TL: The North American Federation (or a very different USA)

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Mario

Background

October 28, year 1768. After months of conflicts between the local population and the recently appointed government, riots broke out in New Orleans (Spanish Louisiana). The Spanish governor, Antonio de Ulloa, is forced to leave the city with his wife, only three days later.
While the riots spread by Lower Louisiana, a French-Louisianian delegation fled to France in order to demand help to King Louis XV. They wanted France to return to Louisiana and revert the possession of the territory back to them.

In OTL, Louis XV refused to attend the French-Louisianian delegation and finally, the rebellion of New Orleans was crushed by the following Spanish governor, Alejandro O'Reilly, just a few months later, with little consequences for its future history.

But what could have happened if Louis XV would have changed his mind and decided to support the French-Louisianian rebels against Spain? With tensions also escalating in the neighbouring British colonies because of the taxation conflicts, the North American powder keg could explode before everyone could expect...
 
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Mario

1769

King Louis XV decided to use the French navy of the Caribbean to block the port of New Orleans temporarily.
France didn't want to declare any kind of war to Spain, but the King had been informed, prior to the arrival of the French-Louisianian delegation, that some insurrectional movements were raising between the citizens of the Thirteen Colonies. The French considered this a good opportunity to revenge the defeat of 1763, and wanted to set troops again close to the British colonies in spite of helping them in an eventual insurrection.
The riots of New Orleans were a fantastic excuse to send some troops close to the British borders in North America, without a real aim to engage in a war against Spain.
The official excuses of the French Kingdom to block the New Orleans port were simply the concern of protecting the French officials and citizens that still remained in the city against the revolting people or any eventual Spanish repression.
Spain requested the French to abandon New Orleans immediately if they didn't want a war, but the French navy ignored the threatens. Spain didn't want to fight against the French, but the block of New Orleans was difficulting their commercial trade with their other colonies.
The newly appointed Spanish governor of Louisiana, Alejandro O'Reilly, was forced to stay at Havana as French navy didn't allow him to reach any port close to New Orleans.
Meanwhile, French officer Gilbert Antoine de Saint Maxent took the leadership of the revolting French-Louisianians in Lower Louisiana and appointed a new governor for the city, the trader Marcel Albons. By the month of September, the city was mostly in peace though severely damaged. Albons and Saint Maxent reinforced the old French laws in it and declared the Spanish rule 'illegal' in Lower Louisiana.
One of the Saint Maxent's most trusted soldiers, Antoine Duchatelet, was sent to Saint Louis in order to gain the city for the French-Louisianian revolt.
But, while Duchatelet and his militia made their way to Saint Louis, the Spanish decided to assault the port and break the French block. The Spanish failed but the French suffered great damage. Saint Maxent, fearing that the city could be easily assaulted in a second attempt, decided to depart following Duchatelet footsteps towards Upper Louisiana.
And besides all these troubles between Spanish and French, the British colonies started to be increasingly angry with the British administration, and now, the shadow of a new unwanted war against the other European powers appears again...
 

Mario

Map of North America in 1769

Notice New Orleans and Saint Louis as main cities of the two Louisianas.

