The Madness of 'King' George - A Wikibox Timeline

The Madness of 'King' George

The year was 1796. For the previous seven years, George Washington had been serving out his position as President of the United States with the familiar vigour and his own form of unbroken ethnics that had assisted him during his years within the British and Continental Armies. Through crisis after crisis in this newborn land, Washington had attempted beyond his station to ensure that the stability of his republic remained rigid and steadfast in the face of growing dangers and new ideals that were flourishing during this period of time; the most dangerous of all being those of the revolutionary ideals of Europe that were beginning to seep into the moral framework of American society, something the first President had succeeded in stemming during his administration.

However, the struggles that Washington had to put himself up against after the '88 and '92 elections were so immense in so many ways that it left the former general exhausted, demoralized, and prostrated beyond any form of physical exertion that he would have faced during his time in the military, and soon, most thought, it would be his time to step down (as he originally wished before his re-election campaign). However, as what happened only four years prior, events would only transpire to ensure that the first President of the United States would remain in his place.

Fearing the influx of revolutionary zeal into the fabric of the increasingly partisan Republican Party (as the 'anti-administration' group within Congress was beginning to be christened), a number of Federalists began to rally behind the incumbent as they had done so in 1792 in an attempt to 'keep the peace' in their young republic, particularly after a series of high-profile attacks on American vessels (believed to be carried out on the orders of the new directorial French government in Paris). Indeed, in some Republican groups at the time, revolutionary zeal had become a commonplace element of their state-level assemblies, support for the overthrow of the French monarchy being followed up in some circles with calls to enter the recently formed conflict in Europe on the side of their 'democratic brothers' across the Atlantic sea; a vision that was abhorred universally by both the Federalists and George Washington himself.

This fear would ultimately be furthered by the actions and words of the de facto Republican leader and former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who, despite having 'retired' three years before the lead up to the '96 election season, remained extremely active within national politics, his refusal to disassociate himself from the violence and destruction of the French Revolution only serving to distance himself further from both Washington and the cabinet to which he used to belong.

Ultimately, the coalescing actions of the French Directory and Navy (real or imagined in 1796), members of the Republican party, and Thomas Jefferson himself ultimately led George Washington into a wall which saw members of congress (primarily partisan, but led by the Federalists) begin to urge their incumbent to run once again; a third term to ensure that the safety and neutrality of the young American republic would not be unhinged by the actions of the pro-British Vice President John Adams, or the pro-French Republican leader Thomas Jefferson. Washington himself was at first extremely reluctant to devote his efforts to run again, believing that the times were right for his peers to raise themselves to the highest levels of their nation and resolve the issues facing the United States, particularly the growing aggressions of the French Republic.

However, in the aftermath of several more weeks of belligerent displays by the French Navy on the high seas (against US shipping vessels), coupled with a number of conspiracies and minor 'protests' that were relayed back to Washington as being in 'support of the French revolutionary spirit', began to weaken the sixty-four year-old's resistance to the idea of a third term, enough so that further urging by the former Secretary of the Treasury (Alexander Hamilton) ultimately saw the incumbent President bend to the will of many across the nation and reluctantly run for a third term.

The Presidential election of 1796 would ultimately be the first in American history that would feature the first opposition to the primary frontrunner, at least early on that was; a number of prominent Republicans across the Union (Thomas Jefferson above all else it seemed) were urged to finally run for their nation's highest office in spite of Washington's semi-bipartisan support. This avocation was primarily brought about due to the growing animosity a number of high-ranking 'Republicans' felt in regards to the President's advancing age and term of office (despite the sense of 'unity' he had brought to both tables over the previous seven years); this furthered by the increasingly 'Federalist policies' he was willing to back during his time as President despite his own personal calls for the position to remain one "above national politics".

Nevertheless, with the turn of each moon the suggestions and rallying cries by the Republicans for the incumbent to cease running had began to simmer, the fears of 'revolutionary justice' sweeping across America (as well as the lack of any other de facto opposition to the former General) propelling Washington into the voting months fearful but diligent of his next steps; his initial unwillingness giving way to reluctant candidacy as states and citizens decided to elect the incumbent President to a third term of office; another unanimous victory for Washington in terms of both popular and electoral vote followed again by his incumbent Vice President, John Adams. The following March, Washington once again accepted and recited the oath of his office in a strained, almost-unsure voice as he begun yet another term as President of the United States of America.

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The beginning of George Washington's third term was, in one particular word, substantially more violent than those that had come before it, even taking into account social uprisings such as the Whiskey Rebellion. Coming primarily out of the growing diplomatic (and naval) conflict with the French Republic and it's refusal to accept the United State's position of neutrality (or it's ratification of the Jay Treaty with Great Britain); the naval skirmishes spreading fear and outrage among a number of high-office holding politicians in Washington, D.C., one of which was the recently re-elected President himself who had long feared foreign (European) entanglements that would threaten the sovereign unit of his young and federal nation.

It would be in mid-1797 in which diplomacy with France would begin to break down into a greater display of ferocity there had ever been in the twenty-or-so years these two powers had been tentative allies; this situation devolving primarily due to the actions of the French cabinet for foreign affairs. Having strongly argued against partisanship with regards to European conflict for the previous eight years he held office, the President of the US had since the outbreak of (low intensity) naval hostilities with France rallied those within his cabinet and Congress to not escalate the skirmishes on the high seas to points any higher than they had reached, as well as attempt to return the state of diplomacy between the two countries to manageable and peaceful conditions.

