical movements across europe -- a coming chapter will return to France and Germany (where an alternate version of the Gotha Program will be proposed)
The UK was not a democracy in 1848. IOTL, it held the virtue of being one of the most liberal states in Europe because the others were worse. That title had gone to France and Roman Republic ITTL. So things could be interesting.
 
The UK was not a democracy in 1848. IOTL, it held the virtue of being one of the most liberal states in Europe because the others were worse. That title had gone to France and Roman Republic ITTL. So things could be interesting.
And because France and Italy are considerably more liberal and democratic here, Britain has a reputation of being a staid, conservative society, but it makes enough reforms throughout the 19th century to avoid becoming a hotbed of revolutionary activity.
 
Map of Europe in 1880
The American System Europe 1880.png
 
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I'm surprised Bighorn is on its own and not integrated into Wyoming, considering that it won't have Cheyenne and probably doesn't have Yellowstone.

Ah, Tacoma!
 
I really do like the borders of this United States. Its unique.
Thanks! I had a lot of fun drawing them up.
I'm surprised Bighorn is on its own and not integrated into Wyoming, considering that it won't have Cheyenne and probably doesn't have Yellowstone.

Ah, Tacoma!
I totally forgot to include this in any of the Cox presidency chapters, but as part of his Indian policy, he takes the piece of Wyoming territory south of the Bozeman trail and turns it into a territory for the plains/western Indians to reside without being harassed by white settlers. It does have Casper, Sheridan, and Gillette, but suffice to say it'll be one of the least-populated states in the Union.
 
Ooooh, this is very fascinating!

Looking at Virginia and wondering if instead of a east/west split, we get North Virginia and South Virginia XD
 
Ooooh, this is very fascinating!

Looking at Virginia and wondering if instead of a east/west split, we get North Virginia and South Virginia XD
Thanks!
I think Virginia would end up with a three-way divide between the affluent DC suburbs in the north, the rural south (a 'Pennsyltucky' situation), and the industrial Richmond/Appalachia center and west.
 
I know I am a little late in saying this but Mahone is really looking to be a Presidential of Vice Presidential Candidate. Possibly Blaine’s VP?
 
I know I am a little late in saying this but Mahone is really looking to be a Presidential of Vice Presidential Candidate. Possibly Blaine’s VP?
I considered it, but their two states are close geographically and I think Blaine would try and shore up support from the New England/New York section of the party. Besides, I think it'll be interesting to have Mahone remain a powerful political boss from his Senate seat...
 
I considered it, but their two states are close geographically and I think Blaine would try and shore up support from the New England/New York section of the party. Besides, I think it'll be interesting to have Mahone remain a powerful political boss from his Senate seat...
Senate Majority/Minority Leader possibly then?
 
41. The Better Angels
41. The Better Angels

“…with the ongoing recession showing no signs of letting up. President Hendricks’s administration had become widely unpopular, and whoever his party nominated in his stead would be vulnerable to the Whigs. The convention was expected to have a crowded field of candidates, and so James Blaine, now on his third run for the presidency, sought to clear the field early on. His largest threats were Speaker John Sherman, Vermont Senator George F. Edmunds, and Indiana Senator Benjamin Harrison. Sherman threatened to pull away Blaine’s closest allies – James Garfield and Rutherford B. Hayes – and compete with him among the critical Ohio and Pennsylvania delegations. Via Garfield, Blaine promised to appoint Sherman as Secretary of State if he did not run and Sherman, eager at the opportunity of such a prestigious post, accepted.

When approached by Blaine’s intermediaries, Edmunds refused a deal. Edmunds, a stubborn, conservative, and prickly man, took special joy in goading southern Democrats into embarrassing themselves during Senate debates over slavery. The stodgy Edmunds had strong support from railroad interests and many New York Whigs, so he felt confident he could take the nomination. The other main rival Blaine faced was Benjamin Harrison, a prominent Indiana lawyer, staunch abolitionist, and strong supporter of protective tariffs. He had supported Blaine against Cox in 1876 but was widely rumored to be planning his own campaign. Blaine offered him the post of Attorney General in exchange for his support, telling Harrison he needed “a fighter for the rights of men” in the push for an abolition amendment. Harrison agreed.

The convention was thus set up as a battle between Blaine and Edmunds, with Blaine the heavy favorite.

James Garfield gave a spirited address nominating Blaine, declaring that “on all the great issues of our day, both moral and practical, Senator James Blaine has stood on the right side. On the tariff, which protects our domestic industry and funds vital internal improvements, James Blaine has supported a strong protective tariff. On the economy, James Blaine has stood by the guarantor of stability, the National Bank. And on the contemptible practice of slavery, James Blaine has called for an end to bondage and for every negro held in chains to be set free… it is time for the Whig party to get out of the shadow of decades of inaction and stride forthrightly into the bright sunshine of liberty and freedom. For such a monumental task I can think of but one man to lead our party in November – not as a better Whig or a better man than thousands, but because he has the integrity, intelligence, and compassion mandated by the present moment – James Blaine. It is my honor to nominate for President of the United States, Senator James G. Blaine of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania!”