America_1769 (FILEminimizer).jpg
 

Mario

1770

The arrival of Duchatelet to the city of Saint Louis with news about the successful revolt in the Lower Louisiana is enough to make the citizens, most of them French refugees from the former New France, to revolt against the almost inexistent Spanish establishment in the city.
Duchatelet appoints François Benoit as new governor and together plan the resistance of the Upper Louisiana.
Saint Maxent, who is in his way to join them at Saint Louis, decides to give freedom to a group of African slaves that he found in a plantation, under the promise that they would join the rebels against Spanish rulers.
The rebels didn't count with a big amount of troops, so they took the risky move of incorporating free African slaves that lived in Lower Louisiana by that time. Not being enough men, the rebels decided to release enslavered men they found in their way. This fact will be crucial for the fate of Louisiana and the rest of North America.
Apart of African slaves released, Saint Maxent also wanted the help of Indians. Many Indian tribes started to feel betrayed by the British because of recurrent violations of their territories by settlers coming from the Thirteen Colonies. So, before arriving to Saint Louis, Saint Maxent had the opportunity of meeting some tribal leaders in the opposite bank of the Mississippi.
Finally, on 1st May 1770, Saint Maxent and his troops arrived to Saint Louis and were received as heroes. Then, he met Duchatelet and Benoit, and after some debate, they finally realized that they couldn't count with more French aid to free Louisiana, as French were struggling to keep their positions in New Orleans.
When New Orleans was finally assaulted by the Spanish in June, the French-Louisianian rebels took the determination to make their way without French aid. The French navy, however, re-established themselves in the border with British Florida, raising tensions with the British navy.
At first, France, which never had real interest in regaining New Orleans, thought about helping eventual anti-British rebellions in Florida or Georgia. They also surveyed the unhappy Indian tribes in the area, for reconstructing new alliances against the British. But at the end, the French presence in the area proved to be fruitless for their interests, but helped French-Louisianians rebels in their plans.
By the end of the year, rebels were quite strong in Upper Louisiana and Spanish, although re-established in New Orleans, couldn't crush the recurrent attacks of the rebels. Finally, three days before Christmas, the Spanish governor, Alejandro O'Reilly, who had recently arrived from Havana, was assasinated. Marcel Albons, the governor appointed by the rebels, imprisoned since the fall of the city, was also released by a fierceful rebel attack against the prison.
Spanish can't take anymore and planed to evacuate the area the following year...
 

Mario

1771

Spain realized that they didn't have enough available troops to regain Louisiana from the extended rebellion. In fact, Spanish were more concerned about the eventual expansion of the rebellion into New Spain or Cuba than keeping a land that they received less than a decade ago, and where they still haven't settled themselves properly.
Without withdrawing the official claim of the land, Spain started to evacuate troops, officials and traders by the month of March. The rebels at Saint Louis celebrated the event, but feared that British could take advantage of the lack of power in New Orleans.
Marcel Albons, French-Louisianian governor of the city, recalled French to occupy the city, against the opinion of their fellowmen in Saint Louis, who feared that fact could start a new war against the British, which France was not in good position to win.
The French allocated troops close to the city, but renounced to take the city because they didn't want a new war against the British. London just had adverted the French that they wouldn't tolerate an active presence of them in Louisiana anymore. However, tensions between French and British continued to escalate.
On 30 April 1771, Saint Maxent called for a convention of all the rebel leaders in Upper Louisiana. The convention took place during June, and after little debate, they agreed with Saint Maxent that the best solution for their situation was to proclaim the Republic of Upper Louisiana, for ruling themselves aside of the never-ending quarrels between the European powers.
The Republic was officially proclaimed on 2nd September, and, in an unprecedented decision by that time, conceded citizenship to every men residing inside their (then undefined) borders, regardless their ethnicity, observing the help that free African slaves and Indians offered to the rebels. Obviously, slavery was banned from the very beginning.
The city of Saint Louis was elected as the capital city, and a group of men were appointed to write the first Constitution.
The proclamation of this 'rebel' Republic was officially disregarded by all the European powers, but raised concern about the effect on African slaves and Indians living in their colonies.
Spain tried to ally with France against the Republic, but the French thought about using the Republic against the British. It was assumed by the time that, even if the Republic of Upper Louisiana declared its neutrality regarding European powers quarrels, they showed sympathy to France as long as many of them were in fact French or Francophone.
France, conscious that they can't regain Louisiana again without engaging in another long war, tried to ally with the Republic against the British.
So, the French allowed Saint Maxent to return to New Orleans before Christmas, where he was going to proclaim the twin Republic of Lower Louisiana at the beginning of 1772...
 