For this point, Washington began to make political manoeuvres towards France in the first July of his third term in order to return to a calmer order with the Directory in Paris and allow merchant vessels of the United States to trade with Europe without fear of French naval incursion. As a result, the President assembled a commission of two diplomats that would ensure peace could be reached; Charles Pinckney and Elbridge Gerry being selected primarily by Washington to head to Paris and convene with the new French foreign minister, Charles de Talleyrand-Périgord. Telleyrand, for the most part, was for the most part concerned with regards to the establishment of closer ties between the US and Britain over the previous few years; actions that affected his relationship with the two diplomats when the foreign teams met in late-October; the French minister attempting to extract certain concessions from the American delegation; particularly the payment of loans towards the Directory, as well as a significant bride towards Telleyrand himself.

Pickney and Gerry, outraged at the initial proposal, curtly refused the demand, especially Telleyrand's own request for a bribe; an action that would see the French minister withdraw himself from the talks for a time. As a result, over the ensuring number of weeks, the American delegation in Paris was forced to discuss 'peace' with France through a series of indirect channels; the demands remaining similar every time the delegates met; concessions towards France, and a payment (bribe) to the Directory's foreign team. Acting particularly belligerent in the aftermath of the signing of the Treaty of Campo Formio (that saw France reach temporary peace on mainland Europe), Telleyrand's ambassadors began to use the threat of conflict against the United States government in order to see their demands be reached. Later in November, the American delegation decided to break off contact with the French ambassadors. Three months later, amidst further and more unofficial talks (to which Gerry was the most proactive), the American delegation succeeded in returning to America after the two foreign teams hit an impasse, Telleyrand (having refused to take one step back with regards to his demands) nearly forcing his counterparts to remain after a series of 'threats' aimed towards them and the American government.

The reaction from the United States was one of scandalized indignation. After months of considering his options in the cases of a fracture of diplomatic discussions; the Federalists attempting to persuade the President that a large and professional military (particularly a modernised navy) needed to be constructed to avoid the 'aggressions' of the French Republic, all whilst the Republicans, sympathetic to the 'revolutionary cause', requested that Washington simply "avoid any escalation with a Republic now at peace". To this end, Washington was at least supportive in refusing to enter an 'undue' war that had little impact on continental North America.

However following the return of the American delegation in the February of 1798 and their discussions (with the President) with the regards to the 'mistreatment' (the request for bribes and the threats of war) they had faced in Paris ultimately saw Washington stance on the matter begin to 'shift'. Wishing Congress to remain in the most peaceful deposition as possible, Washington himself was at first reluctant to release the complete dispatches regarding the tactics of the French foreign team, but did, however, release information regarding the general demands of the French. The Federalists responded to this information in their familiar warlike fashion (to which Washington requested them to remain calm, given the situation), whilst the Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, remained sceptical of the dispatches and the refusal by the President to release the full information regarding negotiations, some heckling the incumbent with the belief that he was taking the 'belligerent' side of the Federalists (i.e. manoeuvring the nation towards a war with France).

To this position Washington was outraged; the President's opinion regarding the more pro-French arm of the Republican party turning from one of simple annoyance to that of a question of loyalty to the United States. As a result, in the April of 1798, Washington (acting under some pressure from both the Federalists and Republicans) released documents showing to full affect how the French delegation acted to Pickney and Gerry; an action that ultimately discredited the 'Jeffersonians' for a time and led to many within the party to describe Washington himself as a 'full-and-complete Federalist'. For the President, the harsh remarks aimed his way from the pro-French and pro-revolutionary members of government did indeed ultimately see him move to a firmly Federalist position over the ensuring months, the response by that party turning to one 'rallying' for revenge against the French and an 'armed neutrality', a position to which Washington, despite his earlier statements with regards to foreign entanglements, was beginning to reconsider (some believe the President's age was at this early times leaving him more malleable to the persuasions of certain Federalist members within his cabinet).

As a result, over the following months of increased violence between French frigates and American merchant ships, Washington tentatively agreed to an expansion of both the Army and 'reformation' of the Navy; both of which Washington was given extensive oversight in maintaining. Whilst the Republicans continued to rise up in oppositions to what they saw as an increasingly belligerent President, many were beginning to rally against the once uniting figure as he slowly began to come in opposition to "traitors disloyal to the American Republic" (i.e. pro-French Jeffersonians); his words later laying the foundation for certain Congressional acts.

Across the Atlantic, conflict between French naval ships and recently laid-down American frigates began to escalate beyond that of regular tensions; the sinking and capturing of more and more US merchant ships leading the administration in Washington, D.C. to take an increasingly 'warlike' position as ships like the USS Constitution began to be sent out to search and destroy any 'Directorial vessels'. Finally, in the October of 1798, these actions (on both sides) ultimately coalesced into America's first true naval conflict since the end of the War for Independence; the so-called 'Action of October 8" between the USS Constellation and three French frigates that saw the ship sink below the waves of the Atlantic saw outrage and fear of 'revolutionary France' flare in America like wildfire, Washington, under increasing pressure from the Federalists, decided to further the commitments of the US Navy to completely annihilating the French vessels within 'reach of the US coast'.