As Garfield stepped back from the podium, the convention erupted in cheering. John Davis Long’s rather boring nominating speech of George Edmunds seemed even more boring in comparison to Garfield’s. “It was clear at that moment,” recalled William Chandler, “that we would take the nomination.”

Blaine took a strong lead on the first ballot, sweeping much of the Midwest and west, while, thanks to the support of William Mahone, splitting the south with Edmunds. The Vermont Senator’s only strongholds were New England, Maryland, and half of the New York delegations. A number of regional bosses, chiefly Elihu Washburn of Illinois, Henry Wilson of Massachusetts [1], and Thomas Fletcher of Missouri [2], endorsed Blaine, who was represented on the convention floor by an army of surrogates. Derisively referred to as “Blainiacs” by rivals, the moniker would come to be worn as a badge of honor by the Senator’s supporters. Having amassed a solid lead on the first ballot, Blaine had sufficient momentum to capture the nomination, which he did with ease on the second ballot as the southern delegates swung towards him. Benjamin Harrison of Indiana then moved that the nomination be officially entered into the record as unanimous. Despite the objections of Edmunds and his remaining supporters, the motion was carried by an overwhelming majority, a strong show of support for Blaine.

Many convention delegates believed that Blaine’s running mate should be from the northeast, ideally New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut, to shore up support there. Thus, on the first vice-presidential ballot, the two leading candidates, William Wheeler, and Marshall Jewell, where from that region. However, the industrializing upper south was looking vulnerable, and Blaine sought an ideologically as well as geographically balanced ticket. Thus, he urged his supporters to select Governor John M. Harlan of Kentucky. Harlan had begun his career as a conservative Whig before shifting during the 1870s to support gradual emancipation and had presided over the approval of such an amendment in 1879, at the close of his term. The delegates were skeptical, and Wheeler led on the next two ballots before Blaine’s lobbying won out and Harlan was nominated on the fourth ballot. Harlan was reportedly surprised at his nomination, but reluctantly accepted it.


Presidential vote12Vice-Presidential vote124
J. Blaine359603J. Harlan0109382
G. Edmunds337128W. Wheeler339306200
M. Jewell307305173
Other5924Other109350



The party platform was the first time any major American party called for the abolition of slavery: “Resolved, That the principles of Republican government, justice, and American liberty demand the utter and complete extirpation of Slavery from the soil of the Republic: and that we are in favor of an amendment to the Constitution that shall terminate and forever prohibit the existence of the evil of Slavery within the limits or the jurisdiction of the United States.” The resolution, read aloud to the convention by P. B. S. Pinchback, a prominent black lawyer from Cincinnati, was met with “tremendous applause,” and a standing ovation. It was the perfect encapsulation of the 1880 Whig convention, and transmitted with finality that the Whigs were prepared and determined to move the country forward…”

-From CHAINS BROKEN, CHAINS SHACKLED by Edward Northam, published 2011

“Facing declining health, Hendricks had announced in his 1880 message to congress that he would not seek a second term as President. However, the ongoing economic depression meant that few Democrats wanted to seek the presidency, and the strongest Democratic candidates – Samuel Tilden, John Carlisle, and Winfield Hancock – all declined to contest the convention. Instead, Secretary of State William Rosecrans, Congressman Jubal Early, Senator George Pendleton, and Congressman William R. Morrison. Rosecrans had famously bungled negotiations with Spain during the Habana affair and nearly caused a war. Early was most famous for defending Robert E. Lee before the Supreme Court and arguing that Wesley Norris was not a free man, rendering him unpalatable to many northerners, especially in the aftermath of the Red Delta. Pendleton had a reputation as an archconservative, and Morrison, while well-liked among his colleagues in the House, was a total unknown to most voters.

On the first ballot Early assumed the lead, having the full backing of the south while Rosecrans secured the west and fought over the Midwest with Morrison and Pendleton. Carlisle, it seemed, was premature – he would not have the success he enjoyed eight years later, coming in a disappointing fifth. On successive ballots, Early’s lead dropped as Rosecrans and Pendleton gained over the floundering Morrison. However, there was doubt among the delegates that Rosecrans, a devout Catholic with a brusque personality, could win the general election. On the sixth ballot, Morrison withdrew and endorsed Pendleton, who he praised for his support of free trade. With this, Pendleton consolidated his midwestern support and entered into negotiations with Early, offering him the post of Attorney General. Early accepted, and on the eighth ballot, George Pendleton secured the Democratic nomination for President.

The platform was intended to counter the overtly abolitionist one the Whigs had ratified the previous month. Pendleton’s campaign spearheaded the successful effort to declare in the platform that the official Democratic slogan would be “This is a white man’s country; let white men rule [3].” Other resolutions supported the continued legality of slavery, with one reading “Resolved, that it is the right of each state to determine for itself the legality of Slavery, and the government of the Union lacks the constitutional authority to impose on said right.” This was met with raucous applause from the southern delegations, while northern free-soil delegates, led by Nathaniel Banks, staged a walkout in protest. This walkout largely overshadowed many of the platform proceedings.


