Here's a map of California. I used the main map from @Planita13's "a shining valley" as a base and used a pastel version of that coloring scheme, so they look very similar. I'm sorry if it's low quality, I can't post it any bigger & the discord method doesn't seem to work for me.


california monterey small.jpg

It seems I've managed to post the larger version. Can everyone see this image?

xVmVYyL.jpg
 
Last edited:
Here's a map of California. I used the main map from a shining valley as a base and used a pastel version of that colouring scheme. I'm sorry if it's low quality, I can't post it any bigger & the discord method doesn't seem to work for me.



It seems I've managed to post the larger version. Can everyone see this image?

xVmVYyL.jpg

Did you base this off of Planita13's map?
upload_2019-9-21_14-21-11.jpeg
 
Here is a possible Cabinet for Roger Sherman:

Secretary of State: James Madison [1]
Secretary of the Treasury: Robert Morris [2]
Secretary of War: Horatio Gates [3]
Attorney General: William Paterson [4]

[1] The drafter of the revised Articles of Confederation, he is all but guaranteed a spot in the new Cabinet, and, as the author of the Virginia Plan, his appointment helps to create ideological unity.
[2] The financier of the Revolution, Morris accepts the post unlike OTL, where he was Washington’s first choice and recommended Hamilton instead.
[3] The victor of Saratoga, Gates never loses at Camden like OTL, so his reputation stays intact, and Washington recommends Gates, his former adjutant, to Sherman.
[4] The leading force behind the New Jersey Plan, his influence balances out Madison’s, and his record as New Jersey Attorney General during the Revolution makes him clearly the most qualified for the job.
 
Here is a possible Cabinet for Roger Sherman:

Secretary of State: James Madison [1]
Secretary of the Treasury: Robert Morris [2]
Secretary of War: Horatio Gates [3]
Attorney General: William Paterson [4]

This looks great! Here's a possible cabinet under the Madison Administration:

Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson [1]
Secretary of the Treasury: ??
Secretary of War: Henry Knox (until 1795) [2], Replaced by undecided figure (Dem-Rep).
Attorney General: Edmund Randolph [3]

[1] Of course it'd be Jefferson. Who else would it be?
[2] A solid choice, I suppose. Was Secretary of War under the Confederation Period, so he also has experience.
[3] First Attorney General under Washington's Administration. He was a Federalist, though very keen on diplomatic matters -- wanting to keep a middle ground

The idea I'm going for is that Madison wants to be a moderate, compromising president, but by the end of his administration his cabinet is solidly DemRep.
 
Here is a possible Cabinet for Roger Sherman:

Secretary of State: James Madison [1]
Secretary of the Treasury: Robert Morris [2]
Secretary of War: Horatio Gates [3]
Attorney General: William Paterson [4]

[1] The drafter of the revised Articles of Confederation, he is all but guaranteed a spot in the new Cabinet, and, as the author of the Virginia Plan, his appointment helps to create ideological unity.
[2] The financier of the Revolution, Morris accepts the post unlike OTL, where he was Washington’s first choice and recommended Hamilton instead.
[3] The victor of Saratoga, Gates never loses at Camden like OTL, so his reputation stays intact, and Washington recommends Gates, his former adjutant, to Sherman.
[4] The leading force behind the New Jersey Plan, his influence balances out Madison’s, and his record as New Jersey Attorney General during the Revolution makes him clearly the most qualified for the job.

This looks great! Here's a possible cabinet under the Madison Administration:

Secretary of State: Thomas Jefferson [1]
Secretary of the Treasury: ??
Secretary of War: Henry Knox (until 1795) [2], Replaced by undecided figure (Dem-Rep).
Attorney General: Edmund Randolph [3]

[1] Of course it'd be Jefferson. Who else would it be?
[2] A solid choice, I suppose. Was Secretary of War under the Confederation Period, so he also has experience.
[3] First Attorney General under Washington's Administration. He was a Federalist, though very keen on diplomatic matters -- wanting to keep a middle ground

The idea I'm going for is that Madison wants to be a moderate, compromising president, but by the end of his administration his cabinet is solidly DemRep.

