Young FDR fights for the Boers

Boer Relief Fund.
NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED March 17, 1902

Several members of the University having expressed a desire to assist in relieving the distress of the Boer women and children confined in British concentration camps in South Africa, it has been decided to open a general subscription in their behalf. The money so collected will be forwarded according to the advice of the Rev. Herman van Broekhuizen, former pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, who spoke at the Union last Wednesday evening. A letter from him has been promised stating the methods of distributing such relief funds, and it will be made public when received.

Contributions are requested not only from students, but from graduates, professors and others who are interested in the cause. From time to time statements as to the progress of the fund will be reported in the CRIMSON. Contributions may be sent to any of the following men: Roger Ernst, 16 Russell Hall, *Franklin D. Roosevelt,* [my emphasis--DT] 27 Westmorly Court, William P. Wharton, 12 Randolph Hall.


https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1902/3/17/boer-relief-fund-pseveral-members-of/

***

This was not the first example of young Franklin D. Roosevelt's strong feelings for the Boers:

"FDR, of Dutch heritage, did not consider himself an Anglo-Saxon...[he] consciously avoided the Anglophile Pilgrim Society, preferring instead lifelong membership of the Holland Society...

"[FDR] followed, in the case of the Anglo-Boer war, the majority of Americans rather than the minority pro-British stance of the Vice President TR, Secretary of State John Hay, and even Mahan. On the outbreak of war in October 1899, most of the American public and Congress instinctively sympathized with the underdog Boers and cheered their initial successes. As the Boers besieged Ladysmith, FDR wrote to his parents, "Hurrah for the Boers! I entirely sympathise with them... He followed the war avidly and when challenged by his mother that the Boers "were not a race to do good in the world" he felt strongly enough to disagree with her more Anglophile sentiments arguing, "I cannot help feeling convinced that the Boers have the side of right and that for the past ten years they have been forced into this war. I am sure you will feel this if you only read up the Boer case." At Harvard, he continued his support of the Boers by organizing a postwar relief fund that raised $336 from his classmates. He sent the money to TR who was able to forward support from sympathetic bodies in the United States via the State Department. It seems that once the war was over and civilized British rule assured the president [TR] was more willing to acknowledge his own Dutch heritage..." https://books.google.com/books?id=6RxeAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT35

***

AHC: To his family's horror, young FDR actually feels so strongly about the Boer cause he goes to South Africa to fight (and maybe even die?) for it. There were American volunteers who fought for the Boers. Most of them already lived in South Africa but not all:

John Hassell and the American Scouts

"Among the Americans who not only took sides but also took up arms, one of the first was John A Hassell, a descendant of Dutch Huguenots who was living in Vryheid when hostilities began. He was a mining engineer by profession, and he had already won favourable attention from the Boers when he joined a group of Transvaal burghers to oppose the armed rebellion of the Uitlanders in 1896 (Farwell, 1976, p92). For this, he was made an honorary burgher. When war broke out in October 1899, Hassell was working in Zulu land; he immediately joined the Vryheid Commando in Natal, fought at the battles of Dundee and Talana Hill, took part in the Siege of Ladysmith where he was wounded at Caesar's Hill, and then was wounded again at Estcourt during the fighting along the Tugela (Thukela) River. He was present at Colenso when Winston Churchill was captured. His offer to form a new unit of Uitlanders was accepted and in Johannesburg he recruited some sixty volunteers for his American Scouts - a verkenningskorps.

"John Shea, a grizzled veteran of the Spanish-American War, joined the Scouts as a lieutenant (Hillegas, 1900, p266). Others made up a total of about 86. Among them was the colourful 'Arizona Kid,' actually James Foster, whom Hassell described as 'a typical American cowboy ... frolicsome, lithe and reckless, always ready for any excitement, to take part in any sort of enterprise no matter what desperate chances were involved.' He had come to South Africa on a ship carrying mules, joined the British tranport to get to the front, and then deserted to the Boers (Farwell, 1976, p92). This was a route of entry for many Americans who ended up on one side or the other. A Texan called Alan Hiley, who, together with Hassell, wrote a history of the Scouts, claimed to have killed a fellow Texan, a Lieutenant Hollis (whom Howard Hillegas of the New York World refers to as Carron) of Lord Loch's Horse, in a skirmish along the Modder River, perhaps having singled out his target deliberately. This officer reportedly survived, although neither name appears in the War Office roster of Loch's Horse.

"Hassell and his Scouts soon went south to fight Lord Roberts. The volunteers fought in numerous skirmishes and several battles through the Free State and north again to Pretoria, where Hassell sought the protection of the American Consul, anticipating that the war was coming to an end, rather than withdrawing with many others of his unit to Mozambique.

