1779: In order to avoid angering the Iroquois or French, the Dutch government issues the Proclamation of 1779, prohibiting settlement beyond the Appalachians or Alleghainies. It is often violated
1780: Britain declares war on Spain after trading and boundery disputes get out of control. France enters the war because of its alliance with Spain, and the Dutch honor their own anti-British alliance with France. In Le Napoquin, Dutch governors call up most of the colony's able-bodied men to serve in defensive militias, most of which are deployed along the Rappahanock to defend against a feared British overland invasion. Instead, Britain takes the Dutch by surprise, taking undermanned Nouvelle-Angouleme with an assault force in July 1782. The Dutch goveror, Cornelis de Geer, retreats with his surviving men to Mountauban, while Jean-Pierre Dreux, a Huguenot militia commander and former general in the Dutch army, leads several thousand men from the Rappahanock on a mission to liberate Nouvelle-Angouleme, gathering strength from towns in Terre-Adrien and Nassau as they go. On August 3rd, 1782-a date still known as one of Le Napoquin's national holidays-Jean-Pierre Dreux and his men storm over the walls of Nouvelle-Angouleme, catching the British by surprise. The Nouvelle-Angoulemois are quite happy to see the liberating army, and many pull out old guns and begin sniping at British occupiers from rooftops and windows. The British are ultimately forced to retreat, leaving behind a large cache of ammunition. Dreux organizes a garrison of the city and the Chateau d'Hausmann.
March 1783: The British attempt another landing at Nouvelle-Angouleme, believing that they can catch the "inexperienced Huguenot militia" off guard. This, too, doesn't work.
May 1783: The Dutch, having done very poorly in the war and only been saved by France's entering it on their side, sue for peace, making some concessions to the British in India.
April 1783: Cornelis de Geer and his army arrive back at Nouvelle-Angouleme, and de Geer attempts to remove Dreux from command. However, the Dutch had become rather unpopular before the war with their increased taxes and trade restrictions, and the events of the war-in which the Huguenots effectively defended themselves with little Dutch help-have effectively discredited the Dutch among the Napoquinais. In salons and freemasonry meetings-and pubs and streetcorners-across Le Napoquin, people are increasingly beginning to talk of forcing the Dutch into a more equitable arrangement, or, should that prove impossible, breaking away.
Thus, when Dreux is informed of de Geer's impending arrival, he does something that would have been, a few years ago, unthinkable-refuses. The elected Assembly of Nouvelle-Angouleme agrees to go along with Dreux-the gates are closed, weapons are distributed, and the assembly of Nouvelle-Angoumois meets and deposes de Geer as governor. As, legally, it didn't have the authority to do such a thing, the Assembly's Act of Deposition appeals to popular sovereignty and cites the "abuses" of the Dutch administration, its "failure" to protect Nouvelle-Angoumois, and the example of the Dutch Act of Abjuration against King Phillip of Spain. The act ends by stating that, in "deposing" de Geer, the assembly "irrevocably commits itself to the cause of Nouvelle-Angoumois and to Le Napoquin, as a state apart from the Dutch Republic, and to this cause, with firm reliance on the help of God, we pledge our loyalty and our lives".
April 24th, 1783: De Geer's and Dreux's armies meet at the battle of Nouvelle-Angoumois. Dreux allows De Geer (unknowing of the events proceeding his arrival) in, but when the last of his men enter, the gate slams shut and Dreux's men charge out of the surrounding streets and alleys and fire down from rooftops. De Geer's army is largely destroyed.
May-June 1783: The other five provincial assemblies all pass resolutions similar to Nouvelle-Angoumois, deposing their Dutch-appointed governors and electing new ones. The rebellion is not universally popular-skirmishes break out between Dutch loyalists and rebels (or as they quickly begin to call themselves, "Patriots"). In Nassau and Terre-Adrien, which have the highest Dutch populations of Le Napoquin, the conflict is especially severe, with militia breaking apart into Patriot and Loyalist elements.
July 29th: Representatives from the six provincial assemblies convene in Nouvelle-Angouleme as the "Assemblee Nationale du Napoquin". The assembly passes the "Declaration of the Republic of Le Napoquin", unifying all the provinces, and forms an "Army of Le Napoquin", with Dreux as commander.
August 1783: A Dutch army sent to reinforce De Greer is beaten back from landing on Manata, but secures the fortress Ile des Estates (States Island, OTL Governor's Island) and blockaces Nouvelle-Angouleme.
October: Dutch land in Nassau and capture Orange, with the city's prominent Patriots fleeing. The Dutch advance, however, is beaten back by Dreux at the Battle of Ville-Maurice. The War of Le Napoquin independence has well and truly begun.
