TLIAW - Webster Takes A Stand

This seems to be a gentler, less destructive experience than OTL's American Civil War (fewer states seceding, less antagonisation of the American South). One might think that that would be bad for African-Americans in the South, but since IOTL the shock of emancipation was undone by a powerful backlash that disenfranchised them almost entirely, TTL's less vicious civil war might result in less of a backlash.

All in all, unless I'm missing something, TTL seems to be shaping to be better than OTL, at least for the USA and its people.
 
Part 9 – Not With A Bang, But With A Whimper

“The AIS,” it is said, “was split in two, just like General Scott had planned. However, they had become very good at fighting in the Western Half, starting with Bloody Iowa.”

Indeed, some of the fighting in Missouri spilled over into Kansas, where once offensive maneuvers began, their governor ordered attacks into it to seize territory and also to draw away Federal troops who were fighting in the East. This complicated things greatly, and though St. Louis was captured relatively early in the war – back in 1853 – it helped to prolong the fighting.

Texas became another key, and as General Scott and those along the Mississippi slowly squeezed the Eastern part of the AIS, the Western part showed a fair deal of vitality. As 1855 wore on, it was clear that General Scott was getting older, so President Seward offered to let him come back to Washington and run the War Department. Scott refused, stating that the Union had control of the Mississippi and therefore with Fremont’s help they could finish the war easily. He did, however, promise that if the war lasted till fall of 1856, he would retire and take the blame for the war lasting that long, thus helping Seward to secure re-election. However, he didn’t believe that was possible – his plan for dividing the AIS simply needed a few more divisions, as the Arkansas River was being claimed to allow them to “choke off the small remnant of rebels in the north of what’s left, while coming north from the base in New Orleans.”

That re-election seemed secure when Charleston was taken, but the selling point of it being “just like a large Indian war” began to wear on people a little as 1855 progressed. This was especially true when they realized that in some cases, the AIS was being attacked by Indians with the Union coming to the Indians’ rescue if AIS soldiers raided the Indians’ villages. This would promote better relations with the natives over the long haul.

As it was, Scott’s plan to continue to divide and conquer worked slowly through 1855 with the Union announcing that all parts north of the Arkansas River had been freed that summer. By September, they were only down to Texas, which held on valiantly but in the end was doomed to failure. As a token gesture, Sam Houston was appointed military governor of what the Union controlled of Texas till the state could organize a new Constitution which outlawed slavery. He lamented upon arriving in Austin, “I am sorry that I was not able to preserve this Union, that my people would not listen to my cries to avoid this senseless struggle, especially when we could have been compensated for our slaves instead of having our state devastated by these final battles of this terrible war.”

The Civil War came to a close toward the end of 1855. There would be sporadic guerilla fighting a few months into 1856, as a fair number of people had left slave states which had remained loyal to fight for the AIS. Virginia had been especially divided, and only well-respected people like General Lee kept more from fleeing; Lee had remained neutral, only helping to secure his native state when the governor asked for his help in putting down the rebellion within it, since the state hadn’t seceded.

He and other moderates believed that education would be vital and that it could be done, or at least attempted. In this, he agreed with Seward, who pushed for a really broad series of measures designed to help the Freedmen. Salmon P. Chase worked to set up a Freedmens’ Bank and run it, and he was considered for the role of Vice President; so, too, were Lincoln, Scott, and Fremont, though Scott wanted no part of it.

The AIS had ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. And, as the 1850s wore on, new political parties also arose from the old dust of the old.

In the celebration of the Union’s victory, political realities caused the former Whigs, Democrats, Free Soilers, and others to begin to separate along different lines. Some people wanted to just admit the states back and be done with it, some wanted to protect the Freedmen more – including Seward – and start a program of educating them, and some wanted to give them extensive rights immediately. Few wanted to exact revenge on the rebels, though there were some calling for revenge. The war hadn’t been as costly as it could have been. Also, the tactics used by the South in retreating in South Carolina and in parts of Mississippi and Texas had been almost as destructive, compared by some to the Russians retreating before Napoleon.

The amicable relationship between Seward and Marcy became strained. It was clear that he would pick a VP closer to his own political beliefs, but without a solid sense yet of what the parties were, it seemed best to select someone who would appease the supporters of larger government and more involvement in ensuring the rights of the Freedmen. Therefore, he settled on John C. Fremont. The war won, he went with a popular general – Scott didn’t want it, while Fremont was interested in the Presidency and would draw lots of votes from the West, whereas even salmon P. Chase was only from Ohio and there was talk that his opponents might run someone from the West; there was talk that, since Seward has only won states int he4 Northeast in 1852, that he ws “just a regional President.”

Fremont had been cleaning up the last of the guerillas and preventing the Southern states from going on campaigns to harm the Freedmen. However, leaders such as William T. Sherman, Joshua Chamberlain, and Ulysses Grant were good enough at eliminating any attempts on the part of whites to lynch former slaves. Fremont had been a Senator from California and was popular out there, and was seen as someone with an aptitude toward understanding Western interests. He wouldn’t have lots of “real” duties, allowing the Vice Presidency to become less important, as it had been in bygone days – there wasn’t a chance 3 Presidents could die in office in 20 years, was there?

Fremont’s lack of political skill would help to demonstrate that he would not be a good candidate for President in 1860, and he retired to California after Seward’s 2nd term. In the meantime, Seward had beaten the Democratic challenger quite easily – the Democrats had chosen to re-form under that name with others who wanted a less powerful President and less active national government. Lyman Trumbull became their candidate, a man who had supported the end of slavery and some rights for the Freedmen but who felt Seward might go a bit far – and that Fremont especially was. The party would have a much clearer shape by 1860, but as it was, they did win some states from Seward.

