I've been meaning to do an entry about the Mormons, but wasn't sure where a good spot was to put it in. They're coming up during Polk's presidency.hzn5pk said:Is there a mormon exodus to the valley of the Great Salt Lake in this time line? How does that effect California?
Thanks! Always great to hear from readers.This is a very good timeline, I've been keeping up with it, though haven't gotten around to commenting on it yet.
The area of the Republic of Texas will be at least one state.President Calhoun.. and still a political force afterwards. Yikes. How many states are they going to carve Texas into to keep the slavery vote? They've already split Florida. Not that Andrew Jackson doesn't deserve a state named after him.
Well, Harrison did die in OTL because he caught a cold. It's likely that even at his age upon becoming President, he would have survived at least one term. He probably wouldn't have survived a second term though IMO.Harrison lives! So we butterfly away Techuseh's curse. Well I always liked Harrison for some reason anyways. Why'd we live past 41 though? Just a random butterfly?
Yep, darn that Henry Clay! Luckily (or unluckily?) for the Whigs he should be gone from politics now.Polk actually beat Harrison? Figured he'd have been a fairly popular president if he hadn't died. Guess Clay's influence tainted him.
Yep. Interesting times are ahead for the United States.Still, Texas and California independent and a balkanized Mexico. Interesting times for North America. Especially since the slavery issue seems to be more entrenched than it was OTL.
Thanks! Pembina will be divided into two states, fairly soon.So is the part of the Pembina territory east of the State of Demoine going to become its own state, become one state with the rest of the Pembina territory, or join this ATL's "Dakota Territory?"
Anyway, good job so far on the TL and good job on the nice maps.
Don't worry, I'm not stopping completely. Unfortunately,doing well in school has to take precedence over alternate history for now.Don't stop now! Keep it coming. I can't wait to see how this all pans out.
Thanks!Interesting and wonderful. Despite the following quibble, I LOVE the bit about Houston, particularly his future prospects.
Well, I suppose I could switch the names. My original reasoning for having Tejas be the northern one was because it seemed strange to have a Houston, Houston. However, I guess switching the two names would make more sense, especially if OTL Houston is renamed Crockettsville. And Austin (i.e. Washington-on-the-Brazos) is the capital of the northern state. I'll post a map of the area of the Republic of Texas post-annexation soon.The minor quibble: the Colorado River is a pretty good dividing line to divide your RoT into two states. However, I think the names should be reversed: most of Texas west of the River is more Hispanic than not, especially in the 1840s, while most of Texas east of the River is more Anglo than not (though there may be a big upsurge in Anglo immigration following annexation, as there was OTL). Hence, to me it makes more sense to have the western state, with its capital at San Antonio, called Tejas, and the eastern one called, Houston (with its capital at Crocketsburg [OTL Houston] perhaps?).
I was imagining Crockett not having much political ambition after bringing Texas into the Union, and instead serving a senate term or two and then retiring and resuming a life on the frontier somewhere, so he becomes more of the frontiersman legend than in OTL.Also, if Crocket is President of Texas, why does Houston get a state named for him? While I really like the idea of "the only POTUS to have a state named for him before becoming POTUS," it does seem a bit strange. I do have an idea though: I could well see Crocket winning an election in this ALT Texas and being always more of a political force than Houston managed to be. Hence, TTL Houston does not try for political office at all, giving up his regular army commission and retiring to his farm a la Cincinattus. He then becomes an instant legend. He retains a political following though and his friends manage to get the state named for him to launch his political career in the US. Just an idea. It's your TL afterall.
Also, why isn't Polk also trying to annex California at the same time? Seems like an obvious play, but he might be suspected of trying to create more slave states, I suppose.
Alright, I switched around the names for Tejas and Houston. Here's the map of the area of the Republic of Texas after annexation.
I was thinking that in TTL there were more Hispanics in Tejas so the state would be named that way to recognize them, or as a nod to the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas since that border corresponds more to what the original state was.Maybe I missed it but what prompted the lack of a name change from Tejas to Texas.
Most Texans were Southerners and from having a pretty strong Southern accent myself I know Tejas does not roll off my tounge very well, had to be worse for them.
Austin is where Washington-on-the-Brazos is OTL. The base map I was using for that map didn't have cities on it or the Brazos River, so I had to make my best guess.I don't know, as a native Texan, Tejas just always struck me as the label an oppressive regime gave our land. Just me though.
Also, did Austin get founded somewhere else ITTL? Looks like it's almost where Bryan/College Station is OTL.
Guess Houston, Houston could be like NYC, New York. Probably go down as Houston City anyways.