Presidential vote1238Vice-Presidential vote12
G. Pendleton165171204553T. Watts307731
W. Rosecrans126156173136J. Carlisle3950
J. Early21922519517
J. Carlisle61493824
W. Morrison10981680
Other75737725Other5324



The remaining delegates were in little mood to appease the bolting free-soilers, and in the vice-presidential balloting, divided themselves between the incumbent vice president Thomas Watts and Congressman Carlisle. Initially, Carlisle was nominated but he declined to join the ticket, not wanting to be associated with the unpopular Pendleton. Thus, Vice President Watts was nominated for a second term in office, and he accepted the offer. The convention had been rocky, with heckling of speakers, a high-profile walkout, and a divisive Presidential nominee and platform. And the Whigs immediately went on the attack…”

-From IN THE SHADOW OF JACKSON by Michelle Watts, published 2012

“Blaine and the Whigs pursued an ambitious strategy: they would campaign in the moderate upper south on improving the industrial economy, in the Midwest on issues of education and abolition, and in New York, make a direct play for Irish Catholic votes.

William Mahone marshalled powerful resources in Virginia, but Whigs lacked the infrastructure in Missouri and Kentucky to end the long-standing Democratic domination of those states, and by the end of the campaign all southern resources were concentrated on Virginia and Delaware. Meanwhile, the platform of tariffs played well with midwestern audiences. It was the New York tactic that was truly experimental. Blaine leaned on his history of opposing closer ties with Britain and his Catholic mother [4], and received the support of Frederick Seward, son of the noted anti-nativist former President William Seward. In one of his few personal campaign appearances, Blaine visited New York City, where he called for “a constitutional amendment that would mean a change the like of which has not been known in modern times.”

Pendleton campaigned personally, in a break from long-standing tradition. In his speeches, he accused the Whigs of “trampling on the sacred rights of states” and declared that “it is no business of the Federal government whether Mississippi permits slavery or New York prohibits it – it is a state issue, and a state issue alone.” These declarations earned him few new supporters, while alienating moderates.

The Whigs, meanwhile, used graphic accounts of the Red Delta massacres to illustrate their argument that slavery was inherently incompatible with civil society and had to go. It didn’t help that Pendleton abandoned a long-standing Democratic campaign strategy of acknowledging the necessity of tariffs for “revenue purposes alone,” which helped assuage industrial workers’ concerns about free trade. While campaigning in Pennsylvania, Pendleton declared that “it is just one example, although perhaps the most egregious, of Whiggish overreach is the so-called ‘protective tariff’ that is little more than the unconstitutional stifling of trade.”

While the Whigs used Blaine’s Catholic background to appeal to the Irish bloc via pamphlets, the Wide Awakes [5] that had propelled Mahone to victory in Virginia were mobilized all across the north to turn out voters. The Wide Awakes had a particular affect in New York City, where they made a deliberate effort to register Irish Catholics to vote and persuade them of the benefits of the Whig platform. This concerted effort, combined with the Democrats’ seeming blindness to this threat to a once unshakably loyal demographic, all but assured Whig victory in New York…


James BlaineGeorge Pendleton
Electoral Vote246121
Popular Vote3,824,5193,353,864
Percentage52.546.1



James Blaine won a decisive victory, sweeping every state north of the Mason-Dixon line and carrying Delaware and Virginia south of it as well. This marked the first time ever that Virginia voted for a Whig in a presidential election, and only the second since the civil war that Delaware did so. More importantly, he was the first overtly abolitionist candidate of a major party, and his victory, combined with a wave of Whig victories in the house and senate elections, promised that slavery was at the end of its rope…”

-From THE END OF THE STATUS QUO: PRELUDE TO ABOLITION by Michelle Watts, published 2017

[1] TTL, Wilson doesn’t have his 1873 stroke.
[2] Missouri and Kentucky abolished slavery in 1879, which I didn’t mention as I’m juggling a ton of plotlines as is. I promised to cover the Mormons in the 1850s and that’s going in the next chapter.
[3] The Democrats’ slogan in 1868 OTL.
[4] Blaine used these strategies during his 1884 campaign, only to be undercut by “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion” as well as the Mulligan Letters, neither of which happen TTL.
[5] The Wide Awakes TTL are evolving from militaristic youth group to a more peaceful, outreach-focused youth group.
 
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The fact that Virginia has moved from a solid Democratic state to a swing state that voted for the abolitionist candidate makes me happy as a citizen of the Old Dominion.

So we have Harrison as Attorney General, and Sherman as Secretary of State. Mahone will probably not recieve a cabinet position as he's too important as the Whig leader in Virginia and without him being there, the machine may lose steam. I wonder if maybe A Virginian selected by Mahone will get a lower cabinet position like Secretary of the Interior. Maybe Campbell Slemp or John Sergeant Wise?
 
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