"A rather sarcastic letter from Hassell, describing himself as 'Captain Boer Army', was published in the New York Times on 26 August 1901, in which he excoriated Arthur Lee, British Military Attache in Washington, for pronouncing the war over and the Boers defeated. In fact, the war was not over until the terms of surrender were signed in the Treaty of Vereeniging at Pretoria on 31 May 1902..." http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol156bb.html
 
Well, if he fights and lives then he'd be a veteran of a foreign war but on the losing side. He wouldn't necessarily be able to return home a war hero even if he engages in some bold heroics as Cousin Teddy did at San Juan Hill. War service could have a large impact on Roosevelt psychologically and he could possibly turn out to be a very different person from OTL. If he fights and dies then in 1932 the Democrats either turn to Al Smith or go for a compromise candidate.
 
I suppose FDR is a smooth enough political operator that he could avoid offending the Anglophilic Wilson despite his service with the Boers. Unless as said above, his war experience could change that.

He might ask to be Assistant Secretary of War instead of Navy (and then bumped up to full Secretary during WW1 with Lindley Garrison's retirement). Possibly Naval Aviation might be disbanded under Josephus Daniels without Roosevelt's patronage.
 
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Boer Relief Fund.
NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED March 17, 1902

Several members of the University having expressed a desire to assist in relieving the distress of the Boer women and children confined in British concentration camps in South Africa, it has been decided to open a general subscription in their behalf. The money so collected will be forwarded according to the advice of the Rev. Herman van Broekhuizen, former pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, who spoke at the Union last Wednesday evening. A letter from him has been promised stating the methods of distributing such relief funds, and it will be made public when received.

Contributions are requested not only from students, but from graduates, professors and others who are interested in the cause. From time to time statements as to the progress of the fund will be reported in the CRIMSON. Contributions may be sent to any of the following men: Roger Ernst, 16 Russell Hall, *Franklin D. Roosevelt,* [my emphasis--DT] 27 Westmorly Court, William P. Wharton, 12 Randolph Hall.


https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1902/3/17/boer-relief-fund-pseveral-members-of/

***

This was not the first example of young Franklin D. Roosevelt's strong feelings for the Boers:

"FDR, of Dutch heritage, did not consider himself an Anglo-Saxon...[he] consciously avoided the Anglophile Pilgrim Society, preferring instead lifelong membership of the Holland Society...

"[FDR] followed, in the case of the Anglo-Boer war, the majority of Americans rather than the minority pro-British stance of the Vice President TR, Secretary of State John Hay, and even Mahan. On the outbreak of war in October 1899, most of the American public and Congress instinctively sympathized with the underdog Boers and cheered their initial successes. As the Boers besieged Ladysmith, FDR wrote to his parents, "Hurrah for the Boers! I entirely sympathise with them... He followed the war avidly and when challenged by his mother that the Boers "were not a race to do good in the world" he felt strongly enough to disagree with her more Anglophile sentiments arguing, "I cannot help feeling convinced that the Boers have the side of right and that for the past ten years they have been forced into this war. I am sure you will feel this if you only read up the Boer case." At Harvard, he continued his support of the Boers by organizing a postwar relief fund that raised $336 from his classmates. He sent the money to TR who was able to forward support from sympathetic bodies in the United States via the State Department. It seems that once the war was over and civilized British rule assured the president [TR] was more willing to acknowledge his own Dutch heritage..." https://books.google.com/books?id=6RxeAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT35

***

AHC: To his family's horror, young FDR actually feels so strongly about the Boer cause he goes to South Africa to fight (and maybe even die?) for it. There were American volunteers who fought for the Boers. Most of them already lived in South Africa but not all:

John Hassell and the American Scouts

"Among the Americans who not only took sides but also took up arms, one of the first was John A Hassell, a descendant of Dutch Huguenots who was living in Vryheid when hostilities began. He was a mining engineer by profession, and he had already won favourable attention from the Boers when he joined a group of Transvaal burghers to oppose the armed rebellion of the Uitlanders in 1896 (Farwell, 1976, p92). For this, he was made an honorary burgher. When war broke out in October 1899, Hassell was working in Zulu land; he immediately joined the Vryheid Commando in Natal, fought at the battles of Dundee and Talana Hill, took part in the Siege of Ladysmith where he was wounded at Caesar's Hill, and then was wounded again at Estcourt during the fighting along the Tugela (Thukela) River. He was present at Colenso when Winston Churchill was captured. His offer to form a new unit of Uitlanders was accepted and in Johannesburg he recruited some sixty volunteers for his American Scouts - a verkenningskorps.

"John Shea, a grizzled veteran of the Spanish-American War, joined the Scouts as a lieutenant (Hillegas, 1900, p266). Others made up a total of about 86. Among them was the colourful 'Arizona Kid,' actually James Foster, whom Hassell described as 'a typical American cowboy ... frolicsome, lithe and reckless, always ready for any excitement, to take part in any sort of enterprise no matter what desperate chances were involved.' He had come to South Africa on a ship carrying mules, joined the British tranport to get to the front, and then deserted to the Boers (Farwell, 1976, p92). This was a route of entry for many Americans who ended up on one side or the other. A Texan called Alan Hiley, who, together with Hassell, wrote a history of the Scouts, claimed to have killed a fellow Texan, a Lieutenant Hollis (whom Howard Hillegas of the New York World refers to as Carron) of Lord Loch's Horse, in a skirmish along the Modder River, perhaps having singled out his target deliberately. This officer reportedly survived, although neither name appears in the War Office roster of Loch's Horse.