Mario

1772

Saint Maxent was very well received at his return to New Orleans, where he planed to proclaim a sister republic of the Upper Louisianian one. However, some discrepancies surfaced in Lower Louisiana. Despite the revolts, there were still some functioning plantations in the area that used African slaves as workforce. Planters supported the Republic, but without implementing the slavery ban introduced in the Northern side.
Albons and Saint Maixent called for a convention about the issue, and no agreement was reached. Saint Maxent wanted to proclaim a sister Republic upon the same basis and he confronted planters and pro-slavery factions. But, unfortunately, he lacked power to make them to accept his plans.
Meanwhile, some Indian tribes in the Northern part of the British Indian Territories started to revolt at the beginning of spring. They felt betrayed by British about the promise of stopping settlements and now they considered the option to join the Republic of Upper Louisiana more attractive than remaining under British protection.
British negotiators were sent to the area, but no agreement could be reached. London didn't want a new war against France because of Upper Louisiana, so they requested the French ambassador to ensure that France wouldn't assist the new Republic if the British forces attacked it.
The French didn't want the war, but they were reluctant to leave Louisiana to the British, because this would reinforce their power instead of weakening it, as French badly desired.
Saint Maxent didn't want to cede the decision to the European powers and attacked the British by surprise: during summer, and with help of the Indians, he sent a militia to the colony of Georgia (the most poorly defended of the thirteen) with the mission of killing as many planters as they could, and boosting a revolt of their African slaves. This surprising move got the colony into chaos so quickly that British had little chance to react on time. Obviously, London declared war to the Louisianas on August 20th. France, by the moment, refused to take part, but blocked any British movement towards the city of New Orleans.
By the autumn, British faced a very unpromising war scenario: even if Louisianian forces were clearly weaker than British, they had lost the help of Indians in the buffer territory between them, and French prevented any action of the British navy against New Orleans. Apart of this, Georgia was completely devastated by the slave revolt that also threatened to expand into the Carolinas. The Northern colonies, in addition, were very reluctant to participate in the war if London didn't attend their grievances first and agree to reward them with more territory. In fact, in some of them, especially Pennsylvania, showed some sympathy to the Republic of Upper Louisiana. Some British and Irish settlers started to move to the vicinity of Saint Louis, where they were welcomed as the Republic urgently needed soldiers and workforce.
As the slave revolts increased in the South, London accepted a French proposal to stop the war and recognize, both of them, the new Republic, under some conditions: the Republic should stick only to the former borders of Spanish Louisiana, accept French supervision of its international affairs and other matters, and the more important: re-establish slavery.
Neither Britain nor France wanted an abolitionist state that could be a mirror for the African slaves of their colonies.
Marcel Albons, governor of New Orleans, advocated to accept the treaty but Saint Maxent refused. Tensions between the two Louisianas surfaced by the first time, caused mainly by the slavery issue. Saint Maxent took a hard decision: returned to Saint Louis and prepared a troop to march over New Orleans; not only against Lower Louisianians, but also against French and British. Really a big big challenge...
 

Lord Grattan

Nicely begun Mario.

If I may, I'd like to pick a few nits RE:your map. British Canada (ie. OTL Ontario and everything to the west) should be part of what you call "British Indian Territories". Canada refers only to the part of Quebec bordering the St. Lawrence (on both sides). Nova Scotia should be listed as a 14th colony and would include OTL New Brunswick. St. Johns Island, later in OTL Prince Edward Island should be colony 15. That line at the north end of OTL Minnesota as does the word Ohio, as both are anacronistic.

Now w/that off my chest I do indeed lo0ok forward to enjoying your story!
 