The war lasts, back and forth, for four more years. Much of the fighting is concentrated in Nassaue and Terre-Adrien provinces, assuming an almost Civil War quality at times due to the number of people still loyal to the Dutch.
1784: The Le Napoquin navy, consisting of converted merchant ships and ex-privateers, is established, and begins engaging in naval operations along the coast.
1785: Britain recognizes the "Republique du Napoquin" and beings sending aid and military advisers.
1787: In the Netherlands, the Dutch Patriots revolt against the autocratic rule of "Hereditary Stadtholder" William IV. The Dutch are forced to withdraw forces from Le Napoquin to deal with it.
1788: The Dutch sue for peace and agree to withdraw from Napoquin.
1790: After much deliberation, the Assemblee Nationale draws up a permanent constitution, with influences from the Dutch Republic, Britain, and France. Le Napoquin will be governed by the National Assembly and six provincial assemblies, each directly elected (though with property qualifications for voting). Each provincial assembly elects a governor, and the National Assembly elects a First Governor. To prevent them from becoming like the overbearing Stadtholders of the Dutch Republic, their powers are circumscribed: its explicitly stated that they serve at the pleasure of their assemblies and may be recalled at any time. A governor can appoint his own cabinet ministers, but these must be ratified by the assembly, and can also be removed at any time. The judicial system is left in the hands of Parliaments*, or courts, whose members are appointed by the assemblies. The constitution also includes a "Declaration of the Rights of the Citizen", protecting freedom of speech, worship, assembly, habias corpus, and other rights.
After hundreds of years of rule by French Catholics, and then Dutch, Napoquin was, finally, a nation of its own.
*This comes from royalist France, where courts were known as "Parliaments".
***********
What do you think? I tried to be original with the constitution, and figure out what people who's main experience was with French and Dutch colonial rule might actually come up with. Thoughts?
EDIT: If anyone from the flag thread is reading this, can you think of a good Flag and CoA for independent Napoquin? I always imagined Napoquin developing a beaver as its symbol early on (first because of the fur trade, but late because a beaver would be symbolic of Calvinist notions of hard work and thrift), and I think the COA of independent Napoquin would include a Phrygian Cap somewhere.
Also, any ideas for the flag? At first I imagined them riffing off the Dutch Orange-White-Blue flag, maybe making it a French style tricolor, but now that I think about it, its a symbol of the House of Orange they just rebelled against, so that might not be so likely. Any ideas?
1780: Britain declares war on Spain after trading and boundery disputes get out of control. France enters the war because of its alliance with Spain, and the Dutch honor their own anti-British alliance with France. In Le Napoquin, Dutch governors call up most of the colony's able-bodied men to serve in defensive militias, most of which are deployed along the Rappahanock to defend against a feared British overland invasion. Instead, Britain takes the Dutch by surprise, taking undermanned Nouvelle-Angouleme with an assault force in July 1782. The Dutch goveror, Cornelis de Geer, retreats with his surviving men to Mountauban, while Jean-Pierre Dreux, a Huguenot militia commander and former general in the Dutch army, leads several thousand men from the Rappahanock on a mission to liberate Nouvelle-Angouleme, gathering strength from towns in Terre-Adrien and Nassau as they go. On August 3rd, 1782-a date still known as one of Le Napoquin's national holidays-Jean-Pierre Dreux and his men storm over the walls of Nouvelle-Angouleme, catching the British by surprise. The Nouvelle-Angoulemois are quite happy to see the liberating army, and many pull out old guns and begin sniping at British occupiers from rooftops and windows. The British are ultimately forced to retreat, leaving behind a large cache of ammunition. Dreux organizes a garrison of the city and the Chateau d'Hausmann.
March 1783: The British attempt another landing at Nouvelle-Angouleme, believing that they can catch the "inexperienced Huguenot militia" off guard. This, too, doesn't work.
May 1783: The Dutch, having done very poorly in the war and only been saved by France's entering it on their side, sue for peace, making some concessions to the British in India.
April 1783: Cornelis de Geer and his army arrive back at Nouvelle-Angouleme, and de Geer attempts to remove Dreux from command. However, the Dutch had become rather unpopular before the war with their increased taxes and trade restrictions, and the events of the war-in which the Huguenots effectively defended themselves with little Dutch help-have effectively discredited the Dutch among the Napoquinais. In salons and freemasonry meetings-and pubs and streetcorners-across Le Napoquin, people are increasingly beginning to talk of forcing the Dutch into a more equitable arrangement, or, should that prove impossible, breaking away.