After further and further escalation, and under greater and greater pressure and duress that many today began to 'affect his decisions in office'; Washington accepted several proposals to move the nation towards official war (especially after (largely fallacious) news of renewed conflict in Europe reached the United States). In the February of 1799, after more and more American sailors saw themselves die at the hands of French frigates and corvettes, Washington successfully rallied the Federalist-dominated Congress to declare war on the French Republic; Washington signing the action soon after its passage on March 2. The War of the Atlantic had begun.

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With the news of the United States' declaration spreading rapidly across the Atlantic, especially after the escalation of naval combat in early April, the French Directory had found itself in a corner with regards to the recently erupting conflict, especially after conflict had seemingly re-erupted on continental Europe itself. Acting swiftly to remove Talleyrand from his position as minister of foreign affairs (the leaders in Paris placing blame on him for the collapse of diplomacy late the previous year, despite their own instance on the continuation of naval raiding against American merchants), the government of the Republic subsequently began acting to ensure that their position in the Americas remained unmolested as the Americans mobilized for war; their allies (primarily Spain) taking their time in Louisiana and Florida to rally their defences, fearful of an incursion by the Americans.

In the United States proper, the declaration of war on France was met with cheer by a number of citizens and members of the Federalist party, both of whom were outraged by the French aggressions towards their nation's shipping, as well as engagements against their own vessels. Having accepted the request to build up a national land army, as well as exponentially expand the renewed navy, Washington was initially far more reluctant to thrust his republic to war than his Federalist counterparts such as the former Treasurer Alexander Hamilton (who was soon to come out of semi-retirement in New York and become a commander within the military), wishing to view it as simply a defensive manoeuvre that could be resolved in as fast and due time as possible.

The Republicans however (including Thomas Jefferson who returned to the national spotlight to rally against the President's decision) were venomous in their attacks on the Federalist party, both stemming from their support of the French Directory (which was far more suppressed than in the pre-war atmosphere) as well as their reluctance to plunge the nation into a war which had no defined end goals (save the ending of merchant harassment). This latter reason came primarily out of the belief that a war would see the powers of the federal government grow exponentially, the freedoms of the states and citizens curtailed as the Federalists would coalesce their own strength and "seize power from the hands of free men". To this end, many believed that the war goal of the war hawks in Congress was that of a dictatorship, or perhaps even reunification with Great Britain (this furthered after the British navy joined the Americans in their anti-French incisions. By early-May, after news of the declaration of war had spread itself across the nation like wildfire, the Republicans began mounting campaign to put an end to the war, and if so, see Washington replaced with one of their own in the upcoming presidential election of 1800.

This form of protest was, in many Federalist eyes (as well as the increasingly blurred vision of Washington) an act of sedition, aimed at the United States federal government to erode the strength of Congress and the Presidency and see either the states themselves succeed from the Union, or at least see the national legislature overthrown by radicals and supporters of the French revolution. In some ways, this position and fear was partially true; throughout the early campaigns against 'Washington's Blunder', a number of popular Republicans, especially those in the south-west of the nation, began rallying against the federal government with some pushing for autonomy or withdrawal from the nation itself, however many of these were shot down in the early months of the war due to the sheer popularity of the President himself (despite his long term incumbency and political resistance against him, he remained a symbol of the Union), as well as initial enthusiasm for the conflict; soon however, those Federalists in power would begin facing greater threats than simple protests.

The first months of the War in 1799 was dominated by the growth of state militias, as well as the national military; the navy seeing the greatest overhaul as dozens of corvettes and frigates waded out into the Atlantic (primarily southwards to the Caribbean) to engage with the overextended by nevertheless up-to-date French Republican navy, many of battles indecisive as the Directors in Paris were forced to send less and less of their ships to engage with America as full scale conflict flared up in Europe, the British working with Washington to ensure that France and Spain's strategic positions within the Atlantic became as weak as possible. As a result, beginning in July of that year, half-hearted military incursions into Spanish Florida and Louisiana begun as the Spaniards and French were unable to put up any significant defence against the initially small-scale invaders. By the end of September 1799, both New Orleans (the capital of Louisiana) as well as St. Augustine (the capital of Florida) had fallen to American troops, the defenders being driven back into the wilderness as the Spanish and French were struggling to bring over reinforcements; their larger armies trapped behind an increasingly efficient British blockade in Europe.

Soon, however, many of these early American victories would be put to an abrupt stop as a series of successive and poor judgements by the Union military saw blunder after blunder committed by generals and naval officers; and no more could these initial setbacks observed than in the blunder known as the Battle of Acul Bay. Having realized the necessity to close off all possible naval bases in the Americas from the French, a number of officers within the military (with significant backing from the British command) began to clamber their national government in Washington, D.C. for support in an invasion of the de facto French colony of Hispaniola, then dominated by a number of free blacks and emancipated slaves who remained reluctantly tied to their 'mother country' by the Toussaint Louverture. Believing that the island was the primary base for the French operations in the Caribbean, Washington, as well as his leading army and naval commanders (John Adams, Henry Knox, Alexander Hamilton, and John Barry), supported any attempts to invade and occupy the island, and to this end the Americans assembled a force of around 4,300 marines (many of whom had been very recently placed into the expanded military as a result of war) in late August with plans to land them in the mouth of Acul Bay the following month and take Cap-Haitien. From there, they'd support a general uprising of among the freemen and Spanish-speaking populations on the island and put an end to the French colonies in North America.

