Union and Liberty: An American TL
- Thread starter wilcoxchar
- Start date
- Status
Did pretty good then. Washington on the Brazos is about 30 miles from College Station.
Thanks.To everyone reading, next update will come tomorrow. And no, the US isn't going to war...yet.
Part Ten: Of States and Banks
Part Ten: Of States and Banks
Admission of Pembina and Itasca:
After Tejas and Houston had been brought into the Union, northern congressmen were clamoring for new states to be created out of the lands in Pembina Territory. The population of the territory had been increasing as immigrants poured in and as copper mining boomed in the region. By the beginning of the Polk administration, many cities and forts had been founded along the many rivers and lakes in the area. In the summer of 1847, Pembina Territory as divided by the Minnesota and Red Rivers, and the state of Itasca was created from the eastern portion with Duluth at the western end of Lake Superior as its capital.
A year later, there were many pressing for the admission of Pembina to the Union. However, there were problems with the native Sioux tribes living in the region. After forts were built at positions on the east side of the Missouri, settlers and soldiers began coming to the region. The settlers tended to cluster around the forts to protect them from raids by the native Americans for a while, but soon the population grew large enough that the government of Pembina Territory decided that buying land from the Sioux was necessary. Representatives from the Sioux tribes and the United Staes government met in early 1848, and negotiated treaties regarding the movement of the Sioux and other tribes in the area.
The agreements either states that the tribes would live in peace with the settlers in their current living areas, or that they could move north or west across the Missouri River. Despite the Sioux tribes' signing of the treaties, compensation was often never paid because of corruption or the money was sent directly to settlers and traders who Sioux leaders had become indebted to. Pembina was finally admitted as a state in late 1848, with the first state capital at Yankton on the Missouri.
Expiration of the Third Bank:
With Polk coming into office and the Democrats gaining a majority in the Senate once again, the era of the Third Bank was coming to a close. The bank's charter was set to expire in 1845, and despite the lobbying by the Whig congressmen to renew the charter, any bill that was passed to renew it was vetoed by Polk. The Bank finally expired at the end of 1845, and Biddle, who had been the president of the Second and Third Banks, died soon after.
However, not all policies from the Third Bank were discarded. The issuing of United States notes was kept, but moved under the jurisdiction of the United States Treasury Department. The Treasury continued to issue these US notes, and backed them with gold and silver, which could be redeemable at select Treasury offices around the country. These becamse the first official national currency and, while not going far in replacing the use of coins, were often used for large-scale purchases and increased the credibility of paper currency in the United States, leading to the repeal of the Coinage Act passed by President Calhoun a decade earlier.
Admission of Pembina and Itasca:
After Tejas and Houston had been brought into the Union, northern congressmen were clamoring for new states to be created out of the lands in Pembina Territory. The population of the territory had been increasing as immigrants poured in and as copper mining boomed in the region. By the beginning of the Polk administration, many cities and forts had been founded along the many rivers and lakes in the area. In the summer of 1847, Pembina Territory as divided by the Minnesota and Red Rivers, and the state of Itasca was created from the eastern portion with Duluth at the western end of Lake Superior as its capital.
A year later, there were many pressing for the admission of Pembina to the Union. However, there were problems with the native Sioux tribes living in the region. After forts were built at positions on the east side of the Missouri, settlers and soldiers began coming to the region. The settlers tended to cluster around the forts to protect them from raids by the native Americans for a while, but soon the population grew large enough that the government of Pembina Territory decided that buying land from the Sioux was necessary. Representatives from the Sioux tribes and the United Staes government met in early 1848, and negotiated treaties regarding the movement of the Sioux and other tribes in the area.
The agreements either states that the tribes would live in peace with the settlers in their current living areas, or that they could move north or west across the Missouri River. Despite the Sioux tribes' signing of the treaties, compensation was often never paid because of corruption or the money was sent directly to settlers and traders who Sioux leaders had become indebted to. Pembina was finally admitted as a state in late 1848, with the first state capital at Yankton on the Missouri.