Mario

1773

Saint Maxent was not suicidal enough to march over Lower Louisiana without counting with a powerful ally. The original enemy of the rebels, Spain, had become now their main ally in the fight against Britain and former ally France.
Spanish were not so concerned about slave revolts as the other two European powers, and once out of Louisiana, they opted to help the rebels against Britain, because this gave them the oppotunity to recover Florida, which was far more important for Spain than the Louisianas at that time.
Louisianian rebels counted on Spanish help, but they didn't expect that the key factor that would favour them against their two powerful enemies could be the boost of both African slave revolts and Indian razzias against British colonies.
By the beginning of spring, long before Saint Maxent's troops reached New Orleans, some events hit both British and French interests in North America: an enormous slave revolt in French Saint-Domingue (Haiti) forced France to relocate troops and navy to the island while British were increasingly challenged by constant Indian razzias in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
However, the key event for the fate of the war came in April: the mutiny of Montréal, against British rule and in favour of joining their Francophone fellowmen of Upper Louisiana.
The coincidence of all those revolts ('America set on fire', George III said) led Britain and France to relocate military forces out of Lower Louisiana to other priority places. So, Saint Maxent troops, with Indian and Spanish assistance, had little problems to take New Orleans by force, executing governor Albons, considered a traitor by the rebels.
Saint Maxent proclaimed the Republic of Lower Louisiana on August 31st, and claimed all the British Indian territories to come under the two Louisianas' protection. They also recognized the right of Spain to recover East Florida (West Florida was controlled by Lower Louisianian rebels since Britain relocated their troops to the North).
France, challenged by its serious problems at Saint-Domingue and with limited military presence at the area, accepted the new situation and called for a treaty with Louisiana and Spain.
Britain refused to treat with any 'rebel republic' and opted to continue the war against Louisiana and Spain. But revolts inside British colonies started to be widespread and some English officers recommended to accept a treaty that could save the core of their colonial empire...
 

Mario

1774

The situation at the beginning of 1774 was far better than expected for Saint Maxent's plans in North America.
At that moment, his faction controlled directly both Louisianian republics and had a very prominent influence over the neighbouring Indian territories. He counted on Spanish alliance and France had given up any plan to attack them. His only enemies were the British.
The British were in a very worrying situation in North America. They had lost almost all their influence over the Indians, and now their Southern colonies suffered continuous razzias. This, added to never-ending slave revolts boosted by Louisianian militias, had ruined the economy of Georgia and the Carolinas, and many English families had to resettle in the North.
The situation in the rich Virginia was very difficult too. Political leader George Washington called for a convention in Charleston by mid-May, where representatives of the four Southern colonies would debate the situation. The convention officially petitioned a new supply of British forces to put the razzias, revolts and protests to an end. But London was very occupied with the Canadian rebellion in the North.
Considering that their petitions had been ignored by the Crown, the Southern colonies' leaders met again at the end of October and decided that they coudn't trust British troops to solve their urgent problems.
The assembly of Virginia declared independence of Britain on 22nd November, and the following week the two Carolinas and Georgia did the same. The British didn't recognize their independence, but didn't react at that moment, because they were focudes on crushing the Northern rebellion.
However, the Canadian rebels were far to be defeated. Meanwhile, Duchatelet pushed Indians to attack British forces in the Great Lakes area. The British army couldn't take anymore and some generals called for retreating forces east of the Saint Lawrence river.
By the end of 1774, Saint Maxent could take some time to think about the political organization of the new states...
 
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Mario

1775

This year will be the first of relative peace in the newborn Louisianian republics.
Revolts and marches finished, and the British occupied in the Canadian war, Saint Maxent and his fellowmen could focus for the first time in the aftermath of Louisianian independence.
Despite having proclaimed two republics in Saint Louis (Upper Louisiana) and New Orleans (Lower Louisiana), laws and public administration still remained the same than before the rebellion. There were no Constitutions (the first Upper Lousianian Constitution was not redacted because of the death of his main procer), no Councils, nothing recognizable as a properly Louisianian organization.
Saint Maxent called for a convention in Saint Louis by the month of May. Different rebel leaders, local businessmen and politicians, former colonial officers and even Indian and Spanish observers attended it.
Saint Maxent, who was recognized as the natural leader by all the factions involved in the Louisianian rebellion, expressed his thoughts about the fact that the two Louisianas were too big for being successfully merged into one single republic, as other leaders wanted.
François Lavigne, a trader educated in Paris and living in New Orleans, proposed to Saint Maxent that he should lead a Council that would provide order and defense to all the Louisianian territories, but ceding all the other matters to the local authorities.
Saint Maxent agreed partly with this idea, but also wanted that the Council could rule about high political measures, like the ban of slavery (still challenged by some Lower Louisianians) or the relationships with the Indian tribes.
The convention ended with no unanymous agreements, so Saint Maxent started to act by his own with the support of other rebel leaders. First of all, he appointed two different assemblies in Saint Louis and New Orleans, which would redact the Constitutions of the two republics and the main corpus of laws. However, Saint Maxent imposed to them that both Constitutions must recognize the autorithy of a superior Council.
This Council was set for the first time in New Orleans, on October 10th, marking this day as the new National Day for Louisiana. The Council was composed by twelve representatives from each republic and the President of the Council. It was evident that the 24 representatives would choose Saint Maxent as first President of the Council.
The first ordinary session took place on November 3rd, and they voted for the official name of the country as well as the new flag. The first name of the country was approved as 'Union of Louisianian Republics', but it was never very popular (unofficially, it was simply called 'the Louisianas'). It had French, English and Spanish versions. Though the main population was still Francophone, there were enough English-Irish and Spanish settlers in the territories to consider their languages at an official level.
Meanwhile, the Canadians were very close to finally defeat the British...
 