Bolstered by a number of British ships (many of which had seen action against the Americans two decades earlier), by this time in the war the goals of the conflict had expanded to the point in which a number of Congress members supported the expansion of American interests into lands such as Louisiana and Hispaniola, or at least simply the succession of these regions to limit Europe domination of the region. President Washington himself was at this time slowly losing more and more of the strong will that had kept him together earlier in his tenure as he became greatly susceptible to his Federalist-aligned 'subordinates' such as Alexander Hamilton (who had taken a leading role in the operations of war) due to the mounting pressures of his Presidency; and a result, by the time of the landings in Acul Bay, he too began to softly support lofty Federalist goals in removing European influence of the American continent, even though he continued to passionately oppose the expansion of American borders through such force of arms.

On September 15, 1799, a force of a little over 4,200 American marines and 300 British 'sailors' landed in the mouth of Acul Bay to little response; their incursion onto the island coming as a surprise to the unprepared defences of the island itself (including the relatively large French garrison stationed in the south), and over the following days (amidst minor skirmishes with a number of freemen who had served in an early conflict against the French) this contingent fought their way to Cap-Haitien as they quickly overwhelmed the white defenders of the city and take it in full; a successful invasion with little bloodshed. Very soon however, events for conspire against this band of Americans that would see the momentum of war momentarily grind to a halt.

During the night of September 24, the American and British navy which remained stationed at Acul Bay (a decision which would cost them dearly) was suddenly attacked by a smaller naval force of Spanish and French brigs and corvettes which subsequently defeated, captured, and sunk many of the 'allied' ships within the Bay as the invading navies' escape route was blocked. Soon, the Americans in Cap-Haitien found themselves too completely and utterly blocked from escape as most of the survivors of the surprise attack fled back to the Bahamas, leaving the marines defenceless and trapped on a hostile army with few methods of returning to the continental Americas. Without many options open to them before any British ships could be sent in to retrieve the band of soldiers, they proceeded with their plans to take further actions against towns in northern Hispaniola in an attempt to capture weapons for a future black revolt against 'Governor' Toussaint Louverture and the French, however such action was misguided from the beginning.

Whilst a number of slaves and men who fought against the French early in the 1790's had opposed the French and attempted to rally for independence of the colony, the subsequent prohibition of slavery in France and it's colonies saw the 'revolutionaries' relatively satisfied with the outcome of their conflict, their initially shaky relations with the metropole remaining calm. In the aftermath of the American/British invasion, this relationship between colony and parent nation was ultimately bolstered by Louverture's rallying of the freemen against the "slave driving Americans" who had threatened to plunge the island back into a brutal and larger conflict which many had no wish to be a part of, and as a result most attempts by the invading forces to instigate rebellion of blacks against their 'French masters' had failed, their actions being only moderately more successful in the already restless Spanish-speaking portion of the island.

Shortly, more and more French/black defenders of the island rallied against the invasion as the large Americo-British landing forces was decimated over the following month by outbreaks of Yellow Fever amongst the marines, skirmishes against local defenders, as well as the constant delays of naval actions that would could see them retreat in good time. Finally, in late October 1799, British frigates fought their away through the Franco-Spanish naval line and rescue the remaining 1,400 soldiers who had successfully held the city of Cap-Haitien for over a month, the evacuation seeing yet another naval battle as more died in the retreat. In the end, this brutally humiliating and costly defeat saw the French and Spanish begin a general rally against their enemies on the continental Americas that would put an end to the stream of defeats both nations had been facing up until that point, whilst in the United States itself, Republican opposition to the war would begin to grow louder and louder in response to 'Washington's Blunder'; these cries to end the war (or withdraw states from the Union in some cases) being met with claims of treason amongst those in the President's circle. Soon, many felt, they would have to put an end to such seditious activity, violently if need be, if they were to win this war at all.

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Does George Washington, still die on December 14, 1799, aged 67, like in OTL. Or does the fact that he is still in the White House, prevent him from riding around on horseback in snow, hail and freezing rain, causing him to get ill?
 
The reaction that emanated from the news of the defeat in Hispaniola can only be one described as an 'immediate backlash to expeditious defeat'; across the country, even before newspapers and pamphlets began running to their printing presses, sizeable protests had sprung up in opposition to the war. Where there once was great optimism, the blunder at Acul Bay seemingly turned that situation around for the proximate future as dozens of high ranking Republicans, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison above all else, led their followers in and outside of the political realm in objection to a war that was slowly growing ever more unpopular. Coupled with the rise of small albeit vocal anti-taxation riots (many of which had already been held sporadically over the previous year), these protesters (many of which would come to call themselves the 'Sons of the Revolution') and their actions would ultimately give rise to the greatest extension of federal power ever before seen in those United States.

