The Revenge of the Crown : An Alternate 1812 and Beyond.

Who should become the first president of new england?

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Lusitania

Lusitania

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The question is that we are trying to use our iOTL interpretation of the USA as an ideal. That New England separated still means there is a USA just looks differently. Even a Southern dominated USA with the loss of northern states is still a USA. it is just defined differently. We can see the USA exists but just not the USA we recognize.
 

Ficboy

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Lusitania said:
The question is that we are trying to use our iOTL interpretation of the USA as an ideal. That New England separated still means there is a USA just looks differently. Even a Southern dominated USA with the loss of northern states is still a USA. it is just defined differently. We can see the USA exists but just not the USA we recognize.
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The fact of the matter is the United States in The Revenge of the Crown is surrounded by hostile powers such as Canada/United Kingdom, New England and Mishigama. It will take decades for them to not only get revenge and annex the latter two but survive any and all balkanization especially the increasing influence of Southern slaveholders from John C. Calhoun's National Party by which at this point the nation won't be the one we recognize in the rest of the 19th century. There will be industry and immigration but slightly less so given the loss of chunks of territory.
 
Chapter 11: The 1816 Elections and the Rise of Gerrymandering
  • Index
    • Sarthak

    Sarthak

    Chapter 11: The 1816 Elections and the Rise of Gerrymandering

    ***

    “The 1816 US Presidential Elections were the eighth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from November 1 to December 4, 1816. In the first election following the disastrous War of 1812, the new political parties of the Whigs, Democrats and the American Nationalists campaigned against each other.

    As President Madison had been utterly humiliated by the War of 1812, he hadn’t taken up the presidency after returning from his house arrest in England, instead letting President Gaillard take care of the affairs. Gaillard had tried to do his best, however his character, which was described as ‘democratic but as stiff as cardboard’ made his legislations all the harder to commit to. The blame game that was being thrown out in America in the aftermath of the War of 1812 also made his attempts at rapprochement between the political divides almost impossible to become successful. The fact that states had seceded had also reared tensions, however that matter was kicked down the road as no politician was willing to talk about that in the political arena during these tiresome times in the American nation.

    The Whigs were firmly behind their leader Henry Clay. However Clay also faced stiff opposition from the northern states, who were by this point fed up of having southern presidents. The remaining rump New York State backed their governor Daniel Tompkins. However Tompkins had been disgraced by the war of 1812 as well, and only New Yorkers held him in high regard. They believed that their governor had saved them from needless fighting after the fall of Albany and had saved countless lives, which he had, and his policies had saved the economical structure of New York, however these weren’t appreciated out of New York. To the rest of America, he was a coward who bowed before the British. Clay, being from the South, was more or less was also a target from the northern states and they weren’t really enthused about voting for him. Clay chose Nathan Sanford as his running mate for the elections.

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    Nathan Sanford.     ​

    The Democrats under Monroe were also backing their leader. Monroe knew that his party was probably the weakest of the big three that were fighting in the elections. He campaigned heavily, and decided to appoint James Barbour, the famous and popular governor of Virginia for his running mate. Nonetheless, both candidates having been from Virginia, he also faced a good amount of opposition from the north.

    In the American National Party, initially many people were conflicted on whom to choose as their nominations, and in the end a ballot vote was held. The Presidential Candidates were John C. Calhoun, and William H. Crawford. The Vice Presidential Candidates were Andrew Jackson and Charles Tait.

    The ballot elections ended in favor of Calhoun and Jackson. Calhoun received around 65 of the ballot votes against Crawford’s 54 ballot votes for the presidential position. For the Vice Presidential balloting, Andrew Jackson won 80 of the ballots, and Charles Tait won 30 of the ballot votes.

    The campaign from all three sides were bitter and very much bitter. All three parties blamed each other for their loss in the War of 1812, and all three sides tried to project themselves as the better candidates to regain American honor.

    Monroe campaigned on the premise of a new national bank and creation of proper protective tariffs to allow the growth of native industries in the United States of America. This premise was favored by Federalist sympathizers, however those were very few by the point of the elections, and Monroe struggled. He was credited with saving the government during the chaos that had followed the Burning of Washington, however he was still unpopular anywhere south of Virginia, and the initial votes swung around between the multiple candidates of Virginia.

    Clay and Sanford also worked hard during their campaign for the 1816 elections. Clay and Sanford led their campaigned on a premise of a mixture of mercantilist policies and free trade policies trying to gain votes from both the north and south. They promised mild protective tariffs and also promised agricultural and plantation incentives in the south, where they did manage to gain some amount of rapport and followers. However Clay’s abysmal handling of the Treaty of Ghent still haunted him, as many looked at him suspiciously for it. Clay also antagonized Andrew Jackson at one point of time stating:

    ‘Killing multiple New Orleanists doesn’t give that man the right to suddenly take over administration.’

