Union and Liberty: An American TL
- Thread starter wilcoxchar
- Start date
Sweet Update!
Tis cool to see anarchy being a bit more serious a threat and (judging from a previous update long ago) also a philosophy than in OTL. At the moment it still seems a little chaotic, but perhaps after the war it gains further support and organization. Perhaps it evolves into a kind of libertarianism.
Ooh and Harding died early. Will this lead to anything in particular or just killing off a notable figure?
Tis cool to see anarchy being a bit more serious a threat and (judging from a previous update long ago) also a philosophy than in OTL. At the moment it still seems a little chaotic, but perhaps after the war it gains further support and organization. Perhaps it evolves into a kind of libertarianism.
Ooh and Harding died early. Will this lead to anything in particular or just killing off a notable figure?
Isn't the very definition of anarchism anarchy? That would mean no organization or endgame plan for them. On the other hand, getting organized would lead to them actually adopting a game plan. Whether they become large enough to actually influence anything, that's a question better left to wilcoxchar.
If it were to evolve into ITTL libertarianism, the American anarchists are going to need some sort of major figure to combine their ideas and unite them under one flag.
No offense, but you clearly have no idea what Anarchist ideology is about.
Let me enlighten you with some Wikipedia articles on this.
Thanks, most of what I know is coming off of a course I took a few semesters ago.
Next update will be done this weekend!
That was mostly just killing off a notable figure, and to make Hanna's Ohio look more corrupt.
Part One Hundred Sixteen: The Great War Cometh
Update's done!
Part One Hundred Sixteen: The Great War Cometh
Cry Havoc:
While the Great War raged on in the rest of the world, events in North America continued to bring the continent closer and closer to the brink of entering into the conflict. With Great Britain embroiled in patrolling the high seas, pro-Irish and republican groups in the Laurentine countries stepped up the violence against the British government's arms in North America. The majority of these groups' activities tended to target the Canadian parliament, seen as the most supportive of London out of the Laurentine countries, and the various governors general of the dominions.
In the first months of 1908, there were two major attacks in British North America. The first was a pyroglycerin explosion at the Canadian parliament building in Kingston on February 5, 1907 just before the new session of parliament was to begin[1]. The bombing was similar to the bombing that took place at the Philadelphia Mint seven years prior. The bombing took place in the morning just as members of parliament were assembling in the building, and in the blast two MPs and nine others were killed with dozens more injured. Just weeks later on February 28, the governor general of Acadia was assassinated by three gunmen. The assassination of the governor general caused yet another diplomatic incident between the United States and London as the men who carried out the assassination were part of an American pro-Irish group known as the New Fenian Brotherhood.
The New Fenians were started by John Devoy and John O'Mahony in the United States in 1873 in New York City[2]. With many Irish Catholics migrating to the Americas, many settled in major American cities and formed clubs to promote their Irish and Gaelic heritage. These communities were also hotbeds of anti-British sentiment and called for support for Irish independence. However, after the Irish diaspora quickly grew, many groups including the New Fenians switched to calling for an independent Irish state outside of Ireland. The logical location for the state was Acadia, since it contained the largest proportion of Catholic Irish in the diaspora. Devoy and his New York group expanded to other groups around the country, sending money to pro-independence groups in Acadia. After the assassination a call was made in London and by the Acadian and Canadian governments to president Roosevelt to disband the New Fenians, and extradite one of the gunmen who had managed to reach the United States. The Roosevelt administration refused and though the gunman was placed in custody and imprisoned the British government remained unsatisfied.
Let Slip the Dogs of War:
While the events in 1907 and 1908 had strained relations between the United States and Great Britain and inching the United States toward joining the Alliance Carolingien, the United States was reluctant to enter the conflict. President Roosevelt was more concerned with domestic policy concerns and dealing with his reelection and handling the complicated balance in Congress. The president's memoirs indicated that he had fully intended to enter the war in 1909 should he be reelected.