"Hassell and his Scouts soon went south to fight Lord Roberts. The volunteers fought in numerous skirmishes and several battles through the Free State and north again to Pretoria, where Hassell sought the protection of the American Consul, anticipating that the war was coming to an end, rather than withdrawing with many others of his unit to Mozambique.

"A rather sarcastic letter from Hassell, describing himself as 'Captain Boer Army', was published in the New York Times on 26 August 1901, in which he excoriated Arthur Lee, British Military Attache in Washington, for pronouncing the war over and the Boers defeated. In fact, the war was not over until the terms of surrender were signed in the Treaty of Vereeniging at Pretoria on 31 May 1902..." http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol156bb.html
He and Churchill would be enemy combatants.
 
I suspect the new deal in this timeline explicitly excludes blacks, irish and italians.

Pro-Boers were not necessarily racist--or at least not more so than most white people at the time. It was widely assumed that South Africa would be ruled by white people (at least for a long time to come) and it was argued that the Boers were no worse than the British in their treatment of black people: "The pro-Boers generally evaded the Boer-Black relationship by admitting imperfections in Boer and British colonial practices. The Boers, they would argue, were hard but just in their handling of subject peoples; Britain with her own recent colonial record in Matabeleland and elsewhere, was in no position to criticise;183 Kruger's government had exploited the Blacks far less than the capitalists of the Witwatersrand and the prospects of lower wages for Blacks held out by the mining interests through Hays Hammond and C. Rudd did not auger well for the reign of British enlightenment that was in the offing..." Arthur Davey, The British Pro-Boers, 1877-1901, p. 68.
 
Well yeah, but it's a more interesting dystopia if you get an FDR who decides to make the southern way, of Jim Crow the national way. Seperate fountains and facilities for Irish and Italians too, along with blacks in northern cities.
 
Well yeah, but it's a more interesting dystopia if you get an FDR who decides to make the southern way, of Jim Crow the national way. Seperate fountains and facilities for Irish and Italians too, along with blacks in northern cities.
But that doesn't seem to be a necessary, or even probable, consequence of the POD.
 
Well yeah, but it's a more interesting dystopia if you get an FDR who decides to make the southern way, of Jim Crow the national way. Seperate fountains and facilities for Irish and Italians too, along with blacks in northern cities.
But that doesn't seem to be a necessary, or even probable, consequence of the POD.
Indeed. Segregation was enforced on a state and local-level. Something on a national level could never get through Congress.
 

Deleted member 94680

Seems probable to me. He goes down there, befriends some boers and picks up on some of their beliefs in the process.

Steady, FDR is a kind of sacred cow around here, it seems. You’re more likely to see a TL where FDR makes the Boers realise the errors of their ways and leave racism behind, then the sainted Franklyn become overtly racist himself.
 
Steady, FDR is a kind of sacred cow around here, it seems. You’re more likely to see a TL where FDR makes the Boers realise the errors of their ways and leave racism behind, then the sainted Franklyn become overtly racist himself.

Very likely it has no effect on his racial attitudes one way or the other. FDR like most people sees the war as between two white nations, with the Boers as the underdogs--and with little thought, favorable or unfavorable, given to the "native races."

(FWIW, one common reaction of Americans in Africa in the early twentieth century was to note how much more "advanced" African Americans were than Africans --e.g., Franklin's distant relative Teddy: "One of the government farms was being run by an educated colored man from Jamaica; and we were shown much courtesy by a colored man from our own country who was practising as a doctor. No one could fail to be impressed with the immense advance these men represented as compared with the native negro; and indeed to an American, who must necessarily think much of the race problem at home, it is pleasant to be made to realize in vivid fashion the progress the American negro has made, by comparing him with the negro who dwells in Africa untouched, or but lightly touched, by white influence..." https://books.google.com/books?id=pqQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10)
 
Seems probable to me. He goes down there, befriends some boers and picks up on some of their beliefs in the process.

Steady, FDR is a kind of sacred cow around here, it seems. You’re more likely to see a TL where FDR makes the Boers realise the errors of their ways and leave racism behind, then the sainted Franklyn become overtly racist himself.

The race views of the Boers weren't that out of step with what was the general views of most whites of the time.

I really don't think FDR hanging with some Afrikaners in 1900 is going to make him into a Draka prototype.
 
Not draka, but southern segregationist.

He didn't have any objection to segregation in Warm Springs in OTL. Again, I just don't see any change in his racial attitudes. He is still going to want to get the votes of both northern African Americans and southern whites.
 
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