    Calhoun and Jackson ran on a platform that favored the south. They favored an agrarian society, and making America ‘self-sufficient’ economically, and remaining detached from European affairs whilst becoming the leading power in North America and South America and keeping the bare minimum of tariffs.. Calhoun also directly participated in the use of political cartoons, and publishing through his participation in the publishing of the newspaper, The Patriot as a member of the Editorial staff. This was a sure way to promote his own political agendas and campaign. Jackson also riled up the veterans who had once been under his command and stated that the army had been humiliated in the War of 1812, and he would revive their ‘lost honor’. In the south Calhoun and Jackson also rode on a platform of keeping the three-fifths compromise and keeping the Plantation system flourishing.

    The 1816 Elections were a total dismal affair, as all sides couldn’t seem to find a common ground, and the political scene in America quickly started to mirror the polarization of federalists and the democratic-republicans of before. There was also a dispute regarding the electoral votes delegated to the state of New York. Some stated that the former number of 29 should be kept, and or it should be reduced to 19, 25, 23 or something along those lines. With the aid of the Congress and the Senate however, President Gaillard laid rule that the Electoral vote of the state of New York would be 19, based on the population that was lost to New England and the British North American holdings. The total electoral vote was also reduced to 147 with 74 needed for majority due to the fact a huge number of electoral votes were lost when New England declared independence.

    Nonetheless the election results came in by early December. The results were pretty embarrassing for Monroe. He hadn’t been able to hold onto his state of Virginia as well.

    With a turnout of 19%, of 132,300 people for the elections, such low turnouts were pretty common during this era, Calhoun won 60,872 popular votes or 46% of the total electorate and won 62 electoral votes which he had carried from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and Virginia. Clay and Sanford won 44,992 popular votes or around 34% of the total votes carrying the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and New York for a total of 49 electoral votes. Monroe won 26,466 of the total votes, or around a fifth of the total percentage, and carried the states of Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey for a total electoral vote of 36.

    1601608288190.png

    an example of Gerrymandering.     ​

    The election saw massive amounts of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is a practice intended to establish an unfair political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries, which is most commonly used in first past the post electoral systems. The term is named after Elbridge Gerry, who as Governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed a bill that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological salamander. All sides in the 1816 elections took part in Gerrymandering, and new constituent districts or partisan districts cropped up multiple times throughout the entire election. It is hard to understand how much gerrymandering influenced the elections, however nonetheless, what we do know is that it influenced the result quite a bit.

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    Henry Clay, the next president.     ​

    However Calhoun had only won a plurality of the electoral college and hadn’t won 74 electoral college votes. Therefore a contingent elections were called between the states on December 15th, 1816. The United States currently had 13 states, and the one which won the most states would become president of the United States. Having been utterly defeated in the elections, Monroe dropped out of the running and instead the Contingent vote was divided between Calhoun and Clay. Monroe instead supported Clay, stating that his American System Economics would be the best for the United States of America, and stated that he endorsed Clay for the presidency. The states of Philadelphia, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and New York voted for Clay and the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia voted for Calhoun. Clay and Sanford thus won the presidency. Calhoun protested massively, stating that by the bylaws of democracy he had won the elections, however the constitution was clear, and Clay would now become the next President of the US, along with Sanford becoming the next Vice President.” A Political History of North America, University of Montreal, 1998.

    “The New English Commonwealth was also in slight political crisis during the year of 1816. Following a Parliamentary Republican system meant that the Commonwealth needed a ceremonial head of state. Many advocated for a ‘personal union’ with Great Britain in the same manner that Hannover was in a personal union with Great Britain, that is to say, foreign policy and monarch managed by Britain, whilst all internal affairs and economy managed by the state. Of course, whilst this did have many a supporters, it wasn’t in the majority, as much of the population wasn’t about to loose their republican system. Therefore, a purely ceremonial head of state, a president, was required. A Presidential ballot was held in the New English Parliament, where the 120 member parliament voted on who would become their ceremonial head of state.

    1601608384914.png
    1601608418082.png

    (1)Timothy Pickering (2) Israel Thorndike.     ​

    The two candidates for the position were Timothy Pickering and Israel Thorndike, both of whom had been extremely involved in the process that had given New England independence. The end ballot results were 67 in favor of Timothy Pickering and 53 in favor of Israel Thorndike. The parliamentary session also put in every general election term to be of 5 years, and delegated the year of 1821 to be the next parliamentary/general election for the state.

    In mid-1816, the State of Saranac, or what was once Upper New York was brought into the Commonwealth of New England as well. By this point, Maine Territory which was under Massachusetts was agitating for itself to become a new state within the Commonwealth as well. The Maine Question had come up a lot even during when New England had been a part of the United States, and the rest of the states were becoming restless with the political instability it brought, and in a parliamentary session, it was decided that Maine would become a new state in 1817. This was heavily criticized by many in Massachusetts, however the state found itself incredibly un-backed in this crisis.