However, that plan changed on April 19, 1908. During the end of a visit to Buffalo as the president was boarding a train, the assassin Drew Duckworth[3] fired four shots at Roosevelt from the platform. One of the shots hit the president, but did not severely wound him. As onlookers rushed to Roosevelt's aid, he waved them off, instead directing them to go after Duckworth. Duckworth was apprehended in the station while Roosevelt quickly recovered and calmly boarded the train. As a crowd gathered on the platform, Roosevelt came back to the door of the car and gave an impromptu speech. The exact words of the speech were not recorded, but the president assured the crowd that he was fine. Gesturing to the wound, the president recalled hunting for elk in Colorado the previous summer, and that "it took three shots to take down a bull moose. It'll take more than that to take me down."[4] The train's departure was delayed as a doctor determined that an x-ray should be taken. After an x-ray was taken doctors determined that the bullet wound was not serious. The bullet was not removed as the procedure was deemed to be more dangerous than leaving it in[5].
Rumors quickly spread throughout the country about the assassination attempt. One of the more popular ones that took hold was that Duckworth was a British spy. There was some evidence to this as Duckworth was a Canadian citizen and had frequent correspondence in London even during his brief stay in Buffalo leading up to the assassination attempt. However the British government denied these allegations and the extent of Duckworth's involvement with the governments of either Canada or Great Britain has never been released. However, the media ran with the allegation and during Duckworth's trial he seemed to enjoy the attention and played up the spying. Duckworth was eventually hanged later in 1908, though his sentencing was postponed until after the election.
The assassination attempt had a major impact on both the election campaign and foreign policy. Roosevelt did not betray any worry over the fate of the administration at the time of the shooting, but it became an issue for the president later in the campaign. The assassination attempt made the president rethink the role of the vice president, and in private letters he revealed that he was considering replacing William Hope Harvey on the ticket with someone stronger. At the 1908 Progressive convention, Harvey was indeed replaced on the ticket by Secretary of War William Howard Taft.
In foreign policy, the assassination attempt was the final trigger to get the United States to join the Alliance Carolingien and bring North America into the Great War. During Duckworth's trial, many prominent newspapers emphasized the assassin's ties to Canada and Great Britain in order to stir up public support for entering the war. Joseph Pulitzer in particular used his ownership of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York Herald to drum up support for a war. Frequent articles were published embellishing the details of the Drew Duckworth trial and his ties to the British government. Editors such as Pulitzer also promoted stories of atrocities against Anglo settlers in California and pro-independence activities in the Laurentine countries during these years. With growing public support for entry into the Great War, Congress passed a resolution declaring war on Great Britain and her allies and colonies on May 24, 1908.
[1] Remember that the Canadian parliament was divided between Kingston and Montreal.
[2] Devoy founded the Clan Na Gael in OTL and O'Mahony founded the OTL Fenian Brotherhood. It's called New Fenian ITTL because of the idea that Acadia was a sort of New Eire.
[3] A cookie for whoever gets what the name references.
[4] Fun fact: Roosevelt would often spend summers in Glenwood Springs, Colorado in OTL, and during his presidency and Taft's the Hotel Colorado there was called the White House of the West. I was there a few months ago for the weekend and wanted to include it somewhere.
[5] And because Teddy just isn't Teddy without a bullet in his chest.
Part One Hundred Sixteen: The Great War Cometh
Cry Havoc:
While the Great War raged on in the rest of the world, events in North America continued to bring the continent closer and closer to the brink of entering into the conflict. With Great Britain embroiled in patrolling the high seas, pro-Irish and republican groups in the Laurentine countries stepped up the violence against the British government's arms in North America. The majority of these groups' activities tended to target the Canadian parliament, seen as the most supportive of London out of the Laurentine countries, and the various governors general of the dominions.
In the first months of 1908, there were two major attacks in British North America. The first was a pyroglycerin explosion at the Canadian parliament building in Kingston on February 5, 1907 just before the new session of parliament was to begin[1]. The bombing was similar to the bombing that took place at the Philadelphia Mint seven years prior. The bombing took place in the morning just as members of parliament were assembling in the building, and in the blast two MPs and nine others were killed with dozens more injured. Just weeks later on February 28, the governor general of Acadia was assassinated by three gunmen. The assassination of the governor general caused yet another diplomatic incident between the United States and London as the men who carried out the assassination were part of an American pro-Irish group known as the New Fenian Brotherhood.