These look fine to me. Any possibility of wikiboxes for them? Or will they be part of the presidential wikibox?
 
@Fox-Fire @Onerom @mikroraptor @Bennett @Hindustani Person @Citizen Keynes

We need to figure out if we're using the google doc or not. This isn't me passive-aggressively pressuring you to use it, I just think we need to do this at some point. Rn, it seems that everyone is kind of busy (as am I so I totally get that), but I'll just put this out there. The way I imagined it was that we can discuss here, but collaboratively write up a summary of the TL in the doc (which can be accessed without a google account), so that we don't clutter the thread with millions of slightly corrected versions of the summary. Once we've got all the history for a certain era, we post it (this is separate from any graphics that get posted). If this doesn't work for someone, feel free to tell me.

On another note, I'm worried I might have derailed a few discussions, notably on the *Mexican-American war, the unification of Germany, and the direction we're taking with Indian and generally Asian history, so I thought it would be appropriate to bring them up again.
 
@Fox-Fire @Onerom @mikroraptor @Bennett @Hindustani Person @Citizen Keynes

We need to figure out if we're using the google doc or not. This isn't me passive-aggressively pressuring you to use it, I just think we need to do this at some point. Rn, it seems that everyone is kind of busy (as am I so I totally get that), but I'll just put this out there. The way I imagined it was that we can discuss here, but collaboratively write up a summary of the TL in the doc (which can be accessed without a google account), so that we don't clutter the thread with millions of slightly corrected versions of the summary. Once we've got all the history for a certain era, we post it (this is separate from any graphics that get posted). If this doesn't work for someone, feel free to tell me.

On another note, I'm worried I might have derailed a few discussions, notably on the *Mexican-American war, the unification of Germany, and the direction we're taking with Indian and generally Asian history, so I thought it would be appropriate to bring them up again.
Updates might be a bit slower from me, but I think that I can make it work.
 
On another note, I'm worried I might have derailed a few discussions, notably on the *Mexican-American war, the unification of Germany, and the direction we're taking with Indian and generally Asian history, so I thought it would be appropriate to bring them up again.
I'll contribute some stuff to the Docs later, but I'll work on a write-up for the Mex-Merican war to post here and get approval for. I'll start typing that right now.
 
I see it a good idea, just that I've returned to college and can't contribute that much, I'll do what I can :coldsweat:

It's fine. I can only imagine how busy you are. Obviously your education is infinitely more important than some online Alternate History forum. The fact that you responded at all is more than enough.
 
Updates might be a bit slower from me, but I think that I can make it work.

I'll contribute some stuff to the Docs later, but I'll work on a write-up for the Mex-Merican war to post here and get approval for. I'll start typing that right now.

This is great. I understand that nobody can be as active as during the summer. I barely find time on weekends myself, so anything getting done here is more than I can expect.
 
upload_2019-9-22_17-40-8.png

THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR
Background:
The Californias (comprising of Alta and Baja California) were a region that saw very little activity during the colonization of the Americas. It was charted and explored, and claimed as Spanish domain since the early 17th century, but was scarcely settled. A majority of the settlements in the Californias during its time under New Spain were the result of religious missions (mostly Jesuits and Franciscans), a trend that continued until the recognition of Mexico's independence by Spain. From then on, the Californias was administered as a territory of Mexico, where the populace was misrepresented by governors chosen by Mexico City. These governors tended to focus mainly on the major populated areas -- the couple cities of which a majority of the sparsely populated territory's population resided.
By the 1840s, settlements had begun to appear throughout the coast of California, spurred by the concept of better representation in light of increased urbanization: as such, former missionary settlements seemingly exploded with population overnight. There was an exodus of persons from the interior of the territory to the Pacific Coast, and with that came new settlements among the rivers of California.
In 1851, a team of laborers were working on constructing yet another house in yet another settlement that would soon be abandoned. One of these men, relaxing by a river in the shade for a quick break, saw something glisten in the water. He quickly waded through it, and grabbed some gold sitting in the river bed. This, probably fictitious, account is often stated as being the beginning of the California Gold Rush.