With paranoia surrounding the French revolution still being exacerbated in Washington, D.C., the news of the losses in Hispaniola came not only as a crushing blow to the moral and minds of men like Alexander Hamilton (who had put his full support behind the effort to take the islands), but also President Washington himself, the pressures of his now ten years in the office wearing down on him like blistering sand against a bolder; the once wilful President beginning to see 'revolutionary radicals' in every Republican corner. This fact was not helped with Madison and Jefferson's leading positions as heads of the anti-war effort (the latter's quiet pro-French stance not supporting him in the eyes of Washington) to which the President began to view with mounting suspicion; his new-found fear of those who had once helped the Old General draw the union together now being inflamed by the Federalists members in Congress and on his cabinet (Vice President John Adams being particularly vocal in his grievances with Jefferson's 'anti-government posturing'). To these misgivings came the Sedition Acts.

Originally raised in the aftermath of the mounting protests that were beginning to spread throughout the nation's north and west (particularly in more rural regions of states such as Kentucky and Pennsylvania), the Sedition Acts were a series of bills passed in the Federalist-dominated Congress that aimed at censoring speech that was deemed 'detrimental' to the war effort and "stability of the Union". With punishments lined up for those members of society who 'attacked' (the wording of the bills were intended to be as broad as possible) members of government, the nation itself, it's principles, or it's people; this bill prescribed a series of measures that would see men or women locked away for as long as seven years, the oversight on the legislation being minimal as it was rushed through the House of Representatives and the Senate as fast as possible. From late-November to late-December of 1799, the Federalists in Congress almost unanimously passed the three 'Sedition Bills' after President Washington himself (viewing the mounting protests around him with readying caution) supported them as a measure against "dissidents and radicals who wish to rend apart our Union".

Such a course 'tyrannical' actions the Republicans could not stand for. With many avowing themselves earlier in the year to oppose the conflict, men like Thomas Jefferson realized the personal and political threat the Sedition Acts held over men such as him; other leaders the Republican Party now also under the threat of being locked away due to their general support of Republican France and its revolutionary ideals. Put in such a position of fear regarding a government that they once helped form, men like Jefferson and Madison now both recognized that their positions as de facto heads of the party were placing them in danger of being imprisoned as a result of the actions of their fellow party members (no matter how weak their actions were seen). To such an end, the Republicans had to act. To them, Washington was no longer the unifying 'republican' force that they once believed him to be; but with the vast loyalty of the people still assuring his place in the presidency (although many had still rallied against him), a number of Republican statesmen began to wonder what extent he would go to to 'preserve' the union above the states. "To what end" they thought, "could this man be a next George III?"

Throughout the December of 1799, anti-tax and anti-war protests across the northern and western regions of the union began to mount up into greater and greater displays of violence and ferocity that hadn't been seen since the anti-whiskey protests five years earlier. Increased excises on land and liquor saw men like John Fries lead dozens of exasperated auctioneers and brokers into large settlements and cities to rally against the government's actions, and by December 20 they were soon met with the support of thousands more yeomen farmers. Waving the flags of liberty, union and revolution, these protesters were supported in bulk by the federal and state-level Republican politicians, many of whom refused to act against those who they believed to be simply exercising their First Amendment rights. The Federalists in the national government weren't to sympathetic to their cause.

Being granted permission by President Washington late in the year to meet these 'dissidents and revolutionaries' with the might of the United States army (a power granted within the Sedition Acts; although most legislation had not yet come into force), the military began a nation-wide crackdown on these so-called 'agitators' with brutal and pitiless might. In the western regions of the Union (such as Kentucky), the protests had been put down in rapid time with little bloodshed, a number of leaders within the anti-excise movement being either jailed or heavily fined under the auspices of 'keeping the peace' (an argument many citizens had come to believe under Washington, particularly after the onset of news censorship). In Pennsylvania however, with John Fries 'army' growing by the day, it was far, far more difficult to successfully divide and conquer the protesters, their wave of insurrection spreading throughout the 'German regions' of the states' rural west after thousands upon thousands of these 'Sons of the Revolution' rallied to cries such as "death to taxes", subverting all federal attempts to reign them in. This would soon change.

With the Franco-Spanish counter-attacks in Florida and Louisiana grinding to a halt (the Americans successfully able to push back into the latter colony in early-January, news of an André Masséna-led coup in France seeing the nation's military begin to falter in the Americas), President Washington, feeling invigorated by the news of recent victories set about to deal with the issue of the "revolutionaries within our gates". Requesting a militia force of 15,000 soldiers be provided from the states of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania (a request similar to the one he made at the height of the Whiskey Rebellion, although with greater resistance from the now Republican-dominated Virginia), Washington set out westward on January 27, 1800 in order to put down Fries' protesters; all of who were beginning to grow more and more exacerbated and violent with the mounting 'emergency levies' being placed against them earlier in the year.

With the the mounting number of threats against U.S. marshals and tax collectors being made by the 'Sons of the Revolution', Washington was forced to act more swiftly than he had done so in 1794 in order to avoid the vast attacks those types of men faced when they came up against the anti-excise 'mob'. Reaching the hotbed of the protests (Pittsburgh) in early-February, the President was met by both jeers and cheers from the amassed croup whereas years earlier there would be only acclaim. Despite initially pressing to use immediate force down on the protesters as what had been done with the smaller movements in Kentucky, the sixty-eight year old Washington was reluctantly persuaded to send a series of men to parley with John Fries and the other leaders of the 'Sons of the Revolution'; negotiations that broke down as quickly as they started, primarily due to the unyielding positions of both camps. Four two days this farce continued as protests began to mount against the army garrisoned within the city itself, Washington being a feature among the taunts of the crowd (despite such reticule being deemed technically illegal under the Sedition Acts), and despite some forward movement in the discussion between protesters and federal troops, negotiations would soon be cut short.