    Nonetheless, despite these parliamentary and political shenanigans which were being conducted in New England, the country’s economy flourished. The construction of the merchant marine by Cabot aided the economy, and European trade into North America flowed directly into New England, with it’s capital Boston quickly becoming a massive state of trade and commerce. Cabot also sought to bring in immigration. However in this regards, the Anglo-saxon friendly and nativism nature of New England reared its head. The immigration that New England would soon start to encourage would be from Britain and from Northern Germany and the Scandinavian countries, and overly catholic nations from Southern Europe were often shunned and not welcomed. Nonetheless, New England would become home to massive amounts of immigration throughout the 19th century with their prosperous economy.

    Whilst New England did support immigration, it was also subject to emigration. Many unionist supporters, especially from Saranac fled across the border into the rump New York State. The former President of the United States, John Adams sold his estate and whilst he was very sad to leave his home state he was a firm believer in the Union, and he and his family left New England and settled down in Maryland, including his son John Quincy Adams. Quincy Adams had hoped to create a proper political legacy and career for himself, however he found himself attacked verbally by many Americans for not being able to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent ‘properly’, and as such his political career was in ruins.

    In Early 1817, the New English government passed the ‘Free Trade Act’ which was aimed at converting New England from a mercantilist country and economy into a free trading one by the end of the 1820s. The government wished to use the massive trading potential of New England to their advantage, and this move is mostly seen as a good move. However this also precipitated a small crisis, on what the currency of New England should be. By the end of it, and by mid-1817 however, the government of New England starting converting US Dollars which they had been using to the New English Pound which was pegged to the British pound, partially as a way to foster better relations as well.” A Political and Economic History of New England, Osprey Publishing, New England.

    “Mishigama was a probably a very successful country when we look at it. At first many believed that it would fall the moment Tecumseh died, for many believed that he was the only one holding it all together, and whilst this is partially true, at the time, many in the British government believed that they would have to annex the Crown Protectorate outright to make it stable after Tecumseh died.

    They found themselves wrong in the manner. In 1816 the British government appointed George Murray to become the Governor-General of Mishigama, and by the end of the year Tecumseh had died. He had been a warrior for life, and had precious little time to stop, and in the long run, he had not been a healthy man. A heart disease ate at him, and by the end of the year, Tecumseh, the first High Chief passed away. Murray had immediately sent his troops into alert in case of a crisis in Mishigama. However whilst many mourned the loss of their great leader, the passing of leadership was peaceful. John Norton became the High Chief and the Blackhawk became the Vice Chief on the popular vote of the Council of Tribes, in which he received 16-12 votes against the former brother of Tecumseh. Tecumseh’s brother, Tenskwatawa accepted his defeat in the vote handily, even though he didn’t particularly like it. In his autobiography, the Life of the Prophet, he writes,

    I did not like the results of the vote, and I was angry, however contesting it would mean that the cause for which my brother had given his entire life would have been lost in minutes. I could not get the energy to contest the votes the moment I realized that fact.

    It was a pleasant surprise and Mishigama went on. Norton, whilst he detested being a politician, now found himself as one. As an Iroquois, his ascension to power assuaged the fear in many of the Iroquois that the Shawnee and Lenapi would become the ‘Virginia Dynasty’ of Mishigama wasn’t going to happen. Under Norton, the government officially started to reach out to the American government for the immigration of Native Americans in American lands into Mishigama. The American people who looked at the Native Americans as British sympathizers at best and traitors and barbarians at worst after the war quickly snapped the offer up under Gaillard, who signed a treaty of immigration services in July 1816 with Mishigama. This treaty of immigration gave the Fox, Choctaw, Chikasaw and Creek tribes full mobility to immigrate into Mishigama, where the Lands would be distributed accordingly.

    Norton, as a military leader also knew that to stave off any revanchist president of the United States would have to keep a standing army. With a population that was somewhere between 70,000 to 100,000 having a large army was pretty hard. And what was worse was that many inter-tribal conflicts made it hard for warriors of different tribes to be kept in a single regiment. Therefore in February 1817, Norton managed to pass the ‘Mishigaman Military Acts of 1817’. These acts were comprehensive, and very well thought out on part of Norton. The subjects that were included in the Mishigaman Military Acts of 1817 were:-

    • The Mishigaman Military to consist of 7500 standing regulars for the current population of 82,000. Future military standing numbers would be based on this proportion.
    • The 7500 men would be divided into 5 regiments each of 1500 strength. 4 of these regiments would be based on the tribes of the men, with related tribes such as the Iroquois, Mohawks, Creeks etc being lumped into one regiment. The last and fifth regiment would be a regiment consisting of all warriors from all tribes.
    • All troops to become a heavily professional troop with a minimum of 1 month training time every year, with the basic doctrine of the military being quality over quantity.
    • The creation of a proper ordnance and modern military equipment centers, with aid from Britain and the Crown.
    These acts would stave off any incursion, and the Mishigaman Military would quickly become one of the most professional forces of their time. The old ‘barbarity’ of native American warfare would quickly be delegated to the history books.