The Scent of Gold:
91nAC%2BPxdOL._SX466_.jpg

American advertisement for a clipper ship to California for gold.
The discovery of gold in California led to a massive exodus of Mexicans and Americans wishing to make a fortune off of the supposedly large sources of untouched gold in the territory. However, Americans soon became frustrated by the process of entering California -- if one wanted to travel safely, they would have to by sea, a process which would take months and thousands upon thousands of miles (a trip from New York City to San Francisco could take as long as thirteen thousand miles before the Nicaragua Canal's completion). Further, there were lengthy legal processes in this emigration that made such trips undesirable. In the cases of private companies breaking the law, and sending travelers out to smaller settlements to sneak through the legal processes (called "Sneak Cities" or, occasionally, "vacuum villages"), these companies charged high rates that were generally undesirable. The only other methods were across land, across so-called "Gold Trails" which were brutal and often deadly.

The Declaration:
220px-Portrait_of_David_Crockett%2C_1831.jpg

Davy Crockett, first President of the Republic of California
The first Americans to reach the shores of California were oftentimes wealthy or otherwise important -- some of these including military men or even politicians. Among these were Davy Crockett, the King of the Frontier. Seemingly always on the quest of new land and new adventures, he eventually explored his way to California. A charismatic man with many stories to tell, he eventually climbed his way through the social ladder in Alta California and formed the American Society, a group of American emigrants who proposed the ascension of California into the United States. On the Fourth of November, 1853, the Society issued The Californian Declaration of Independence (and Proclamation of Statehood), a several-page pamphlet urging the people of California to "unilaterally recognize the faults of the Mexican government in the administration of the Californias, and further recognize that the government of the United States of America would let the people of California live a free, prosperous life that is well-represented within the legislature, and well-understood by said legislature."
These arguments did have some effects. Despite the majority of the Statehood Regiments being White Americans, there was a substantial minority of Californios who also took up resistance against the Mexican government. Whether or not the United States would react to the California War of Independence was an unknown, but it was a risk that the Society was willing to take.

---

This is just Part 1. Part 2 will be about the war itself, including some basics about the political system (including the three major parties -- Nativist Party, Whig Party, and the Radical Party -- deriving from the Federalist, Dem-Rep, and abolitionist independents, respectively), War Hawks (including Lewis Cass and John Frémont), Sumner's Beating and the Northern Refusal, and Crockett's decision to revoke his proposals for statehood. It was taking too long to write everything so I decided to split it up. Feel free to add changes you'd make and also potential political parties -- I'm not too attached to a "Nativist Party" and all that.
 

Deleted member 107125

@Fox-Fire @Onerom @mikroraptor @Bennett @Hindustani Person @Citizen Keynes

We need to figure out if we're using the google doc or not. This isn't me passive-aggressively pressuring you to use it, I just think we need to do this at some point. Rn, it seems that everyone is kind of busy (as am I so I totally get that), but I'll just put this out there. The way I imagined it was that we can discuss here, but collaboratively write up a summary of the TL in the doc (which can be accessed without a google account), so that we don't clutter the thread with millions of slightly corrected versions of the summary. Once we've got all the history for a certain era, we post it (this is separate from any graphics that get posted). If this doesn't work for someone, feel free to tell me.

On another note, I'm worried I might have derailed a few discussions, notably on the *Mexican-American war, the unification of Germany, and the direction we're taking with Indian and generally Asian history, so I thought it would be appropriate to bring them up again.
I don't think I can work on this too much. I have exams going on and some other stuff to deal with. But I'll try!
 
I don't think I can work on this too much. I have exams going on and some other stuff to deal with. But I'll try!

Exams are more important, I wouldn't want to derail your studies (so basically the same thing I said to Onerom), but thank you for trying to contribute, posting nothing is totally fine, posting even one tiny thing between now and the summer would be more than I could ask for. I think this is likely to go slower for now and maybe pick up the pace again when a major break comes along.
 
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