However, a few Southern states even gve Seward votes, seeing as he had been quite fair and lenient on them. Indeed, Seward pushed for the purchase of not only Alaska, but also Baja California from Mexico and also some of the desert area of Northern Mexico, stretching the U.S. border south to the 30th parallel from a point just northwest of what would become Big Bend Natioanl park westward to the Sonora River, following it north to the end and then going in a line to the Sonoyta, following it to the bend where it turns south, with Mexico retaining that part to give it a connection to Baja California, the U.S.-Mexico border then going West Northwest to the California-Mexico border.(1)

He also sought to buy various islands from Spain, all of which he hoped could be used to relocate Freedmen, though none of these purchases worked out because Congress was dead set against adding places with more blacks or people of mixed race; they felt the areas already acquired would be enough. The area purchased from Mexico would become Franklin Territory till it became a state - a Washington Territory was carved out of the part of Oregon Territory that didn’t become the state of Oregon in 1859.(2) He did, however, begin considering a possible U.S. presence in the Pacific since the U.S. had missed out on Japanese trade, looking into buying Guam from the Spanish, as well as the Danish virgin islands.

With Fremont not having the political clout he might have, Salmon P. Chase was elected President in 1860, promising to build the national treasury the way Seward had the country’s size. He also had a great influence on the Supreme Court.

The appointment of Nathan Clifford by President Buchanan after he succeeded Taylor as President(3) was one of few which would take place in the approximately 20 years between Daniel Webster taking office (he appointed Richard Rush in 1842 to fill the term of an ill New York Justice who retired) and 1861.

Seward had been able to nominate 2, as did President Cass. Seward first chose Benjamin Curtis, a noted Whig who served till his death in 1874.(4) His second choice came upon Rush’s death in 1859. Abraham Lincoln had been a calming voice in the Administration, and while he’d entered politics he seemed to have a natural inclination for wording things perfectly. His wit and wisdom, Seward considered, would be missed if he couldn’t reach the White House, but Seward also thought him to be a bit too compromising in some areas. Lincoln dithered a little, but his wife successfully convinced him that the Supreme Court would be better than the Presidency. It was a lifetime appointment. He could probably do much less than he would like as President; there was beginning to be some backlash against Seward’s powerful Presidency, so the next few seemed likely to be weaker. Therefore, Lincoln decided to accept. He famously said, “The great joy is I shall have several months off now, wherein I can enjoy things I may not have been able to as President.” For one thing, he wanted to see California, especially with Fremont’s talk of it, and even spoke of taking one of his breaks to see Jerusalem. While he'd only see California while riding the circuits, he retired a couple years before his death, allowing him time to go to see Jerusalem.

Chase, while President, appointed 4 Justices, leaving a huge mark upon the Supreme Court. He dithered on who to appoint when Chief Justice Taney died, but Lincoln had made some very good rulings, and his opinions were often concise yet very witty – perhaps too much so for the Court, some said. Still, Congress had become less radical in the last few years, and therefore it seemed less likely that he would get a major radical on the Court. He appointed Lincoln as Chief Justice, and the Lincoln Court wound up being the one to rule that the Federal government could eliminate lynching as the law was worded to protect slaves, and also that aprts of the Civil Rights Acts of the mid-1860s were Constitutional.(5)

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(1) In other words, Seward negotiates a larger purchase than OTL’s Gadsden Purchase, not only for a possible railroad for the South, but also for possible relocation of former slaves.

(2) So, if you’re keeping score, new states are New Mexico (but without the Gadsden Purchase part), Jefferson (Arizona without the Gadsden part but with the northern border of Arizona going from OTL border with Utah all the way to California), and Oregon (as OTL), but not Minnesota, because in TTL it’s divided at the Mississippi between Wisconsin and Iowa.

(3) To keep Court balance, Fillmore appointed a Northerner, and with Clifford from the same general area Buchanan appoints him a few years early.

(4) Curtis doesn’t resign over the Dred Scott decision in TTL.

(5) Not like the 1964 one of OTL, but a modified one sort of like OTL’s 1866 one with a few things from 1875 thrown in such as the right to serve on juries. Some parts would be ruled unconstitutional because of being seen as involving private and not public things such as transportation, but even watered down, it would mean fewer problems for blacks than in OTL.
 
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Seward is a 3 term President, Lincoln is on the Court, and Scott got to be the General who won the war. Nice, one question thou, what ever happened to the Great Triumvirate? Did they each die later as I didn't see them mentioned after the '52 election.
 
Excellently written. I'm enjoying this story.

I'd like a bit more information on Reconstruction, though: how the rebel states were governed right after the war, how they were readmitted, who took the responsibility of repairing the damage done by the Southerners with their scorched-earth tactics (as you seem to imply they'd done), how the rights of former slaves were protected, etc.

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Seward is a 3 term President, Lincoln is on the Court, and Scott got to be the General who won the war. Nice, one question thou, what ever happened to the Great Triumvirate? Did they each die later as I didn't see them mentioned after the '52 election.

Calhoun dies on schedule, Clay and Webster each die around schedule, though maybe a few weeks early as they try to keep things together and the stress would really take a toll with the crazy sitution of '52, with Webster's presidency added in.

And, Seward serves 1853-1861 with salmon P. chase 1861-1869, sorry for any confusion. I may not have worded somethign well enough or thrown a Seward in where Chase should be (probably inw ith the court stuff.)

Excellently written. I'm enjoying this story.

I'd like a bit more information on Reconstruction, though: how the rebel states were governed right after the war, how they were readmitted, who took the responsibility of repairing the damage done by the Southerners with their scorched-earth tactics (as you seem to imply they'd done), how the rights of former slaves were protected, etc.

Subscribed!

that's one reason why it's sort of still a TLIAW, I really don't have time to get into a lot of that, but if I have time to come back later and expand it some I will, maybe with something on each of them.
 
Lincoln decided to accept. He famously said, “The great joy is I shall have several months off now, wherein I can enjoy things I may not have been able to as President.” For one thing, he wanted to see California, especially with Fremont’s talk of it, and even spoke of taking one of his breaks to see Jerusalem

Good story so far! A nit to pick: Back then SC justices did not have any time off between SC sessions. They had to ride the circuit (on their own dime no less!) of the US Circuit Courts
 
Good story so far! A nit to pick: Back then SC justices did not have any time off between SC sessions. They had to ride the circuit (on their own dime no less!) of the US Circuit Courts

Wow, thanks. Well, he could get out to California on one of those circuits, anyway. ANd if he retires a couple years before he dies maybe he'd even get5 to Jerusalem.:)
 
Part 10 – The Comeback Kid

It’s not totally true that the Democrats’ huge Congressional wins in 1866 were the result of not wanting to give the freed slaves too many rights. It may have been partly that, as America in 1866 was still quite racist, but it was actually a combination of a lot of things.