    1601608572446.png

    The fur trade was extremely lucrative.     ​

    The economy of Mishigama was also driven by Norton’s fishing schemes and fur trade schemes, and for a country with such a low population, such was enough for the time. However soon enough, industrialization from the colonial overlord of Great Britain would soon filter into Mishigama as well even though it would never entertain the Mishigaman people as it did with the Canadians and New English.” A Brief History into Early Mishigama, University of Shikaawa, Shikaawa Publications, 1998.

    “From 1810 to late 1815, Agustin de Iturbide had been a royalist and pro-Spaniard fighter in the ongoing Mexican War of Independence. He had solidly aligned with the Criollos. However events in Spain and America caused problems, as the monarchy for which that class was fighting was in serious trouble, as even the mainland Spanish rose up in unrest over Ferdinand VII’s reneged promises and the renege of the Constitution. The growing support of the American National Party in the United States also made a lot men wary stating the need for the Mexicans to get their independence fast because the threat of America was very clear.

    1601608638857.png

    Agustin de Iturbide    ​

    Iturbide was convinced that only independence for Mexico was the way to protect the country from a republican and American tide. He decided to become the leader of the Criollo Independence Movement in September 1815. However, to succeed, he would need to put together a very unlikely coalition of Mexican Liberal insurgents, landed nobility, and the Church. Therefore, the penned the Plan of Iguala, which held itself up on three guarantees; independence from Spain, Religion, and Union. In the plan, a monarchy was ensured, thus assuring the support of the insurgents, clergy, Spaniards and even the royalists due to the last clause. After several attempts of negotiations, Guerroro and Iturbide agreed to implement the plan of iguala.

    1601608671169.png

    Guerroro and Iturbide     ​

    With the support of all sectors of Mexican society, Iturbide and Guerroro continued their war against Spain with renewed vigor. The War of 1812 had left aplenty weapons left around in America, and individual merchants sold the weapons to the Mexicans pretty fast and with the aid of the insurgents and the Royalists, the Spanish Armies were smashed outside of Mexico City in the Battle of Toluca which saw Iturbide’s 15,000 strong army destroy the Spaniard army under Juan Ruiz. The city of Mexico City fell and with it Spanish rule over Mexico came to an end after three and a half centuries.

    Nonetheless this absolute defeat in Mexico wasn’t acknowledged by Ferdinand VII or the Spanish government until 1818, when the Treaty of Havana was signed between the Kingdom of Spain and the Mexican independence movement. The utter humiliation that Spain had suffered in Mexico meant that Ferdinand had accepted the loss of Mexico, however he would not accept the loss of other lands. The Treaty of Havana included the following clauses:-

    • The recognition of the independence of the Mexican Empire by the Spanish kingdom.
    • The peaceful transport of Spanish citizens and military personnel from Mexico into Spain.
    • The Mexican government now formed under Iturbide to pay 3 million pounds to the Spanish government by 1825 as reparations of Spanish property lost and damaged in the war of independence.
    • Spain to allow a foreign catholic monarch to sit on the Mexican throne, however a Spaniard on the throne of Mexico would not be accepted.
    Instead by this point having seen the effectiveness of the wars of independence in the Americas literally bitten through his skull Ferdinand VII was in favor of retaining New Granada and Venezuela, and all of the Spanish royalist forces were instead sent to reinforce the area, with the extra troops from Mexico arriving, the defense of New Granada was ultimately successful.

    1601608725245.png

    The crossing of the Andes would be disastrous for the dream of an independent New Granada.     ​

    Bolivar had made his camp at the Orinoco region in Southern Venezuela where the Spanish who had nearly reconquered the entire area could not oust him properly. There he engaged in troop recruitment and whilst he did that Jose Maria Barreiro, the leader of the Spanish forces in New Granada did the same. With the reinforced troops from the rest of the Spanish colonies, and the loyalists in the area, Barreiro counted 7,000 troops under his command. With a huge amount of troops for the area, Barreiro was confident enough to attack Bolivar’s ragtag army of 2200 even though he was doubtful that Bolivar would emerge from the Andes Mountains. The Battle of Boyaca ended in utter defeat for Bolivar who was taken by surprise of Barreiro’s confidence, and in the ensuing chaos of the battle, Bolivar himself was killed. With that the rebellion and revolt in Nueva Granada died out, and New Granada would not gain independence until much later in the latter portion of the 19th century.” A Brief History of Latin America, Penguin Publishing, 1976.
     
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  • Index

    • Ficboy

    Banned
    Sārthākā said:
    Chapter 11: The 1816 Elections and the Rise of Gerrymandering

    ***

    “The 1816 US Presidential Elections were the eighth quadrennial presidential election. It was held from November 1 to December 4, 1816. In the first election following the disastrous War of 1812, the new political parties of the Whigs, Democrats and the American Nationalists campaigned against each other.