The New Fenians were started by John Devoy and John O'Mahony in the United States in 1873 in New York City[2]. With many Irish Catholics migrating to the Americas, many settled in major American cities and formed clubs to promote their Irish and Gaelic heritage. These communities were also hotbeds of anti-British sentiment and called for support for Irish independence. However, after the Irish diaspora quickly grew, many groups including the New Fenians switched to calling for an independent Irish state outside of Ireland. The logical location for the state was Acadia, since it contained the largest proportion of Catholic Irish in the diaspora. Devoy and his New York group expanded to other groups around the country, sending money to pro-independence groups in Acadia. After the assassination a call was made in London and by the Acadian and Canadian governments to president Roosevelt to disband the New Fenians, and extradite one of the gunmen who had managed to reach the United States. The Roosevelt administration refused and though the gunman was placed in custody and imprisoned the British government remained unsatisfied.
Let Slip the Dogs of War:
While the events in 1907 and 1908 had strained relations between the United States and Great Britain and inching the United States toward joining the Alliance Carolingien, the United States was reluctant to enter the conflict. President Roosevelt was more concerned with domestic policy concerns and dealing with his reelection and handling the complicated balance in Congress. The president's memoirs indicated that he had fully intended to enter the war in 1909 should he be reelected.
However, that plan changed on April 19, 1908. During the end of a visit to Buffalo as the president was boarding a train, the assassin Drew Duckworth[3] fired four shots at Roosevelt from the platform. One of the shots hit the president, but did not severely wound him. As onlookers rushed to Roosevelt's aid, he waved them off, instead directing them to go after Duckworth. Duckworth was apprehended in the station while Roosevelt quickly recovered and calmly boarded the train. As a crowd gathered on the platform, Roosevelt came back to the door of the car and gave an impromptu speech. The exact words of the speech were not recorded, but the president assured the crowd that he was fine. Gesturing to the wound, the president recalled hunting for elk in Colorado the previous summer, and that "it took three shots to take down a bull moose. It'll take more than that to take me down."[4] The train's departure was delayed as a doctor determined that an x-ray should be taken. After an x-ray was taken doctors determined that the bullet wound was not serious. The bullet was not removed as the procedure was deemed to be more dangerous than leaving it in[5].
Rumors quickly spread throughout the country about the assassination attempt. One of the more popular ones that took hold was that Duckworth was a British spy. There was some evidence to this as Duckworth was a Canadian citizen and had frequent correspondence in London even during his brief stay in Buffalo leading up to the assassination attempt. However the British government denied these allegations and the extent of Duckworth's involvement with the governments of either Canada or Great Britain has never been released. However, the media ran with the allegation and during Duckworth's trial he seemed to enjoy the attention and played up the spying. Duckworth was eventually hanged later in 1908, though his sentencing was postponed until after the election.
The assassination attempt had a major impact on both the election campaign and foreign policy. Roosevelt did not betray any worry over the fate of the administration at the time of the shooting, but it became an issue for the president later in the campaign. The assassination attempt made the president rethink the role of the vice president, and in private letters he revealed that he was considering replacing William Hope Harvey on the ticket with someone stronger. At the 1908 Progressive convention, Harvey was indeed replaced on the ticket by Secretary of War William Howard Taft.
In foreign policy, the assassination attempt was the final trigger to get the United States to join the Alliance Carolingien and bring North America into the Great War. During Duckworth's trial, many prominent newspapers emphasized the assassin's ties to Canada and Great Britain in order to stir up public support for entering the war. Joseph Pulitzer in particular used his ownership of the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York Herald to drum up support for a war. Frequent articles were published embellishing the details of the Drew Duckworth trial and his ties to the British government. Editors such as Pulitzer also promoted stories of atrocities against Anglo settlers in California and pro-independence activities in the Laurentine countries during these years. With growing public support for entry into the Great War, Congress passed a resolution declaring war on Great Britain and her allies and colonies on May 24, 1908.
[1] Remember that the Canadian parliament was divided between Kingston and Montreal.
[2] Devoy founded the Clan Na Gael in OTL and O'Mahony founded the OTL Fenian Brotherhood. It's called New Fenian ITTL because of the idea that Acadia was a sort of New Eire.
[3] A cookie for whoever gets what the name references.
[4] Fun fact: Roosevelt would often spend summers in Glenwood Springs, Colorado in OTL, and during his presidency and Taft's the Hotel Colorado there was called the White House of the West. I was there a few months ago for the weekend and wanted to include it somewhere.
[5] And because Teddy just isn't Teddy without a bullet in his chest.
Oh my.
Could this possibly be what ultimately throws away Canada's Independence to America?!
Could this possibly be what ultimately throws away Canada's Independence to America?!