Expiration of the Third Bank:
With Polk coming into office and the Democrats gaining a majority in the Senate once again, the era of the Third Bank was coming to a close. The bank's charter was set to expire in 1845, and despite the lobbying by the Whig congressmen to renew the charter, any bill that was passed to renew it was vetoed by Polk. The Bank finally expired at the end of 1845, and Biddle, who had been the president of the Second and Third Banks, died soon after.
However, not all policies from the Third Bank were discarded. The issuing of United States notes was kept, but moved under the jurisdiction of the United States Treasury Department. The Treasury continued to issue these US notes, and backed them with gold and silver, which could be redeemable at select Treasury offices around the country. These becamse the first official national currency and, while not going far in replacing the use of coins, were often used for large-scale purchases and increased the credibility of paper currency in the United States, leading to the repeal of the Coinage Act passed by President Calhoun a decade earlier.
Last edited:
Hehe, you'll see.Well, seems most of the damage Calhoun did is being undone. Though the whole tariff/slavery issue can always rear it's ugly head. And Calhoun is the one to stoke the flame.
And I'm still betting Sam Houston's going to be President of the US during the Civil War.
The next update is taking a little while because of the rush to get midterms and papers done during the few weeks before Spring Break, and because it's a pretty big update and I want to get it fleshed out enough to my liking. I'll try to have it done this weekend. Meanwhile, discuss! What do you think is/has been going on in the rest of the world, is what I have so far plausible, etc.
I'd kind of like to know how California's been faring. What are Mexico's designs on the region, do they still have them? Is slavery legal there? Are the Mormons behaving? How's the whole Hispanic/Anglo cultural mix working there?
Also, is there a movement for annexation? For that matter, with an independent California, that would complicate the Oregon Dispute even more. California, Britain and the US would all have claims on the region.
Also, is there a movement for annexation? For that matter, with an independent California, that would complicate the Oregon Dispute even more. California, Britain and the US would all have claims on the region.
California shouldn't really have claims, since Spain surrendered its claims in the Nookta Convention in the 1790s. California would have inherited the same claim, or rather lack thereof, (by way of Mexico). Of course, past treaties don't prevent present politicians from claiming all sorts of precedents.
The main thoughts on plausibility that have occurred to me are: 1) it doesn't seem to serve any one's agenda to create a third BUS, but with a Charter of only 4 years: it's too short a time to have any effect, but will still require a great deal of expenses to set up; 2) setting aside #1, I'd be very dubious that Nicholas Biddle would be tapped to lead the Third Bank: the anti-bank crowd particularly disliked him, and vice-versa; a good substitute may be Albert Gallatin. He may be a bit old (died in 1849 OTL).
Part Eleven: The Beginning of the Oregon War
While it's not as much as what I usually post, I'll post what I've written up of this so far, and try to make a map for it tomorrow.
Part Eleven: The Beginning of the Oregon War
Tension in Oregon:
By the summer of 1846, tensions between the United States and the British officials in North America were high. The Provisional Government established by American settlers at Champoeg three years earlier had been growing, with incoming settlers using Champoeg as a main camp before going off to establish their own communities in the Oregon Country. A petition sent by William Gilpin and Fremont as a The dispute over the northern border of Maine remained unsettled, and the influx of American settlers into the Oregon Country was spreading north. While it was clear that the government in London had no desire for war, the United States and the settlers in Oregon were much more eager. Many forts were established by the United States and the Champoeg Provisional Government in the region to protect the settlers. Thus, when some British soldiers tried to force a community of American settlers off their land along the Fraser River near Fort Langley, shots were fired and the Oregon War had begun.[1]
While the information of the fighting traveled east to Washington and London, the Champoeg government led by Gilpin and Fremont and the forces of the Hudson Bay Company conducted the affairs of the war in Oregon. American settlers quickly took the lightly defended Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River and reconstructed the fortifications at Fort Nez Perce, which had been abandoned by the British after a fire two years earlier, but were unable to gain control of any British forts north of the Columbia River. The Champoegans did manage to hold on to most of the American forts on the north bank of the Columbia, including Fort Bonneville at a southern bend in the river and Fort Choteau at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers.[2]
[1] The actual beginning of the Oregon War is disputed, but this is what is commonly stated in United States history textbooks.