    As President Madison had been utterly humiliated by the War of 1812, he hadn’t taken up the presidency after returning from his house arrest in England, instead letting President Gaillard take care of the affairs. Gaillard had tried to do his best, however his character, which was described as ‘democratic but as stiff as cardboard’ made his legislations all the harder to commit to. The blame game that was being thrown out in America in the aftermath of the War of 1812 also made his attempts at rapprochement between the political divides almost impossible to become successful. The fact that states had seceded had also reared tensions, however that matter was kicked down the road as no politician was willing to talk about that in the political arena during these tiresome times in the American nation.

    The Whigs were firmly behind their leader Henry Clay. However Clay also faced stiff opposition from the northern states, who were by this point fed up of having southern presidents. The remaining rump New York State backed their governor Daniel Tompkins. However Tompkins had been disgraced by the war of 1812 as well, and only New Yorkers held him in high regard. They believed that their governor had saved them from needless fighting after the fall of Albany and had saved countless lives, which he had, and his policies had saved the economical structure of New York, however these weren’t appreciated out of New York. To the rest of America, he was a coward who bowed before the Americans. Clay, being from the South, was more or less was also a target from the northern states and they weren’t really enthused about voting for him. Clay chose Nathan Sanford as his running mate for the elections.

    View attachment 587637
    Nathan Sanford.     ​

    The Democrats under Monroe were also backing their leader. Monroe knew that his party was probably the weakest of the big three that were fighting in the elections. He campaigned heavily, and decided to appoint James Barbour, the famous and popular governor of Virginia for his running mate. Nonetheless, both candidates having been from Virginia, he also faced a good amount of opposition from the north.

    In the American National Party, initially many people were conflicted on whom to choose as their nominations, and in the end a ballot vote was held. The Presidential Candidates were John C. Calhoun, and William H. Crawford. The Vice Presidential Candidates were Andrew Jackson and Charles Tait.

    The ballot elections ended in favor of Calhoun and Jackson. Calhoun received around 65 of the ballot votes against Crawford’s 54 ballot votes for the presidential position. For the Vice Presidential balloting, Andrew Jackson won 80 of the ballots, and Charles Tait won 30 of the ballot votes.

    The campaign from all three sides were bitter and very much bitter. All three parties blamed each other for their loss in the War of 1812, and all three sides tried to project themselves as the better candidates to regain American honor.

    Monroe campaigned on the premise of a new national bank and creation of proper protective tariffs to allow the growth of native industries in the United States of America. This premise was favored by Federalist sympathizers, however those were very few by the point of the elections, and Monroe struggled. He was credited with saving the government during the chaos that had followed the Burning of Washington, however he was still unpopular anywhere south of Virginia, and the initial votes swung around between the multiple candidates of Virginia.

    Clay and Sanford also worked hard during their campaign for the 1816 elections. Clay and Sanford led their campaigned on a premise of a mixture of mercantilist policies and free trade policies trying to gain votes from both the north and south. They promised mild protective tariffs and also promised agricultural and plantation incentives in the south, where they did manage to gain some amount of rapport and followers. However Clay’s abysmal handling of the Treaty of Ghent still haunted him, as many looked at him suspiciously for it. Clay also antagonized Andrew Jackson at one point of time stating:

    ‘Killing multiple New Orleanists doesn’t give that man the right to suddenly take over administration.’

    Calhoun and Jackson ran on a platform that favored the south. They favored an agrarian society, and making America ‘self-sufficient’ economically, and remaining detached from European affairs whilst becoming the leading power in North America and South America and keeping the bare minimum of tariffs.. Calhoun also directly participated in the use of political cartoons, and publishing through his participation in the publishing of the newspaper, The Patriot as a member of the Editorial staff. This was a sure way to promote his own political agendas and campaign. Jackson also riled up the veterans who had once been under his command and stated that the army had been humiliated in the War of 1812, and he would revive their ‘lost honor’. In the south Calhoun and Jackson also rode on a platform of keeping the three-fifths compromise and keeping the Plantation system flourishing.

    The 1816 Elections were a total dismal affair, as all sides couldn’t seem to find a common ground, and the political scene in America quickly started to mirror the polarization of federalists and the democratic-republicans of before. There was also a dispute regarding the electoral votes delegated to the state of New York. Some stated that the former number of 29 should be kept, and or it should be reduced to 19, 25, 23 or something along those lines. With the aid of the Congress and the Senate however, President Gaillard laid rule that the Electoral vote of the state of New York would be 19, based on the population that was lost to New England and the British North American holdings. The total electoral vote was also reduced to 147 with 74 needed for majority due to the fact a huge number of electoral votes were lost when New England declared independence.

    Nonetheless the election results came in by early December. The results were pretty embarrassing for Monroe. He hadn’t been able to hold onto his state of Virginia as well.