Mario

1776

At the beginning of the year, the British decided that it was enough and called for a treaty of peace.
On April 20th there was set a peace conference in Montréal. The three European powers were present as well as representatives of the five 'rebel states' (Union of the Louisianas, the newly formed Union of the Carolinas, the just proclaimed Canadian Republic, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Republic of Georgia) and some Indian chiefs belonging to the most prominent tribes.
After two months of harsh negotiations, they all finally reached an agreement for ending the war and get the whole North America in peace.
The Treaty of Montréal, finally signed on September 9th, established the following terms:
- All three European powers recognized the five 'rebel states'.
- The five 'rebel states' renounced to further expansion of their borders.
- There were established three areas for the Indian tribes: two under supervision of the Canadian Republic (North and West) and a third (called the Indiana Territory) under common supervision of the Louisianas and the British Crown.
- There was established the so called Special Territory of African-American Settlement, between Lower Lousiana and Georgia, especially reserved to freed African slaves to settle there if they wanted to.
- Import of slaves was banned. The Lousianas and the Canadian Republic had previously abolished slavery, but it was still legal in the other three 'rebel states'. This situation was tolerated, but they couldn't acquire more slaves in the future.
- Virginia and the Carolinas were granted with access to the Mississippi.
- Spain officially regained East Florida. They agreed to cede Texas and West Florida to Lower Lousiana in exchange of recognition of its rights over the whole Western America, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific shore, until the Columbia River to the North.
- France ceded Saint Pierre et Miquelon to the British colony of Newfoundland.
- The British Crown reorganized their remaining colonies (except Newfouldland) under the Commonwealth of the British North America, with a unified Parliament in New York City.
The ratification of the treaty was considered an enormous political victory for Saint Maxent and he used this to reinforce his authority and the Louisianian Council's one over the factions that wanted to disgregate the central power and enhance the local assemblies.
With the whole country now in peace and the borders well defined, Saint Maxent engaged with the difficult project of redacting a Constitution for the Union of the Lousianas (by that moment, the only 'federal' institution was the Council, and even its function was determined by the two republican Constitutions).
And Louisianian citizens started to be really anxious to be able to chose democratically their representatives, as the current ones were all still self-appointed...
 

Mario

Map of North America after the Treaty of Montréal

Notice that S.T.A.S. is the Special Territory of African-American Settlement:

America_1776 (FILEminimizer).jpg
 

Mario

1777

Year 1777 was relatively quiet for the Union of the Louisianas. Saint Maxent appointed a special committee for redacting the first Constitution and the main corpus of laws for the Union.
Many new settlers coming from everywhere arrived to the new country, and both Saint Louis and New Orleans started to experience a significant urban expansion.
The sign of the Treaty of Montréal had been very satisfactory for both the Union of the Lousianas and the Spanish Crown. But the other signing countries were not so satisfied, and, just a few months later of the agreement, some discrepancies started to surface.
The newborn Canadian Republic was only partly satisfied. They got the recognition of their independence, but many of its leaders, including the newly appointed President Maurice Leblanc, wanted to join the fellow Union of the Lousianas. The general feeling was that the British Crown, sooner than later, would attempt to regain what had lost there. So, the alliance with the Lousianas was seen as a key issue to stop any British attempt to revoke Canadian independence. But now the Territory of Indiana was barring the contact between Canada and the Lousianas.
Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas were struggling to support their economies with an increasing lack of slave workforce. In addition, many slaves escaped to the neighbouring STAS. George Washington, then President of Virginia, started to consider the option to join the Lousianas. As well as Canada, he also wanted to throw Indiana down and take territories north the Ohio river.
The British felt humiliated by the defeat against Canada and the other rebel states and secretly planed revenge. So, the Canadian were right about their worries. The remaining British Colonies were badly impacted by the war and their economies were in clear recession.
The British forced the NYC Parliament to redraw the colonial borders. On October 22nd, a law was passed reducing the colonies to only six: Pennsylvania (absorbing both Maryland and Delaware), Hudson and Jersey (union of New York and New Jersey), New England (union of Massachussetts (& Maine), Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire), Acadia (area between Maine and Nova Scotia), Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Islands. Newfoundland was kept as a separate colony.
The French Crown had been evicted from North America properly, and now they only kept their Caribbean possessions. However, the most important of them, Saint-Domingue, was being devastated by a bloody slave revolt.
On Christmas' Eve, Saint Maxent announced that the new Constitution would be ready by spring 1778 and the first elections would be set before 1780...
 

Mario

1778

Early this year, Canadian President Maurice Leblanc traveled to New Orleans to know how the Lousianas were conducting their Constitutional process.
In a private meeting with Saint Maxent, Leblanc tried to convince him about the convenience of Canada joining the Union. Saint Maxent was a little sceptical about the consequences of such action and declined by the moment to follow that way. He was priorizing the Constitutional construction of the new state over engaging in new quarrels with neighbouring powers.
However, Saint Maxent made a concession to Leblanc petitions: the official name of the country that would be finally fixed in the new Constitution will be 'North American Federation', thus inviting other North American states outside the Lousianas to join them if they wanted to. But not in an immediate future.
Finally, the Constitution was ready to be passed by the Council on June 2nd. The 24 representatives approved the text and Saint Maxent signed it. After that, the Council was officially tipped as a Provisional Government until the first elections could be set no later than two years after the Constitution approval.
The highlights of the first North American Federal (NAF) Constitution were these:
- The official name was changed to 'North American Federation'.
- The Federation main institution will be the Council (only one chamber). The Council will be composed by representatives appointed by each member's government, so they won't be directly elected by citizens. However, it was mandatory that representatives would be appointed by each members' Parliament, and these state Parliaments should be directly elected by their citizens.
- The President of the Council will be the Head of State. He will be appointed by popular election every 4 years. His candidacy should be independent, so he is barred to belong to any political faction or party. The same will apply for the Federal Attorney and the Chancelor, the other two charges that will be elected in the same way (and same elections) than the President, but without teaming together. Each charge will observe separate candidacies.
- The President could veto laws about national security and he's the only able to sign international treaties.
- The Chancelor, apart of acting as vice-President when needed, will be in charge of both external and internal security affairs.
- The Federal Attorney will be the maximum responsible of justice, and could veto state laws that could challenge the Constitutional principles.
- The President should appoint the chiefs of the Federal Army (still inexistent).
- Freedom of religion is guaranteed.
- Slavery is estrictly forbidden.
- Citizenship is open to every resident regardless ethnicity or religion. But citizenship obliges to pay taxes in every case.
- There will be a Federal Court, but only for national security issues.
- Every North American foreign state has the right to apply for joining the Federation, but only if accepts all the terms of the Constitution.
Obviously, the change of the name was not overlooked by the British. They were aware about the plans of Canada to join the NAF, so they were determined to stop these moves...
 

Mario

I would appreciate any observation about any inaccurated historical fact that I could insert in this TL.

Thanks for reading!
 
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