Yes! Can't wait to see how this plays out. I see the U.S. making massive gains in NA. Cheers!
Same here, I much rather see the US so rounded by many, little satellite states, including New Eire than it annexing the remaining half of North America.
For California I'm still down to make it TTL's Cuba over annexation or satelitization. Have the US install a puppet government, which promptly get thrown out by an anti-imperialist social-anarchist force - since anarchy is TTLs radical political theory - that remains mostly isolationist but definitely closed to the US. (Also I still don't get how bad can Cali be to Anglo settlers. They have to make at least a 30% of the population. Some of them are probably well off and have made their money of prospecting, logging, or fishing. I get that the Californios probably don't like the Mormons, but I also think they'll be able to tell the difference between them and loyal Anglo-Californios. )
Anyway awesome update Wilcox. I really did not see it coming, the way the US entered the war. Thought you would go with the whole the Brits sank and American boat in the Caribbean route. This was so much better in so many ways.
Kudos again for having one of the most original TLs out there. And I am really looking forward to see the American front develop. Writing and reading about the wars can be slow and tedious, but this has just paid off, and I think we will all enjoy some US vs California action in the Rockies and Cascades, US vs Britain in Canada and Acadia, Mormon rebellions in Espejo and Desseret, and even US vs Portugal in Congo/Angola. Brilliant set up across the board!!
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I agree with your sentiments about the TL. As for California treating Anglos poorly, I'm going to chalk that up to the press making whatever "oppression" that is happening into something much worse than it could be. I really like the idea of California going anarchist in the vein of TTL Cuba.
Just had a thought... in OTL the bullet did not kill TR, but the wound was a major contribution to the rapid decline in his health shortly afterwards. It caused his arthritis to worsen to the point he couldn't do exercise, which followed by obesity (not Taft levels but still no longer the fit bull moose of years prior) and ultimately his death at the age of 60 (not young but not terribly old either).
In TTL we are adding to the wound, 4 years of strenuous wartime Presidency; no matter how badass TR is, this will take a toll on him. I was thinking this will be the only thing stopping TR from running for a 3rd consecutive term in 1912. A 3rd term campaign would not be without precedent in TTL: John C Calhoun finished one, was elected for a second, and ran for a third, and Grover Cleveland ran for a straight 3rd term.
Not sure if you were planning for this Wilcox. But if you did, kudos on thinking ahead. I am certain TR's popularity will remain high and his appointed successor might still be elected (unless the US swings isolationist during the peace accords like OTL) but without TR we might see another 3-way contested election at a very interesting moment in time. Sweet stuff.
In TTL we are adding to the wound, 4 years of strenuous wartime Presidency; no matter how badass TR is, this will take a toll on him. I was thinking this will be the only thing stopping TR from running for a 3rd consecutive term in 1912. A 3rd term campaign would not be without precedent in TTL: John C Calhoun finished one, was elected for a second, and ran for a third, and Grover Cleveland ran for a straight 3rd term.
Not sure if you were planning for this Wilcox. But if you did, kudos on thinking ahead. I am certain TR's popularity will remain high and his appointed successor might still be elected (unless the US swings isolationist during the peace accords like OTL) but without TR we might see another 3-way contested election at a very interesting moment in time. Sweet stuff.
Nice update. Teddy has truly become in this TL our big AH.com joke of him being more badass than Chuck Norris.
An Irish-American nation would be cool if that does happen. Echoing another poster, the US ringed by smaller states rather than devouring the continent would be cool and different.
An Irish-American nation would be cool if that does happen. Echoing another poster, the US ringed by smaller states rather than devouring the continent would be cool and different.
Nice update. Teddy has truly become in this TL our big AH.com joke of him being more badass than Chuck Norris.
Teddy Roosevelt: the honey badger of men.
Nice update. Teddy has truly become in this TL our big AH.com joke of him being more badass than Chuck Norris.
An Irish-American nation would be cool if that does happen. Echoing another poster, the US ringed by smaller states rather than devouring the continent would be cool and different.
I still think in TTL, John C Fremont is a good challenge to Roosevelt for the prize of most bad ass President. Veteran of the Mex-American War, the Oregon War and the President that kept the Union together, ended slavery, and oversaw reconstruction. All he was missing was the bullet in his chest and many would say that it was because, unlike Roosevelt, Fremont dodged it.
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