    With a turnout of 19%, of 132,300 people for the elections, such low turnouts were pretty common during this era, Calhoun won 60,872 popular votes or 46% of the total electorate and won 62 electoral votes which he had carried from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, and Virginia. Clay and Sanford won 44,992 popular votes or around 34% of the total votes carrying the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and New York for a total of 49 electoral votes. Monroe won 26,466 of the total votes, or around a fifth of the total percentage, and carried the states of Philadelphia, Delaware and New Jersey for a total electoral vote of 36.

    View attachment 587639
    an example of Gerrymandering.     ​

    The election saw massive amounts of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is a practice intended to establish an unfair political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating district boundaries, which is most commonly used in first past the post electoral systems. The term is named after Elbridge Gerry, who as Governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed a bill that created a partisan district in the Boston area that was compared to the shape of a mythological salamander. All sides in the 1816 elections took part in Gerrymandering, and new constituent districts or partisan districts cropped up multiple times throughout the entire election. It is hard to understand how much gerrymandering influenced the elections, however nonetheless, what we do know is that it influenced the result quite a bit.

    View attachment 587640
    Henry Clay, the next president.     ​

    However Calhoun had only won a plurality of the electoral college and hadn’t won 74 electoral college votes. Therefore a contingent elections were called between the states on December 15th, 1816. The United States currently had 13 states, and the one which won the most states would become president of the United States. Having been utterly defeated in the elections, Monroe dropped out of the running and instead the Contingent vote was divided between Calhoun and Clay. Monroe instead supported Clay, stating that his American System Economics would be the best for the United States of America, and stated that he endorsed Clay for the presidency. The states of Philadelphia, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and New York voted for Clay and the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia voted for Calhoun. Clay and Sanford thus won the presidency. Calhoun protested massively, stating that by the bylaws of democracy he had won the elections, however the constitution was clear, and Clay would now become the next President of the US, along with Sanford becoming the next Vice President.” A Political History of North America, University of Montreal, 1998.

    “The New English Commonwealth was also in slight political crisis during the year of 1816. Following a Parliamentary Republican system meant that the Commonwealth needed a ceremonial head of state. Many advocated for a ‘personal union’ with Great Britain in the same manner that Hannover was in a personal union with Great Britain, that is to say, foreign policy and monarch managed by Britain, whilst all internal affairs and economy managed by the state. Of course, whilst this did have many a supporters, it wasn’t in the majority, as much of the population wasn’t about to loose their republican system. Therefore, a purely ceremonial head of state, a president, was required. A Presidential ballot was held in the New English Parliament, where the 120 member parliament voted on who would become their ceremonial head of state.

    View attachment 587642View attachment 587643
    (1)Timothy Pickering (2) Israel Thorndike.     ​

    The two candidates for the position were Timothy Pickering and Israel Thorndike, both of whom had been extremely involved in the process that had given New England independence. The end ballot results were 67 in favor of Timothy Pickering and 53 in favor of Israel Thorndike. The parliamentary session also put in every general election term to be of 5 years, and delegated the year of 1821 to be the next parliamentary/general election for the state.

    In mid-1816, the State of Saranac, or what was once Upper New York was brought into the Commonwealth of New England as well. By this point, Maine Territory which was under Massachusetts was agitating for itself to become a new state within the Commonwealth as well. The Maine Question had come up a lot even during when New England had been a part of the United States, and the rest of the states were becoming restless with the political instability it brought, and in a parliamentary session, it was decided that Maine would become a new state in 1817. This was heavily criticized by many in Massachusetts, however the state found itself incredibly un-backed in this crisis.

    Nonetheless, despite these parliamentary and political shenanigans which were being conducted in New England, the country’s economy flourished. The construction of the merchant marine by Cabot aided the economy, and European trade into North America flowed directly into New England, with it’s capital Boston quickly becoming a massive state of trade and commerce. Cabot also sought to bring in immigration. However in this regards, the Anglo-saxon friendly and nativism nature of New England reared its head. The immigration that New England would soon start to encourage would be from Britain and from Northern Germany and the Scandinavian countries, and overly catholic nations from Southern Europe were often shunned and not welcomed. Nonetheless, New England would become home to massive amounts of immigration throughout the 19th century with their prosperous economy.

    Whilst New England did support immigration, it was also subject to emigration. Many unionist supporters, especially from Saranac fled across the border into the rump New York State. The former President of the United States, John Adams sold his estate and whilst he was very sad to leave his home state he was a firm believer in the Union, and he and his family left New England and settled down in Maryland, including his son John Quincy Adams. Quincy Adams had hoped to create a proper political legacy and career for himself, however he found himself attacked verbally by many Americans for not being able to negotiate the Treaty of Ghent ‘properly’, and as such his political career was in ruins.

    In Early 1817, the New English government passed the ‘Free Trade Act’ which was aimed at converting New England from a mercantilist country and economy into a free trading one by the end of the 1820s. The government wished to use the massive trading potential of New England to their advantage, and this move is mostly seen as a good move. However this also precipitated a small crisis, on what the currency of New England should be. By the end of it, and by mid-1817 however, the government of New England starting converting US Dollars which they had been using to the New English Pound which was pegged to the British pound, partially as a way to foster better relations as well.” A Political and Economic History of New England, Osprey Publishing, New England.