Thus, when Dreux is informed of de Geer's impending arrival, he does something that would have been, a few years ago, unthinkable-refuses. The elected Assembly of Nouvelle-Angouleme agrees to go along with Dreux-the gates are closed, weapons are distributed, and the assembly of Nouvelle-Angoumois meets and deposes de Geer as governor. As, legally, it didn't have the authority to do such a thing, the Assembly's Act of Deposition appeals to popular sovereignty and cites the "abuses" of the Dutch administration, its "failure" to protect Nouvelle-Angoumois, and the example of the Dutch Act of Abjuration against King Phillip of Spain. The act ends by stating that, in "deposing" de Geer, the assembly "irrevocably commits itself to the cause of Nouvelle-Angoumois and to Le Napoquin, as a state apart from the Dutch Republic, and to this cause, with firm reliance on the help of God, we pledge our loyalty and our lives".
April 24th, 1783: De Geer's and Dreux's armies meet at the battle of Nouvelle-Angoumois. Dreux allows De Geer (unknowing of the events proceeding his arrival) in, but when the last of his men enter, the gate slams shut and Dreux's men charge out of the surrounding streets and alleys and fire down from rooftops. De Geer's army is largely destroyed.
May-June 1783: The other five provincial assemblies all pass resolutions similar to Nouvelle-Angoumois, deposing their Dutch-appointed governors and electing new ones. The rebellion is not universally popular-skirmishes break out between Dutch loyalists and rebels (or as they quickly begin to call themselves, "Patriots"). In Nassau and Terre-Adrien, which have the highest Dutch populations of Le Napoquin, the conflict is especially severe, with militia breaking apart into Patriot and Loyalist elements.
July 29th: Representatives from the six provincial assemblies convene in Nouvelle-Angouleme as the "Assemblee Nationale du Napoquin". The assembly passes the "Declaration of the Republic of Le Napoquin", unifying all the provinces, and forms an "Army of Le Napoquin", with Dreux as commander.
August 1783: A Dutch army sent to reinforce De Greer is beaten back from landing on Manata, but secures the fortress Ile des Estates (States Island, OTL Governor's Island) and blockaces Nouvelle-Angouleme.
October: Dutch land in Nassau and capture Orange, with the city's prominent Patriots fleeing. The Dutch advance, however, is beaten back by Dreux at the Battle of Ville-Maurice. The War of Le Napoquin independence has well and truly begun.
The war lasts, back and forth, for four more years. Much of the fighting is concentrated in Nassaue and Terre-Adrien provinces, assuming an almost Civil War quality at times due to the number of people still loyal to the Dutch.
1784: The Le Napoquin navy, consisting of converted merchant ships and ex-privateers, is established, and begins engaging in naval operations along the coast.
1785: Britain recognizes the "Republique du Napoquin" and beings sending aid and military advisers.
1787: In the Netherlands, the Dutch Patriots revolt against the autocratic rule of "Hereditary Stadtholder" William IV. The Dutch are forced to withdraw forces from Le Napoquin to deal with it.
1788: The Dutch sue for peace and agree to withdraw from Napoquin.
1790: After much deliberation, the Assemblee Nationale draws up a permanent constitution, with influences from the Dutch Republic, Britain, and France. Le Napoquin will be governed by the National Assembly and six provincial assemblies, each directly elected (though with property qualifications for voting). Each provincial assembly elects a governor, and the National Assembly elects a First Governor. To prevent them from becoming like the overbearing Stadtholders of the Dutch Republic, their powers are circumscribed: its explicitly stated that they serve at the pleasure of their assemblies and may be recalled at any time. A governor can appoint his own cabinet ministers, but these must be ratified by the assembly, and can also be removed at any time. The judicial system is left in the hands of Parliaments*, or courts, whose members are appointed by the assemblies. The constitution also includes a "Declaration of the Rights of the Citizen", protecting freedom of speech, worship, assembly, habias corpus, and other rights.
After hundreds of years of rule by French Catholics, and then Dutch, Napoquin was, finally, a nation of its own.
*This comes from royalist France, where courts were known as "Parliaments".
***********
What do you think? I tried to be original with the constitution, and figure out what people who's main experience was with French and Dutch colonial rule might actually come up with. Thoughts?
EDIT: If anyone from the flag thread is reading this, can you think of a good Flag and CoA for independent Napoquin? I always imagined Napoquin developing a beaver as its symbol early on (first because of the fur trade, but late because a beaver would be symbolic of Calvinist notions of hard work and thrift), and I think the COA of independent Napoquin would include a Phrygian Cap somewhere.
Also, any ideas for the flag? At first I imagined them riffing off the Dutch Orange-White-Blue flag, maybe making it a French style tricolor, but now that I think about it, its a symbol of the House of Orange they just rebelled against, so that might not be so likely. Any ideas?
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