One of them was tiredness after 14 years of Republican presidents. This has happened in other eras, too, regardless of the issues; people simply want a change.

Part of it was that the Democrats hadn’t been very strong even in 1860, when Senator and Cass’s former Treasury Secretary Robert J. Walker lost big to Chase; republicans were still popular in the South, as they hadn’t been too destructive or demanding. In 1864, New York Governor Horatio Seymour ran, but he was not only much less supportive of rights for the Freedmen but he was also able by Chase to be connected to the “machine politics” of New York City, so he went down to defeat quite easily.

However, by 1866 Stephen A. Douglas had “rehabilitated himself” in the minds of many. He had come out with a book, “Where I Went Wrong,” in which he denounced slavery and the problems it had caused, admitting that he’d made ‘serious errors” in not seeing how destructive it had been for the nation. “The horrible mistakes of youth in my past, I can now move forward as a leader in my part,” he said in it; indeed, it was he who really pushed for the Democrat name to continue to be used by the party.

“The Comeback Kid,” as he was dubbed (in addition to his earlier nickname “The Little Giant), seemed more and more a viable candidate for President as 1867 turned into 1868. He was the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, a man who had become an elder statesman. It was hard for many to believe he was only in his mid-50s, but it helped lend credence to the notion that anything which seemed like a support of slavery was simply “misguided youth” speaking, and not actual support for the institution.

Senator Douglas received the Democratic nomination in 1868 with an eye toward creating a smaller Federal government. He didn’t mind that some Federal departments were integrated(1) but he recotgnized, as he put in one campaign speech, that, “These United States have now become ‘The United States,’ a polity which is much more homogenous in its outlook than before the Civil War. However, we cannot ignore that there are regions of this country which have a desire for much less integration than some are calling for. Is it good that free men of any race can vote, certainly, those in the North and West are perhaps freer and we covet their votes, but we cannot pretend that Massachusetts, Illinois, Alabama, and California all have the same ideals.”

His Vice President, Nathaniel Banks, had been involved in state politics before serving in the war. He failed to receive any promotions, not distinguishing himself much, and General Scott once candidly told him, “You may wish to be a brave soldier, but you will best serve your country returning to civilian leadership.” He returned and became Governor of Massachusetts before entering the House of Representatives. The fact that he’d tried to fight to preserve the Union, even though he’d done poorly, was spun by Douglas’ campaign into a positive, and the Democrats won rather comfortably in 1868.

Part of Douglas’ appeal was in the South, thanks to people such as Robert E. Lee. Lee had come out against lynching and other problems, but generally supported Douglas’ efforts to protect the rights of states. “What Senator Douglas believes in,” Lee said in the last days of the campaign, “is the will of the people, of democracy. Having learned his lesson about the evils of slavery, and seen the war which the Lord allowed to eliminate it, he will now govern with kindness and consideration for the plight of the Freedman who truly needs it without going overboard as the Republicans did.” Another time, Lee said, “If there are Freedmen who are properly educated as has been proposed by the majority then of course let them vote once they are educated as to the issues, but even Thomas Jefferson did not believe an uneducated mass of people should be given the vote when they cannot understand the issues.”

President Douglas appointed Samuel Tilden his Attorney General after Tilden followed that position in New York starting in 1856 with several other positions in New York government(3), with a desire to crack down on corruption and streamline things to make them more efficient. He did keep a semblance of the Freedmens’ Bureau but rooted out lots of corruption in it and other areas.

Sadly, Douglas died in February of 1874, having exerted much energy in his time in Washington. Banks was seen as a rather weak president, and Tilden ended up getting the nomination and winning the 1876 election. Ill health kept him to only one term.(4) Tilden continued Douglas’ and banks’ work by pushing through comprehensive Civil Service and other reform. While these went well, economic problems were largely blamed on him, and the Democrats were doomed in 1880. In fact, some believe Banks would have lost had he been their candidate in 1876, since Tilden was at least a fresh face who couldn’t have the economic problems totally pinned on him.

Democrats also pushed back the efforts, begun by Seward, to expand the United States.

After Seward had purchased Alaska from Russia, and got the U.S. involved in a few other small areas, the next big attempt at a purchase would be by President Chase in 1868, with the island of Hispaniola. The people had started to tire of the Republicans, and Democrats would be a majority in both houses after 1868 – though just barely – but even some Democrats supported this move as many in the South simply wanted the Freedmen to leave.

However, enough opposed the purchse that it failed to pass, which was just as well. The people of Hispaniola wanted independence more than anything. And, blacks didn’t move to the new territories that were purchased, anyway. Instead, the large state of Wisconsin, along with Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and New York became the destination for quite a few, though many remained in the South, too, or went to the Plains. President Douglas offered plenty of incentives for them to go, and perhaps 50,000 in his 8 years and the previous 8 did move west to the Plaints or the former Mexican territories or New Mexico.

President Douglas was, in the words of one historian, “perhaps more racist than his opponents, certainly less willing to help blacks, and yet not so cold and callous that he would wish them harm. Rather, he simply let States’ Rights become the norm, continuing the move toward a much less centralized government, one much more willing to let the states run their own business.” In other words, from 1869-1881, the main goal was eliminating corruption, downsizing the government, and letting states be free to do as they pleased. Luckily, lynching ws by and large never done, but extreme prejudice haunted the South. The Republicans, in 1880 decided to get back to basics and push for education again, rather than the radical programs of the Chase administration.

The slowly weakening presidency and government in general – even with the Republicans the last two terms, as each man had served only one term, became a problem for some Americans because of the Long Depression. It had begun soon before, but really hit its stride in the middle 1870s.(5) A larger government effort was seen as necessary, and the Republicans with their larger government had been the party to provide that earlier in the form of the Whigs with their internal improvements. Some more progressive sorts were even beginning to get the idea of government help for the poor in situations such as the Long Depression, though those would only slowly begin to develop. As it was, Tilden’s last year or so in office was spent with him getting a little sicker, as his health declined, something else that didn’t bode well for the Democrats.