    “Mishigama was a probably a very successful country when we look at it. At first many believed that it would fall the moment Tecumseh died, for many believed that he was the only one holding it all together, and whilst this is partially true, at the time, many in the British government believed that they would have to annex the Crown Protectorate outright to make it stable after Tecumseh died.

    They found themselves wrong in the manner. In 1816 the British government appointed George Murray to become the Governor-General of Mishigama, and by the end of the year Tecumseh had died. He had been a warrior for life, and had precious little time to stop, and in the long run, he had not been a healthy man. A heart disease ate at him, and by the end of the year, Tecumseh, the first High Chief passed away. Murray had immediately sent his troops into alert in case of a crisis in Mishigama. However whilst many mourned the loss of their great leader, the passing of leadership was peaceful. John Norton became the High Chief and the Blackhawk became the Vice Chief on the popular vote of the Council of Tribes, in which he received 16-12 votes against the former brother of Tecumseh. Tecumseh’s brother, Tenskwatawa accepted his defeat in the vote handily, even though he didn’t particularly like it. In his autobiography, the Life of the Prophet, he writes,

    I did not like the results of the vote, and I was angry, however contesting it would mean that the cause for which my brother had given his entire life would have been lost in minutes. I could not get the energy to contest the votes the moment I realized that fact.

    It was a pleasant surprise and Mishigama went on. Norton, whilst he detested being a politician, now found himself as one. As an Iroquois, his ascension to power assuaged the fear in many of the Iroquois that the Shawnee and Lenapi would become the ‘Virginia Dynasty’ of Mishigama wasn’t going to happen. Under Norton, the government officially started to reach out to the American government for the immigration of Native Americans in American lands into Mishigama. The American people who looked at the Native Americans as British sympathizers at best and traitors and barbarians at worst after the war quickly snapped the offer up under Gaillard, who signed a treaty of immigration services in July 1816 with Mishigama. This treaty of immigration gave the Fox, Choctaw, Chikasaw and Creek tribes full mobility to immigrate into Mishigama, where the Lands would be distributed accordingly.

    Norton, as a military leader also knew that to stave off any revanchist president of the United States would have to keep a standing army. With a population that was somewhere between 70,000 to 100,000 having a large army was pretty hard. And what was worse was that many inter-tribal conflicts made it hard for warriors of different tribes to be kept in a single regiment. Therefore in February 1817, Norton managed to pass the ‘Mishigaman Military Acts of 1817’. These acts were comprehensive, and very well thought out on part of Norton. The subjects that were included in the Mishigaman Military Acts of 1817 were:-

    • The Mishigaman Military to consist of 7500 standing regulars for the current population of 82,000. Future military standing numbers would be based on this proportion.
    • The 7500 men would be divided into 5 regiments each of 1500 strength. 4 of these regiments would be based on the tribes of the men, with related tribes such as the Iroquois, Mohawks, Creeks etc being lumped into one regiment. The last and fifth regiment would be a regiment consisting of all warriors from all tribes.
    • All troops to become a heavily professional troop with a minimum of 1 month training time every year, with the basic doctrine of the military being quality over quantity.
    • The creation of a proper ordnance and modern military equipment centers, with aid from Britain and the Crown.
    These acts would stave off any incursion, and the Mishigaman Military would quickly become one of the most professional forces of their time. The old ‘barbarity’ of native American warfare would quickly be delegated to the history books.

    View attachment 587646
    The fur trade was extremely lucrative.     ​

    The economy of Mishigama was also driven by Norton’s fishing schemes and fur trade schemes, and for a country with such a low population, such was enough for the time. However soon enough, industrialization from the colonial overlord of Great Britain would soon filter into Mishigama as well even though it would never entertain the Mishigaman people as it did with the Canadians and New English.” A Brief History into Early Mishigama, University of Shikaawa, Shikaawa Publications, 1998.

    “From 1810 to late 1815, Agustin de Iturbide had been a royalist and pro-Spaniard fighter in the ongoing Mexican War of Independence. He had solidly aligned with the Criollos. However events in Spain and America caused problems, as the monarchy for which that class was fighting was in serious trouble, as even the mainland Spanish rose up in unrest over Ferdinand VII’s reneged promises and the renege of the Constitution. The growing support of the American National Party in the United States also made a lot men wary stating the need for the Mexicans to get their independence fast because the threat of America was very clear.

    View attachment 587648
    Agustin de Iturbide    ​

    Iturbide was convinced that only independence for Mexico was the way to protect the country from a republican and American tide. He decided to become the leader of the Criollo Independence Movement in September 1815. However, to succeed, he would need to put together a very unlikely coalition of Mexican Liberal insurgents, landed nobility, and the Church. Therefore, the penned the Plan of Iguala, which held itself up on three guarantees; independence from Spain, Religion, and Union. In the plan, a monarchy was ensured, thus assuring the support of the insurgents, clergy, Spaniards and even the royalists due to the last clause. After several attempts of negotiations, Guerroro and Iturbide agreed to implement the plan of iguala.

