Some comments on this interesting TL:
- December 19 - Vice President-elect Tompkins is killed when his carriage careens off an icy road on the way to Philadelphia. This will open up a huge debate about who should fill that position.
- December 22: British and American negotiators reach an agreement on the Wisconsin Treaty, to better define the British border after the Treaty of Ghent gave the British both of the Michigan Peninsulas. The Treaty would cede most of OTL Wisconsin to the British in exchange for dropping the Ghent provision that the Americans not be allowed to build any new fortifications on the Mississippi until 1835. The British want to be able to eventually build a canal across this territory to the Mississippi, and connect the Great Lakes to that trade network. The Federalists vow to block the treaty, and are supported by western Democratic Republicans who fear British encroachment.
1817
- January: A flyer begins to circulate, first in Philadelphia, then New York, Boston, and elswhere in New England, suggesting that to help unite the country and heal the wounds of the war, Federalist Rufus King should be selected as the new Vice President to replace the late Daniel Tompkins. Surprising many, this flyer is endorsed by both a Democratic Republican and a Federalist candidate.
- March 4: William Crawford sworn in as the 5th President of the United States. Though he makes no initial mention of the vacant Vice Presidency, astute observers noted that Rufus King was given a prominent seat at the inaugural address.
- March 10: President Crawford formally endorses the “unity plan,” and asks Congress to approve the appointment of Rufus King as Vice President. The debate over this appointment will rage for over two months, with both sides being divided over the controversial issue. President. This will later become known as the “Minor Compromise of 1817.”
Okay, this is a cute little plotline with the really killer issue that up until the OTL 25th Amendment, there was no way to fill a vacant Vice Presidency.
You can get around this fairly easily by moving around the timeline a bit and having Democratic electors vote for King at Crawford's direction.
- September 1: Jefferson Territory is granted statehood as the 25th state in the Union. The Slave/Free state balance has now been restored, with 13 free, 13 slave.
Think you mean 26th state
- January: Negotiations behind closed doors and in the halls of Congress as to who would ultimately be declared the winner of the 1834 election. The Republicans have the largest single delegation in Congress, but combined, the Federalists and Democrats outnumber them and could more than make a majority. At first, the Federalists seem confident that they will be able to support Democratic candidate Samuel Luther and lock the Republicans out of Washington House. However, a number of Southern Democrats were elected on an “anti-Party” platform, and do not like Samuel Luther. Calhoun goes after these representatives from Tennessee and Kentucky and elsewhere to try and secure the 25 votes he would need to gain the Presidency.
- February 2: In a vote of 156 in favor to 150 with 3 abstaining, John C. Calhoun is selected as the winner of the 1834 election. Many bitter feelings will seize the Democratic party, as pro-Luther members feel the party and the nation had been cheated by the anti-Luther members who handed the Presidency to Calhoun. Arguments, brawls, and even a few illegal duels are sparked by the results of this vote.
Okay, this is a rather more serious issue. The house balloting is contingent vote by state [which you recognized in the previous contingent election] requiring a majority of states to vote for the victor. As the tally is 13 slave to 13 free states, Calhoun needs to win sufficient representatives in at least one free state to constitute a majority, which seems unlikely. Much more likely is repeated deadlock votes that result in no outcome for the presidency.
In the meantime, the Senate would also need to vote on the Vice President [which you don't seem to have covered for any of the contingent elections], and Republicans would need three crossover seats to get a majority [27/52]. I don't know the free/slave state breakdown of locations of Senators from each party, but in case the Vice President contingent vote ties [quite likely if the highly polarized atmosphere continues], incumbent VP Hiram Gillett would break the tie and elect John Q. Adams as new Vice President [and acting President if the House is still deadlocked.]
If Republicans have enough House seats to form a majority of a northern free state, this can be gotten around [with some mention of a backlash that hurts them in future elections.]
1824:
- January 29: By narrow margins, the congress passes the 16th amendment, establishing the position of “First Secretary.” The bill is sent out to the states, where it will take many more years before it passes. In the meantime, Speaker Barbour continues to attend cabinet meetings.
- April 11: Republican congressmen propose an amendment to the constitution that would allow the Presidential election to be decided by the candidate that wins the most electoral votes, even if it is not an absolute majority, instead of sending such elections to the House. The 70 Federalist delegates vow to fight the amendment. The Democrats, predictably, are split on Northern/Southern lines. The Republicans only need to to sway 13 votes.
- September 14: Congress passes the 17th Amendment, 105 to 205. The Republican dominated states of the South will all approve the amendment by the end of the year. A remaining 5 states are required to pass the amendment, which will take the better part of the next year and a half to complete.
Er, constitutional amendments need 2/3 supermajorities in both the House and the Senate. So by the current described outcome, neither amendment would actually pass the Congress. This is probably the biggest issue for the plausibility of the TL - it's really really hard frankly for me to see a supermajority passing the 17th Amendment that really favors the Republican party ITTL.