As Republicans regained control of the country, and took credit for the boom of the 1880s under James Garfield from 1881-1889(6), there would be even more advances in Civil Rights, as education was proposed as a main concept which the Federal government should support with all its effort. Indeed, a modified Civil Rights bill was passed thanks to a more liberal Supreme Court borne of the 1860s selections, one which had only struck down part of the original Civil Rights Act of the late 1860s and which had upheld the Federal law banning lynchings.(7)

Events in Europe had taken interesting turns, meanwhile, as the United States had little impact at first, but the failure of the U.S. to open Japan up led to some major butterflies, as did the U.S.’s strong presence preventing France’s Napoleon III from fulfilling what he was tempted to do in intervening in Mexico. Instead, he looked elsewhere.

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(1) OTL State was in 1863.

(2) He doesn’t contract an illness in 1861 in TTL, as that was partly due to his being weaker from trying so hard to preserve the Union; he isn’t even in the same place TTL in which he became ill as he was OTL. In TTL after an unsuccessful campaign he retires back to Illinois and writes memoirs and considers what to do next. However, he is a tireless worker who could very easily have died in office, though given an extra 12.5 years of life in TTL.

(3) Tilden lost an election for New York Attorney general in 1855; here, he wins and while he was OTl a relative latecomer to politics, given his age, in TTL he can get to state office more quickly and get a position in the Douglas cabinet.

(4) He died in the mid-1880s OTL and didn’t run in 1880 even as people tried to “re-elect” him, so the strain of the Presidency and time before in public office would almost surely weaken him, and especially since he would have won a narrow victory in 1876, it’s likely he’d choose not to run, though he still lives a few years past his Presidency. .

(5) It starts a bit earlier than OTL because the Civil War was earlier, but not by much as that was only one small factor.

(6) Garfield isn’t shot in TTL because the civil service reform prevents the OTL shooter, Charles Guteau, from thinking he could get such a huge job as Ambassador to England; though Guteau may do something dumb, he won’t do what he did OTL.

(7) Radicals making Court appointments would help drastically; though it wouldn’t be as drastic as 1964’s legislation, it would be markedly better than OTL before 1964 and the upholding of an anti-lynching bill would also be very helpful for Southern blacks.

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Note: I have some European updates but not a lot - due to time constraints I won't go much beyond 40-odd years after the POD. I also left it open about the U.S. getting something smaller like the Danish Virgin Islands early (possible, Denmark might sell them after their war in 1864) or Guam, I'm not totally sure how much the Congress would be willing to okay. But, I'm glad you're enjoying it.
 
Part 11 – Last One In Is A Rotten Egg

Europe wasn’t impacted much by the United States in the mid-19th century. What did they care what was going on an ocean away? Sure, the British were really hoping – as happened – that at least one big cotton state would remain unblockaded. And, it was. Though the price rose some with less cotton available, that was made up for by Egyptian cotton, and by 1855 cotton once again began to flow out of South Carolina and elsewhere, too. (Of course, there had been some smugglers snaking it into neutral North Carolina, but not enough for the Union to care.)

The higher price for more scarce cotton from the States meant it was a little tougher for the British, however, to invest in a lot with the war on in the Crimea. They had a large empire to run and had to supply cotton clothes to some of their soldiers, as well as a few other products like food that became a little trickier to get from the U.S..(1)

So, the British were a little more anxious than they might have been to open up Japanese ports and, having forced them open, to get food and things from them. Therefore, late in 1855, after orders from London, the British Navy stormed into Tokyo Bay and did just that.

It was as if someone had shouted, “Last one in is a rotten egg” among European imperial planners. However, it was not the Russians whom the British had to worry about, as it turned out, though that was their initial concern, keeping the Russians from opening up Japan. The new Tsar, Alexander II, got a victory in the Baltic to let him save face with a surrender. Russia’s economy was a mess, so much so they sold Alaska to the U.S. when President Seward early in his second term. They might have forced Japan open, anyway, but they had to modernize and make other changes, which Alexander began to do They would have their chance in China later.

The French had been thinking about the same thing, though they didn’t have quite as strong of a presence in the Pacific as the British. Of coruse,t heys till could have – America might have, after all – but now that the British had opened Japan up, Napoleon III felt he had to get involved in Vietnam, which he did in a major way. However, before this got going, the Second Opium War broke out, and China became a hot spot.

The Chinese had captured Lord Elgin, a British negotiator, and – hearing of Britain’s designs on Japan and fearing they might be next – the Chinese sought even more forcefully than they might have to hammer home that they were superior to these Europeans. In so doing, they went just a little too far and wound up killing Elgin.(2)

The French decided to sue this to try to totally dominate China, too. So, they pushed for the burning of the Forbidden City.(3) The British were concerned that the burning of the entire Forbidden City would harm peace negotiations, and preferred to only burn the Summer Palace. However, anger over Elgin’s death plus French insistence prevailed. The conflagration resulted in a wider war which lasted a year longer. The British began to send more and more troops, and finally in 1861, the Chinese agreed to a humiliating peace. The death of the Emperor in 1861, leading to a small boy becoming emperor, helped lead to the agreement to grab little pieces of China. And yet, they needed to prop up the emperor, since the Taiping Rebellion was still under way. This led to friction between Britain and France.

China was too big for even all the nations of Europe to swallow. But, the most Southeastern province of China, Guangxi, which was closest to Vietnam, was given to France, along with Hainan. Tibet was made independent and placed in Britain’s sphere of influence a la India, and Russia would be able to take Mongolia – or at least the British wouldn’t argue against it – and possibly a small bit of Westernmost China. However, the French wanted more, causing one MP to quip that, “The best part of having French forces acting in concert with ours is that we can keep an eye on them.”

The Taiping Rebellion was going on at this time. China’s Civil War was incredibly destructive, but like the Ottomans, the British and French wanted to keep the Empire afloat because they didn’t like the alternative. Therefore, the British tried to put pressure on France to not take any more of Southeastern China. However, the French countered that the Southeastern part was where the Taiping Rebellion had its source of strength. The more they took, they argued, the less power the Taiping had. So, they began to move into Guangdong, too, claiming that they needed that part to access the main Taiping-held areas. Then, they simply refused to leave Guangdong, though they wisely chose not to grab any more.