[2] Fort Bonneville and Fort Choteau did not exist in OTL. Fort Bonneville is named after general Benjamin Bonneville and Choteau is named for trader and explorer Rene Auguste Choteau.
Part Eleven: The Beginning of the Oregon War
Tension in Oregon:
By the summer of 1846, tensions between the United States and the British officials in North America were high. The Provisional Government established by American settlers at Champoeg three years earlier had been growing, with incoming settlers using Champoeg as a main camp before going off to establish their own communities in the Oregon Country. A petition sent by William Gilpin and Fremont as a The dispute over the northern border of Maine remained unsettled, and the influx of American settlers into the Oregon Country was spreading north. While it was clear that the government in London had no desire for war, the United States and the settlers in Oregon were much more eager. Many forts were established by the United States and the Champoeg Provisional Government in the region to protect the settlers. Thus, when some British soldiers tried to force a community of American settlers off their land along the Fraser River near Fort Langley, shots were fired and the Oregon War had begun.[1]
While the information of the fighting traveled east to Washington and London, the Champoeg government led by Gilpin and Fremont and the forces of the Hudson Bay Company conducted the affairs of the war in Oregon. American settlers quickly took the lightly defended Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River and reconstructed the fortifications at Fort Nez Perce, which had been abandoned by the British after a fire two years earlier, but were unable to gain control of any British forts north of the Columbia River. The Champoegans did manage to hold on to most of the American forts on the north bank of the Columbia, including Fort Bonneville at a southern bend in the river and Fort Choteau at the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia Rivers.[2]
[1] The actual beginning of the Oregon War is disputed, but this is what is commonly stated in United States history textbooks.
[2] Fort Bonneville and Fort Choteau did not exist in OTL. Fort Bonneville is named after general Benjamin Bonneville and Choteau is named for trader and explorer Rene Auguste Choteau.
Last edited:
California is still independent since most of the population is concentrated in the coastal areas. Mexico can't really touch them at the moment because they're still going through bouts of civil strife between those who want a centralised government and those who want a more federal government.
I'll get to the Mormons soon, but I can tell you that they will be by the Salt Lake. Right now, though, the population is still mostly Hispanic although the Anglo and other European population has been increasing slowly.
Thank you for your comments.Nicomacheus said:
Well, often with Congress, some compromises are made that make it so noone is happy with the legislation. And While Gallatin would be a good pick for the head of the bank, he is 20 years older than Biddle.Maybe some, maybe all. We'll see.vultan said:
(I don't want to reveal too much at this point as the Oregon War should be one or two more updates)Considering the circumstances surrounding their independence, the Anglo population is going to be less than OTL for a while, and with the population conecntrated on the coast, there isn't much connection with the US. Although the British do have some designs on the area, the Oregon War has tripped them up in their hopes of gaining a hold in the region. (And I didn't want the US to get ALL that territory in one go.)Strategos' Risk said:
I'm back! I finally got around to doing the first map for the Oregon War. Midterms took my focus away, but next week is spring Bbeak, so I'll try to get through at least the rest of the war during the week.
Anyway, here's the map showing the forts and their possession in June 1846. I think the colors are self-explanatory, but red is British and blue is American.
Anyway, here's the map showing the forts and their possession in June 1846. I think the colors are self-explanatory, but red is British and blue is American.
Yep. It sure is.Fuck yeah, it's back!
Thanks! Yeah, Britain will be angry with the US for a while now.tukk323 said:
I added a footnote to part 11 to explain where some of the forts' names came from.
Don't worry, I haven't abandoned you.Wilcox! Don't tell me you've abandoned us.
I've been bogged down with schoolwork and I'm still having difficulty working the Oregon War out. I am doing some more writing for it tonight, so I'm making progress. So don't worry, it's still going, just a lot slower than I expected. - Status