In the early morning of February 6, 1800, a band of around 170 of the more radical protesters gathered around a militia encampment on the outside of Pittsburgh, their plan including (amongst other schemes) to kidnap a tax collector (many had been granted the right to sleep within encampments for their protection) and utilize him as a hostage until the federal government "bent to the will of the people". The attack succeeded in part; the 'protesters' successful in their break in to the encampment, but a failure in their capture of any government officials, twelve men being captured and seven killed as two militiamen died at their hands. Subsequently, tensions between the 'Sons of the Revolution' and the federal troops exploded, thousands of protesters marching in support of their fallen comrades after hearsay and rumour surrounding the attacks scattered itself across the town; protests eventually turning to riots after Washington finally gave the order to violently put down these 'revolutionaries'.

In years previous, Washington was believed to be reluctant in ordering soldiers under his command to fire on protesters, including those few who remained a part of anti-whiskey tax demonstrations. However, the mounting effects of his third term on his mental state, coupled with the federal paranoia surrounding the 'seditious agitators' (now believing them to simply be another branch of the French Revolutionary Army), ultimately led the President to order his troops to storm Pittsburgh and end the rioting "by all means necessary". Fire fights between protesters and militiamen erupted across the city and in the countryside as hundreds of citizens rallied to one side or the other (most however fleeing for safety); the flames of battle literally seeing to one-tenth of city going up in a blaze as the elderly Washington led his men from horseback.

To this day there a number of stories both fact and rumour that has been reported about the Battle of Pittsburgh (one of the most famous being that the President himself leapt from his steed to fight amongst his men), however only the outcome is the most certain of them all; by the end of the day, the protesters were severely battered and broken by the far more well-armed and well-led federal militia, John Fries and the other leaders of the protests-turned-riots being captured en masse as most of the citizenry turned to helping calm the flames of conflict. President Washington was untouched in the battle (although some veterans of 1800 say he looked 'distant and fearful' in the aftermath), however 84 of his men had died whilst dealing a vicious blow against the 'Sons of the Revolution'; around 425 of their 'protesters' dying amidst the smoke and ruins of Pittsburgh. In the end, a further 32 men would be hung for their treason, with over three-hundred more being sent to serve a series of prison sentences. For the time it seemed, the federal government was firmly in command of the Union.

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As it was to the Hispaniola campaign, the reaction to the ‘Battle of Pittsburgh’ was stark and polarizing, and would be one of the primary factors that led up to the latter disasters that would ultimately strike the recently-formed republic. On one hand, the leading Federalists within Congress lauded the President’s swift actions against the so-called ‘saboteurs and seditionists’ that had, in their minds, threatened the cohesive structure that was the United States; the belief that the protesters were a cabal of French conspirators also being floated by men such as Alexander Hamilton. The Republicans on the hand were livid. Beyond livid even; they were wrathful, irate and enraged by the actions of the President they once saw as a unifying figure; a figure that had now fired upon what they saw as legitimate protesters ‘exercising their rights as established in the Constitution’. Thomas Jefferson, above all other men in the Union, cut off all contact with man he had supported so many years previous after hearing of the bloody news from Pittsburgh; so disgusted by the act that he is said to have cursed the President to death then and there. It would be a prescient declaration.

To the other Republican leaders, Washington was now being viewed in only a singular, spiteful light. He was no longer simply an old man whose legitimate government had been ‘hijacked’ by pernicious councillors such as Hamilton and Vice President Adams, nor was he the more disliked General that saw the young American nation ‘blunder’ into a conflict with their former ally. No; the only thing the Republicans saw now when they stared at a portrait of their elected leader was a vicious, bloodthirsty monster. A tyrant. A dictator. A man who so fragrantly ordered his soldiers to fire upon ‘innocent’ protesters whose actions were spurned by ‘Washington’s Folly’ (as the Atlantic War had come to be christened) and the Sedition Acts. They would no longer stand for such a man to hold an office esteemed for those far greater. In their minds, it was time for change; to force the tyrannical Federalists out of office and put an end what they saw as the American reign of terror – to return power to the states, to the people, or die trying.

For the remainder of the nation, peace soon returned (well, as peaceable as it could have been amidst the continuing Atlantic War). The news of the crushing victory at Pittsburgh and the stories that were written in the fires of the city ostensibly put an end to the civil unrest that had gripped the Union since the debacle that took place on Hispaniola, though the peace Washington had built in fire was nevertheless an uncertain one. Many politically charged citizens remained exasperated by the Sedition Acts that they believed were slowly stripping their recently-granted rights, and in their now silent protests they continued to curse the government that was levying greater and greater taxes against them to fuel the ongoing war effort.