Still, the French and British relationship became strained; France was knocking on the doors of Macao, owned by Portugal, Britain’s centuries-long ally, as it was.. Siam, at least, could be a buffer between France’s burgeoning Indochinese colony and British Burma. But, what the French seemed to be proposing was beyond ludicrous to some. Although, one proposal that Napoleon III brought up was clearly impossible, and some wonder if he was even serious. It is still talked about on alternate history boards to this day, though.(4)

France wanted a puppet that would be sure to support their itnerests, so they actively courted Maximilian Hapsburg. They considered Mexico, but the U.S. was aiding Benito Juarez and any Mexican rebellion would be easily knocked out by America’s power. Besides, Britain might even oppose them, as they had supported the Monroe Doctrine from the start.

However, while they could attack Vietnam and set Maximilian over them, China was an even more appealing thought.

Napoleon III’s advisors quickly talked him out of it, though. Indochina was one thing, but transportation between Europe and China would make defeating the Chinese as a whole – and almost surely the British - impossible. The Chinese would never accept a Hapsburg, either; they would want an actual Chinese person who was schooled in their Confucian ways, not in the Hapsburgs’ strict Catholicism. So, even if the French could get Maximilian to rebuild the Forbidden City and show great generosity toward China, there would be intense opposition, even without taking into account what the British would say to such a plan.

Instead, the French were determined to take Southeast Asia. They invaded Vietnam in 1862, and played on fears that the current emperor would grow as despised as a previous one had been. The emperor had no children, so before he could adopt any heirs, the French seized the capital after months of fighting. Maximilian was quickly promised the position of emperor once the French got control of the country.

The Vietnamese people didn’t totally like havinga foreigner – especially a Catholic Hapsburg – rule them, though. They began to rebel in 1863, causing the French to respond by sending in troops, though Cambodia and Laos would be ceded to French Indochina by treaty. Maximilian withdrew for the time being, as the French established a military presence. By attacking from their new position in China, they were able to overwhelm Vietnam within a couple years.(5)

However, as they did so, events in Europe since the Italian unification had begun to get very interesting. Especially because Bismarck, the German chancellor, was very interested in trying to take on Austria while the French were finishing establishing themselves in Asia.

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(1) In other words, the butterflies aren’t too great in the Crimean War, and the results are about the same all around, but the British mindset is changed a little to make them more eager to jump in first on Jeapan.

(2) OTL Elgin was captured but not killed.

(3) Considered by both and rejected OTL, here British anger in the field, even before news got back to London, plus French desires to one-up Britain cause them to do so.

(4) TTL’s Sealion, in other words.

(5) OTL, the war against Vietnam lasted from 1883-1885, so a couple years is possible here, too.
 
Part 12 – Let’s All Stare At Each Other For A While

The 1860s was a time of immense uncertainty in Europe. It began with Italian unification, after a few little wars. It continued with the Prussians quickly defeating Denmark in a war in 1864 and then, as the French forces in Vietnam returned home, the Germans beat Austria in the Seven Weeks’ War, which established them, not Austria, as the likely unifiers of Germany, although the southern German states weren’t quite ready to join with the northern ones. They still feared French invasion, which usually came through them.

Austria’s defeat was an immense shock to Napoleon III, who had seen Austria as France’s natural enemy, just as they had been for centuries with the exception of that brief period around the time of the Seven Years’ War. And, even that had taken a shocking diplomatic change which had stunned the rest of Europe, too.

Austria was miffed, they’d hoped to have French assistance but the defeat had come too fast. Now, they knew that a significant group had been halfway around the world, but they hadn’t been France’s only troops.

Part of the problem was that Napoleon III, who had hoped to settle down in his old age and transform the country into a Constitutional monarchy, knew he faced opposition from the parliament, which didn’t like the size of the military because it would be loyal to France, especially to a France which had been victorious, by all accounts, in Asia. Napoleon III wanted to show that his military was strong – strong enough to beat the Prussians.

Enter tiny Luxembourg. Germany wanted it, the Dutch wanted rid of it if they could manage to sell it, as the Dutch king was also their leader, France didn’t want it to go to Germany, and the Dutch and Belgians were both quite concerned that war could erupt.

It wasn’t likely, and probably wouldn’t have happened had Napoleon III not been a bit too confident of victory. Even then, his ordered aggression by French soldiers need not have led to the incident of April 9th when several German soldiers were killed. However, for the third time in four years, Prussia found itself involved in a war.

This one would last a lot longer than the ones against Denmark and Austria.

Oh, it wouldn’t be a conflagration like the Seven Years’ War or anything like that, but it lasted for months. Prussian military reforms hadn’t totally been put into place, and the French hadn’t demobilized, so any advantage the Prussians might have had by waiting was lost. Pundits in Britain noted that it was, “A war Bismarck wanted, but not at the time he wanted.”

The only good things for Prussia, besides eventual numerical superiority: Austria was too weakened by the 1866 loss and its own internal crisis; the Danish dithered about joining, but didn’t feel confident at first without seeing what France would do; and, Italy was more concerned with grabbing the Papal States with the French not having their troops stationed there.

However, France still faced problems because of their smaller army, though they did get the upper hand at first. Still, the southern German states also stayed out at first, knowing that they hadn’t yet gotten to the point where they could clearly win..

In the end, Prussian manpower and French inexperience with some of their new weapons meant that a stalemate ensued and a status quo ante bellum ws reached. Prussian power had been checked. However, Napoleon III had really just obtained a draw. The British hosted a conference to determine what to do with the little duchy which nobody seemed to want.

Another Concert of Europe had prevented a major crisis, but now there was a problem. The balance of power was even trickier than before. And, Wilhelm I was calling for annexation of Alsace and Lorraine, as some of his advisors had mentionedlate in the 1867 war, a factor that convinced the French that they needed to put even more effort into it. In the end, though, Bismarck prevailed upon agreeing to a peace. It established a set of boundaries which made many Europeans very uneasy.