    View attachment 587649
    Guerroro and Iturbide     ​

    With the support of all sectors of Mexican society, Iturbide and Guerroro continued their war against Spain with renewed vigor. The War of 1812 had left aplenty weapons left around in America, and individual merchants sold the weapons to the Mexicans pretty fast and with the aid of the insurgents and the Royalists, the Spanish Armies were smashed outside of Mexico City in the Battle of Toluca which saw Iturbide’s 15,000 strong army destroy the Spaniard army under Juan Ruiz. The city of Mexico City fell and with it Spanish rule over Mexico came to an end after three and a half centuries.

    Nonetheless this absolute defeat in Mexico wasn’t acknowledged by Ferdinand VII or the Spanish government until 1818, when the Treaty of Havana was signed between the Kingdom of Spain and the Mexican independence movement. The utter humiliation that Spain had suffered in Mexico meant that Ferdinand had accepted the loss of Mexico, however he would not accept the loss of other lands. The Treaty of Havana included the following clauses:-

    • The recognition of the independence of the Mexican Empire by the Spanish kingdom.
    • The peaceful transport of Spanish citizens and military personnel from Mexico into Spain.
    • The Mexican government now formed under Iturbide to pay 3 million pounds to the Spanish government by 1825 as reparations of Spanish property lost and damaged in the war of independence.
    • Spain to allow a foreign catholic monarch to sit on the Mexican throne, however a Spaniard on the throne of Mexico would not be accepted.
    Instead by this point having seen the effectiveness of the wars of independence in the Americas literally bitten through his skull Ferdinand VII was in favor of retaining New Granada and Venezuela, and all of the Spanish royalist forces were instead sent to reinforce the area, with the extra troops from Mexico arriving, the defense of New Granada was ultimately successful.

    View attachment 587650
    The crossing of the Andes would be disastrous for the dream of an independent New Granada.     ​

    Bolivar had made his camp at the Orinoco region in Southern Venezuela where the Spanish who had nearly reconquered the entire area could not oust him properly. There he engaged in troop recruitment and whilst he did that Jose Maria Barreiro, the leader of the Spanish forces in New Granada did the same. With the reinforced troops from the rest of the Spanish colonies, and the loyalists in the area, Barreiro counted 7,000 troops under his command. With a huge amount of troops for the area, Barreiro was confident enough to attack Bolivar’s ragtag army of 2200 even though he was doubtful that Bolivar would emerge from the Andes Mountains. The Battle of Boyaca ended in utter defeat for Bolivar who was taken by surprise of Barreiro’s confidence, and in the ensuing chaos of the battle, Bolivar himself was killed. With that the rebellion and revolt in Nueva Granada died out, and New Granada would not gain independence until much later in the latter portion of the 19th century.” A Brief History of Latin America, Penguin Publishing, 1976.
    Click to expand...
    The Whigs will be similar to OTL's counterpart in terms of promoting industry and protective tariffs but they won't have any New England members. The Nationals are going to be more or less the representative of Southern proslavery interests in the United States and the Democrats somewhere in-between.
     
    Sarthak

    Sarthak

    Ficboy said:
    The Whigs will be similar to OTL's counterpart in terms of promoting industry and protective tariffs but they won't have any New England members. The Nationals are going to be more or less the representative of Southern proslavery interests in the United States and the Democrats somewhere in-between.
    Click to expand...
    how do you read so fast?
     

    Darth_Kiryan

    Sārthākā said:
    However Calhoun had only won a plurality of the electoral college and hadn’t won 74 electoral college votes. Therefore a contingent elections were called between the states on December 15th, 1816. The United States currently had 13 states, and the one which won the most states would become president of the United States. Having been utterly defeated in the elections, Monroe dropped out of the running and instead the Contingent vote was divided between Calhoun and Clay. Monroe instead supported Clay, stating that his American System Economics would be the best for the United States of America, and stated that he endorsed Clay for the presidency. The states of Philadelphia, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and New York voted for Clay and the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia voted for Calhoun. Clay and Sanford thus won the presidency. Calhoun protested massively, stating that by the bylaws of democracy he had won the elections, however the constitution was clear, and Clay would now become the next President of the US, along with Sanford becoming the next Vice President.” A Political History of North America, University of Montreal, 1998.
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    Good for Clay and all, but he just can't get away from a Congressional election to the Presidency can he.

    And He will be 39 as well. Youngest President.
     

    Not Henry G.

    So Mexico ending the war so early means some of the original leaders like Morelos are still alive, that's pretty good because the ideals won't get diluted too much. Now, as long as they get literally any monarch on the throne Mexico is off to a good start. Iturbide was about the worst thing that could happen to the country after Santa Anna
     
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