The American war effort itself had, by now, withdrawn itself from the preclusions of the Franco-Spanish counter attacks and the Union armies (under the overarching command of Alexander Hamilton) were now once again on the move in both Louisiana and Florida, the United States navy successfully seeing off more and more French naval attacks against their merchant ships in the Atlantic with the support of the British (though the reignited conflict in Europe had limited the number of vessels that could be sent to the Americas). Overall, the Union’s struggle against ‘French radicalism’ was going as smoothly as those in both the British and American governments would have wished for; an end of the conflict in the Americas now believed to be on a horizon after the French (now firmly under the hand of the dominating Consulate, led by Emmanuel Sieyès) began to lose a string of battles on continental Europe. The end, then, seemed so clear.

After President Washington returned to his provisional seat in Philadelphia to less-than thunderous applause (the one being constructed in the so-called District of Columbia was delayed due to the war effort), his health began to take a major downwards slide. He was getting older every day and the pressures of governance were still bearing an even greater load down upon him despite successfully defeating the ‘seditious’ protesters in Pennsylvania and the news of American military victories from Spanish-controlled colonies. As a result, Washington, soon after the greatest protests had subsided, decided to leave a fair hand in governance to his closest advisors in the cabinet (Vice President John Adams being chief amongst them) whilst he resolved to spend a number of weeks resting a wearied body and mind away from the strains of the presidency. To many, the first President was now but a figurehead of the Federalist movement, and in some ways, it may have been true; for in the spring of 1800 the efforts to weed out ‘rebels and saboteurs’ in American society became stronger and more ideologically driven by the members of the President’s cabinet.

The restraint Washington had tenuously applied to the provisions in the Sedition Acts that allowed for the arrest of ‘provocateurs’ was growing weaker and weaker in the months following the Battle of Pittsburgh, and ever-so slowly a greater number of ‘seditious’ citizens were being seized during the night and carted away for even the most minor offences that the Acts could apply to. The greatest number of those caught during this time were lowly supporters of the Republican Party that were more outward in their criticisms of the federal government (one dissenter being charged under the Acts after having printed a political tract that derided the President as the ‘Mad King George IV). More prominent members of the opposition party (such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) were mostly spared from incarceration primarily due the outrage that would emanate after imprisoning them for simple dissent. Simply, the Federalists did not want to create martyrs.

Suffice to say, it did not stop the Republicans from challenging the leading members of government on their policies and actions. In one particularly famous case, the Delaware Representative Caesar Rodney (elected in 1798) stood up before Congress and expressed his disdain for the Sedition Acts as “tools for callously rending apart the rights and freedoms set down in our Constitution”; particularly those of the freedom to speech, assembly, and press. The Federalists often countered by claiming that such rights were only free so far as to not be a front to the safety of American citizens (though they didn’t specify the exact safeties at threat from rights set out in the Constitution), and that the powers not set out in the Constitution were implied as to allow the federal government to enact laws such as those in the Sedition Acts (a common criticism by the Republicans was that the Constitution did not allow for laws to be passed by Congress if not explicitly set out in the aforementioned document). And, ultimately, it was in this environment in which the ‘Compact Resolutions’ were published and passed.

It was early-June 1800, and the war that began a year earlier was struggling along as ever; United States forces were busy besieging the garrison at New Orleans (which had fallen back under Franco-Spanish control earlier in the year) whilst generals in Florida were busy attempting to uproot Native Americans that had rose up in opposition to the American encroachment on their territory. President Washington was slowly growing stronger after the events in Pittsburgh had rendered him stalwartly unable to fulfil out his position, and although his health remained on shaky ground, members of the Federalists in both the cabinet and Congress were beginning to pressure him to completely press for yet another term in office (for whilst the events of his third term had damaged his popularity, he nevertheless remained relatively popular amongst the masses). This was an act that wreaked havoc on the old President’s mind, and although he had privately wished to retire earlier in his career he had by now become so embittered by the Republicans and ‘influenced’ (for the lack of a better word) by the Federalists that he was persuaded to run for a fourth term; and, on the day that he announced publicly that he was to yet again pursue his own office, the legislature of Virginia passed the first of the ‘Compact Resolutions’.

The passage of that resolution ultimately brought about the greatest spike of vitriol and poison from the Federalists than any singular piece of legislation beforehand. Originally drafted in secret by several individuals in late-1799 in opposition to the passage of the Sedition Acts (Thomas Jefferson and James Madison being among the highest profile authors), it wouldn’t be until the events of Pittsburgh and the President’s temporary resolve to rest his wearied body in which they were finally brought into the public light. Ostensibly a tract that propagated against the overreach of the federal government, this document derided the recent actions of the Federalist Party and the President as ‘unconstitutional’ due to the aforementioned belief that any law passed by the federal government must be provided for in the Constitution; and in lieu of this Constitutionality, a state may by right nullify the law – an opinion that drew the greatest ire from the leading members of the government. For the Republicans on the other hand, it provided a rallying cry against the ailing President in Philadelphia; and it would be Virginia, Washington’s home state, that would pass the resolution, Governor James Monroe – a former ally and associate to the President – wholeheartedly supporting the resolve.