First, France now had to try to monitor the balance between the North German Confederation, the Southern German states, and Austria, as it appeared that Prussia – which led the northern German states – seemed likely to be able to unify all of Germany. France wanted to see if they could play them off against other, or maybe convince the Austrians and southern German states to draw closer, they were very concerned that the Prussians would attack Alsace and Lorraine again, despite Bismarck’s not wanting that to happen. Hence, France placed some substantial forces in defense of those regions.

Meanwhile, all Germany and Austria expressed wariness of France, with the least wary, Austria, also being the weakest. Bismarck’s word was good for now – even without wanting war that early he’d managed a draw – but for how long would the great Master of European Diplomacy be able to keep working things to his favor?

Then, there were the British, who seemed more than happy with this scenario but also wanted to prop some German force up if they could to counter Russia. They were concerned - rightfully as it turned out - that Russia might engage in another war against the Ottomans, and that the French might not play nice with them to protect Constantinople, since the French were now trying to expand in Indochina. They knew that if they weren’t careful, France could take even more of China. The questions raised by the events in Europe led many to feel that a major European war might erupt rather quickly.

When war didn’t come in the next few years, people were generally relieved. Perhaps between British and Bismarckian diplomacy, Europe could survive without descending into war. Bismarck was championed around the world as a man who was “truly against war” – after all, the ones he had fought were so short that few had been injured, and he’d shown Austria mercy when he could have ordered troops to march into Vienna easily He knew how to avoid antagonizing others too much.(1)

Then, came the shocking day in July, 1874 when a young Catholic shot him

Bismarck had stood very staunchly opposed to clerical interests and had been extremely outspoken against them several times. He was shot with several bullets and killed.(2)

Bismarck had vociferously threatened to resign a few times when he and Wilhelm I argued. Though Wilhelm was sad to lose Bismarck, he could now place one of his own men in the Chancellor’s role, one who would be much more favorable to his plans. This included possibly another war with France, in which their objectives from before could be met. He was just waitintg for the right opportunity; he knew that the British might jump in, too and hoped to find a time when they would be otherwise occupied, and an ally or two, maybe three..

When a spark ignited by the Russians and Ottomans hit the European powder keg, all sorts of turmoil erupted.

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(1) True OTL, too – indeed, he opposed the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine in OTL’s Franco-Prussian War, but the emperor, Wilhelm I, listened to advisors who supported it.

(2) As per OTL, this time butterflies cause him to die.
 
Retconning this part a bit to be more like OTl as some parts just can't be changed that much by America's changes. So, bits are the same but what would hve been the next part is added then, with a followup epilogue to close out this TL, unless someone wants to add to it.

Part 12 – The Great Game Becomes the Great Boxing Match

The 1860s was a time of immense uncertainty in Europe. It began with Italian unification, after a few little wars. It continued with the Prussians quickly defeating Denmark in a war in 1864 and then, as the French forces in Vietnam returned home, the Germans beat Austria in the Seven Weeks’ War, which established them, not Austria, as the likely unifiers of Germany, although the southern German states weren’t quite ready to join with the northern ones. They still feared French invasion, which usually came through them.

Austria’s defeat was an immense shock to Napoleon III, who had seen Austria as France’s natural enemy, just as they had been for centuries with the exception of that brief period around the time of the Seven Years’ War. And, even that had taken a shocking diplomatic change which had stunned the rest of Europe, too.

Austria was miffed, they’d hoped to have French assistance but the defeat had come too fast. Now, they knew that a significant group had been halfway around the world, but they hadn’t been France’s only troops.

Part of the problem was that Napoleon III, who had hoped to settle down in his old age and transform the country into a Constitutional monarchy, knew he faced opposition from the parliament, which didn’t like the size of the military because it would be loyal to France, especially to a France which had been victorious, by all accounts, in Asia. Napoleon III wanted to show that his military was strong – strong enough to beat the Prussians.

Enter tiny Luxembourg. Germany wanted it, the Dutch wanted rid of it if they could manage to sell it, as the Dutch king was also their leader, France didn’t want it to go to Germany, and the Dutch and Belgians were both quite concerned that war could erupt.

War failed to erupt there, but the Prussians eventually beat the French in a war in 1870-1. This meant that when the Great Game turned into the Great Boxing Match, France and Austria refused to jump in…well, that’s getting ahead of ourselves.(1)

Bismarck hoped to get Germany into the Scramble for China next. Bismarck knew that Germany couldn’t swallow all of China, but he did believe that the Germans should hve a piece of China, just as the British, French, and –bit by bit – the Russians were trying to take. In his assertions of German needs for a sphere of influence, he made especially raging assertions that the French were being led by their clerical ties. This was among a number of Bismarck’s comments that stirred anti-clerical feelings and may have led, some say, to the shocking day in July, 1874 when a young Catholic shot him

Bismarck had stood very staunchly opposed to clerical interests and had been extremely outspoken against them several times. He was shot with several bullets and killed.(2)

Bismarck had vociferously threatened to resign a few times when he and Wilhelm I argued. Though Wilhelm was sad to lose Bismarck, he could now place one of his own men in the Chancellor’s role, one who would be much more favorable to his plans. This included, against the advice of some, support for the Russians.

It wasn’t necessarily open warfare yet, but when the Great Game became the Great Boxing Match, fear of German entry into the war kept France and Austria on the sidelines, lest Germany declare war on them and crush them again. Germany, on the other hand, was leery of British power yet, and so didn’t actually declare war on Britain.

However, German support led the Russians to be a little more willing to test the British, without Bismarck there to smooth things over as the British and Russians tried to come to an understanding over the Russians’ war against the Ottomans.

That was quite dicey, as the Austrians did really want to declare war on the Russians and carve out their own slice of the Balkans, but on the other hand, if the British wound up defeating the Russians, anyway, then perhaps they could get something in the peace deal.

Russia remained at war with Britain longer than the British had expected, voer a year, partly thanks to German financial and other help. Kaiser Wilhelm I hoped to form an alliance betweent he large empires which would take the British down a few pegs and hopefull force the British, in the peace, to give up some of its holdings in China and allow the Germans to get into it where they had been shut out since the spheres that had been grabbed were grabbed before the German Empire had totally formed.

Although, a German Korea would give them the sphere they wanted, too.

That was for the future, however. Germany couldn’t support Russia forever, though. When Czar Alexander was assassinated on February 5, 1880 – by a bomb placed in the palace that also killed members of his family at a state dinner(3) it threw Russia into a tailspin, too. A bomb was placed in the palace, a plot aided by groups from the Ottoman Empire and some of the Muslim minorities in Russia, but led by the leftist group known as the Peoples’ Will.(4) Many members of the group wound up being executed.(5)

Grand Duke Vladimir was at the front laying siege to Constantinople when word was received; he knew he would eventually be regent, as he learned that Alexander’s son, his older brother Alexander, had also died, and if Nicholas had been at that dinner, too, then one of Nicholas’ younger brothers might still be alive. The question was, did he leave, or figure that Grand Duke Alexei, his younger brother, could go and monitor things?

AAs it was, Nicholas, too, had died; George, his next youngest brother, had been healthier as a boy, but later it would be found that he had chronic bronchitis, which would kill him at a young age – his sickness would be blamed on his illness before modern medical science determined what was really at fault. For now, however, the bombing caused some injury to him but he recovered rather easily. He was now Czar.

Needless to say, George was quickly crowned as the new Czar, with several aunts and uncles as regents. Time would tell who would end up coming out on top in the war, but the bombing had increased Russian resolve to “throw everything at the Ottomans.”

The Russians and Ottomans weren’t the only ones that had shake-ups in 1880. King Leopold II of Belhium had arrived as the guest at the state dinner; an ally of Britain’s he’d hoped to try to negotiate an end to the war, which the British knew was taxing the Russians. He also died, leaving his brother Philippe as the new king, and throwing the company which served as a front in the congo into chaos. The Belgians eventually offered it to the British, as they were leery of the Germans and the French seemed too busy in Asia.

While the Russians still tried to defeat the Ottomans for another few weeks, they were clearly spent,a nd would likely have surrendered to the British even without the bombing; revotls were happening in Finland and Poland, after all, aided parly by the British. Russian might had been cowed, and the Russians were forced to look inward. An intense series of crackdowns against leftist groups soon began.

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(1) Roughly OTL’s Franco-Prussian War, maybe a slightly earlier Prussian victory with the French having more men in Asia.

(2) As per OTL, this time butterflies cause him to die, partly because the shooter is more sure to hit Bismarck because just a few more such statements.

(3) Several attempts were made on his life before one was successful in 1881. Here, the war means better security but it also means more determined people who do it. This attempt would have succeeded but the dinner was late starting due to the lateness of the Czar’s nephew, the King of Bulgaria. In TTL, with the war ongoing, it’s more likely that such a plot goes off without a hitch, as said nephew would not have yet been named King of Bulgaria.

(4) There would be some who would join because of the continuing war, and some Ottoman support from the Ottomans, though none of it official.

(5) OTL, when released from prison they wound up working to form the Socialist Revolutionary Party and engaging in more terrorism; here, they are executed because of it being done durigna war and thus such terrorism doesn’t become as big of a problem in Russia.
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I'll see, I might mke this longer than a week, but here's part 6 anyway for now.

Part 6: “Even Henry Clay Couldn’t Have Solved This”

Stratton, for his part, pledged his states to Seward, and asked them to vote accordingly. This is where it got tricky. Okay, trickier.

There is no likely connection between a state's vote for President (especially a plurality vote in a 3 or more way election) and how its House delegation would vote. Lincoln carried California and Oregon in 1860, but
all the Representatives from those states were Breckinridge Democrats. Lincoln carried Illinois, but 5 of Illinois' 9 Representatives were Douglas Democrats.

However, Kentucky and Tennessee bolted from Houston for Seward, because they’d voted Whig and didn’t want to see the Democrats win.

Not in a million years. They wouldn't want a Democrat, but an anti-slavery President would be seen as ultimate catastrophe.
 
Not in a million years. They wouldn't want a Democrat, but an anti-slavery President would be seen as ultimate catastrophe.

Good point - can states abstain, though? I don't think so.:) Maybe they switch with a deal from Seward or maybe just go with Houston, although they wouldn't want him, either. Well, he'd have enough on the 3rd or 4th ballot, anyway.
 
Epilogue (Unless someone else wants to take this further)

As 1900 dawned, the intense attacks on the left by Czar George have died down. He and his wife, Alix of Hesse(1), had only 2 daughters before he died in 1899, leaving his nearly 22-year-old brother, Michael, to be the Czar. He is just beginning to look into spouses, and is considered by many to be “the most eligible bachelor in Europe. As a much healthier man, he has been known to flirt with quite a few women, but it is hoped by those on the Russian court that he will agree to marry to provide a lasting alliance.

Germany has finally drifted into the British camp, but there is a rivalry growing there, so some hope that Michael will marry a British princess, though there are quite a few other possibilities, too, including Denmark, which the British are trying to support as a hedge against the Germans., hoping to build an alliance of nations around Germany to oppose their buildup.

Britain and France are still rivals, and friction may come because of French expansion into Africa after the British began to get a head start in the 1880s, or because of China, where Thailand is no longer a sufficient buffer, in some minds, because it is not only Franch Indochina and British Burma, but now the British have Tibet and are starting to move east while the French move west in China. Tensions could well explode in the Balkans or the Middle East, too.

Russia, however, is rather docile otherwise, with most of the far Left dead, rather than in prison. This has allowed Michael to promise to be a reforming Czar and to give Finland more freedom and perhaps give the Poles the same treatment, though some remark that he only says this because he will be too busy with women to rule autocratically.(2)

In the United States, there is some question s to whether President Seward won with 16 or 18 votes in the 1852 election once it went to the House, with all the wheeling nd dealing – the main questions being Kentucky and Tennessee, where it is revealed that their hatred of the Democrats meant they really abstained at times in the balloting, and only went with Seward, perhaps, because of some deal – it does appear now that much larger payouts were made in the compensated emancipation to their constituents versus other states which had remained in the Union. However, he’d have won on the next ballot, anyway, for certain.