And it would be this one act of ‘rebellion’ against the official policy of the federal government that would lead to a fury in the capital in mid-1800. Heavily derided as both unconstitutional and illegal (as defined by the Sedition Acts) by the Federalist Party, it provoked George Washington to even greater health despite the ‘horrifying’ implications the resolution was setting. In the President’s mind (especially after exacting events of the last four years) any attempt by a state to nullify a federal law was above-and-beyond a grasping move for power; it was also an act of treason that would have to be punished in the most severe fashion. This became overtly clear to the Chief Executive and his cabinet after news of the resolution’s passage in Kentucky and South Carolina rocked the capital further. There was a war on, and any attempt to circumvent the directives of the elected Congress would need to be met with great forcefulness.

To this end, Washington issued an executive order for the military (largely composed of the state militias that fought under him in Pennsylvania) to be rallied and marched south as a ‘show of strength’ that would force the Virginia, Kentucky and South Carolina legislatures to rescind the recent passages of the Compact Resolutions. Whilst this was questioned – even by members of the overtly supportive Federalists – the President’s actions are in modern days viewed as necessary, especially in light of what would occur over the following years; with Washington (and his domineering cabinet led by Vice President Adams and Alexander Hamilton, the latter of which was largely responsible in persuading the President to levy forces against the wayward states) under the belief that due to the ongoing war, any attempts to meet ‘seditious, unconstitutional and illegal actions’ could (and would) only be met with military strength. There was no time for talk whilst ‘French-led conspirators’ (as a number of Federalists had phrased it) sought to undermine the unity of the United States – a fact that many Republican dissenters would find out shortly after the passage of the resolution in Virginia.

By early-July, the ensemble militia was now prepared to set down south to force an end to the spreading winds of sedition, by force if need be, with the President unwavering in his convictions (despite the growing protests by the common people and members of Congress – both of which believed the act could cause a crisis or even war). On July 13th, 1800, at the eleventh hour before the military was set to reign in Virginia, Kentucky and South Carolina (as well as any other state legislature that sought to pass the resolutions during the intervening days), the President convened one last time with select members of his cabinet at his personal residence on Market Street, Philadelphia. Having noted as being far more vigorous in his words and actions on that day than the months previous, those that met with Washington nevertheless noted he had a certain light in his eyes that reflected a now personal distain for the Republicans quite clearly. Shortly after the men finished their final proceeding before the President’s departure as head of this military (despite some final words of caution and questioning by members of the cabinet after the events that transpired in Pittsburgh), Washington met with Alexander Hamilton and Timothy Pickering and left through the front of the private mansion; and in a single moment, history would change forever.

A tall figure, clad in distinct, fine clothing stepped out in front of the immensely powerful three men and fired a single shot from his pistol. Gun smoke and screams filled the air as Pickering tackled the assailant to the ground, Washington and Hamilton falling to meet him. Shortly after as men rushed to the bloody scene, they noticed only two of the three men that fell to the ground was moving; Hamilton and the attacker. When they attempted to rouse the President, they noticed he wouldn't move, speak, or react.

Shortly thereafter, his heart would give way to the wound in his chest, and the world would never be the same again.

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For anyone who was reading this, I apologize that the time between updates is usually so long; but since I've got a small amount of of my free time back, I've decided to resurrect this timeline (sort of). Well, what I really want is just a general discussion of how events could proceed from here (the assassination of Washington); and after that, I feel that I'll just post the wikiboxes themselves alongside a series of short descriptions that detail just what has been happening in the United States and around the world. It'll be something like this;

General Napoleon; young, dashing, skilled in the art of war like few had been before. He was among the youngest leaders of the French Revolutionary Army during the early stages of the Revolutionary Wars (of Europe), and commanded a great deal of respect from both his friends and rivals. Managing to successfully invade and conquer much of Italy during the late-1790's, Napoleon soon set his eyes to the Mediterranean, taking the island of Malta before turning sights to Egypt. Whilst most today question why the young Napoleon's invaded the Middle East in the first place (many believing that he wanted to create a land route to India that would support efforts to disturb British East Indian rule in the region), the final result of the catastrophic venture was ultimately felt.

Taking much of the Lower Nile by 1799, Napoleon (now nicknamed 'the Commander of the Desert'), now stranded in Egypt following the decisive British victory at the Battle of the Nile, shifted his army to face the military might of the Ottoman Empire; marching through the Sinai to the Levant as a means to destabilise the great Middle Eastern state and hamper their efforts to reinforce the failing Mamluk regime in Egypt. However, this was a costly mistake. After being lured in to the port city of Gaza, Ottoman troops outnumbering the French General's 7-to-1 pounced; the Battle of Gaza resulting in a costly and humiliating defeat for the so-called 'Commander of the Desert'.

Able to retreat to Egypt in less-and-pristine order; Napoleon and his remaining forces ultimately found themselves back in Cairo where the bulk of the French forces would be found. Undeterred from his earlier loss, and with nowhere to flee in lieu of naval transports, Napoleon garrisoned all his soldiers in the great Egyptian city; waiting for the Ottoman's to come. For the French General, however, they never did. On July 2, 1799, Napoleon was stabbed and killed by a group of masked men during a routine survey of Cairo; his men later surrendering to the Turko-Egyptian forces that arrived later in the week. It was the end of Revolutionary France's foray into the Middle East, as well as another crushing blow to the Directory back in Paris that would ultimately be overthrown later in the year.

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I'm loving this timeline and I can't wait to see what Washington's presidency does to state's rights in the US.
 
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