Either way, the national desire to repair the breaches of the Civil War had led to slow improvement in rights for blacks in the U.S.; though there had been backlash against the radical court upholding the modified Civil Rights bills and such, Democrts such as Stephen Douglas had proclaimed, “we will not do as Jackson and refuse to uphold the Court’s views; however, it is a certainty that this is as far as we shall go.” President Garfield pushed for more education and privately supported the efforts of Octavius Catto(3) and Booker T. Washington to uplift the “talented tenth,” as Washignton called them.

Grover Cleveland had won in 1888 against James Blaine, who was seen as corrupt by some, and who actually managed to get nominated again in 1892, though some said that a better choice might have beaten Cleveland. Blaine hd done a good job as Secretary of state, though, and there ws still some sense that that position could lead to the White House.

It did in a very unusual way in 1893.

Even if he’d been out of office President Cleveland would hve needed surgery, it seems, but with the stress of the economic crisis making him overworked and more tired, he didn’t take as good of a care of his body and in early 1893, he underwent an operation to try to remove part of his jaw due to cancer. The cancer had spread, though. By November of 1893, he was dead.(4)

Vice President Allen Thurman had been a compromise choice in 1888, but he’d been quite old – almost 80 when his term expired in 1983. The office of Vice President had drained him, and had he been re-nominated, he’d have died during the term, anyway; within months, inf act. Instead, the Democrats decided they needed someone else.

Thomas F. bayard had been a very well-respected Senator from Delaware. While it was question by some, the choice of Bayard as Vice President made sense to a lot of people. Cleveland could get someone who was something of a Southerner then. Thurman had been very against blacks voting earlier in his life, and so – while he’d softened his stance to get the nomination – someone like Bayard could possibly draw more black votes.

President Cleveland had consuled with Bayard before he died about steps to take to ease the Depression, and Bayard proclaimed he ws doing these to the best of his ability. However, like Van Buren in the Panic of 1837, he was blamed for the country not getting better, and lost his bid for re-nomination in 1896. Still, with Bayard having been State Secretary for 4 years before under Cleveland, it was seen as a logical progression hat made some wonder if Cleveland had been ill before the election.(5)

The plan had worked, as Cleveland had drawn more black votes than expected, but the Republicans won again in 1896. Race relations decent, but not nearly equal in the South, and even the North has issues.(6)

In foreign relations, after the expansionism of Garfield, Bayard fostered solid working relationship with the British, drwing the country closer as Secretary of State and then as President. While it’s doubtful the U.S. would ever enter a European conflict, increased trade with the British even if there should be a war is likely, whereas the U.S. had tried to stay out of the Anglo-Russian War entirely as far as trade. Cuba gained its freedom in the 1870s, but the U.S. does own Puerto Rico, bought from the Spanish, and a few Pacific islands, and has now annexed Hawaii.

The Chinese are antagonistic against the European presence, but they can do little about the entrenchment, thought the chances of fighting breaking out grow with each passing week. Indochina is now run by Maximilian as a puppet emperor, but he has enacted enough reforms that some Chinese peasants are fleeing to the part of China he rules, which is something of an annoyance to the Chinese.

The British, partly due to the war against Russia and partly due to concerns about France, took over Korea in the late 1870s after the French made inroads into them. This has irked Japan, which ended up grabbing Taiwan, which means that the British – which opened up Japan – had used that in part to get into Korea. In other words, there, too, there was plenty of room for possible conflicts.

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(1) One figures she’d marry the Czar since she marries the man who would become Czar OTL.

(2) He caused scandal OTL by his relationship with a Russian noblewoman, and while this wouldn’t have yet started, others would have likely surfaced, giving rise to this discussion.

(3) the early Civil Rights leader is not assassinated TTL, as the battle over voting comes to a head earlier and in different ways before he can become really active.

(4) Stress makes him a bit more ill and makes it spread a bit faster, but also, he might not have had it looked at in time TTL.

(5) he probably wasn’t, though it’s possible. More likely, Bayard is simply chosen because they know Blaine will give it another go so they don’t hve to face a Midwesterner, and because unlike OTL when he was Secretary of State and then in private life for 4 years, here he is the incumbent Secretary of State when the 1892 Convention takes place.

(6) OTL’s 1940 or so would be a good comparison.
 
Good point - can states abstain, though? I don't think so.

There are no rules specified. There is, I believe, a presumption that am absolute majority of the delegation is required to cast the state's vote. If a state has an even number of Representatives, who split evenly, then no vote is cast. Also, there is no requirement that Representatives vote. If the sole Representative from a one-seat state abstains, the state abstains.
 
There are no rules specified. There is, I believe, a presumption that am absolute majority of the delegation is required to cast the state's vote. If a state has an even number of Representatives, who split evenly, then no vote is cast. Also, there is no requirement that Representatives vote. If the sole Representative from a one-seat state abstains, the state abstains.

Okay, thanks; still a likely Seward win in 3 ballots, with some incentives to Kentucky and Tennessee - and with the 1850 election like OTL's 1858, it might have been faster for Seward, anyway. And, most importantly, it was fun doing that 7-way election.

I guess all the elections I recall that go to the House on this site, anyway, have had all the states voting.:)
 
If I could get the full terms and offices for the Presidents, I could make you some more of these?

attachment.php
 
Cool, thanks.
Presidents:
9: W.H. Harrison (1841-1841)
10. Daniel Webster (1841-1845)
11. Lewis Cass (1845-1849)
12. Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) (Died as OTL)
13. James Buchnanan (1850-1853) (Talk about unlucky 13 :)
14. William H. Seward (1853-1861)
15. Salmon P. Chase (1861-1869)
16. Stephen A. Douglas (1869-1874) (Died of natural causes around mid-year)
17. Nathaniel P. Banks (1874-1877)
18. Samuel Tilden (1877-1881)
19. James A. Garfield (1881-1889)
20. Grover Cleveland (1889-1893) (Re-elected in 1892, died late 1893)
21. Thomas F. Bayard (1893-1897) (Succeeded Cleveland, VP elected in 1893, Sec'y of State before that)
22. William McKinley (1897-) (TL ends in 1900)
 

d32123

Banned
Just read through this TL. Great stuff. A wee bit convergent at times, but it's clear that you're a talented writer and put a lot of effort into this. We need more 19th century political TL's!
 
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