1840:
January:
The Industrial Party met for its most important conference to determine what they truly stood for. What was for certain was that now, a shift to Conservatism was needed. After several days of debates and power struggles, the basic ideology of the Industrial Party was hammered out into three basic points:
1: The Government of the Industrial Party would adopt a more laid back attitude to social issues. The Federalists had centralised power in Boston to the extent where states were given almost no say whatsoever despite the fact this had been one of the reasons New England had seceded. The states would get a lot more independence from an Industrial Government.
2: The factions who had taken control of the Industrial Party saw the Alliance with the Shawnee Nation to be… distasteful. Many instead looked north to Britain in order to strengthen their position against America. They wanted an Alliance between another civilised country, not a group of savages who were copying the ways of the white man.
3: New England couldn’t keep up with the great powers by concentrating on America alone. It was much smaller than its greatest rival and needed much more resources in order to combat it. Britain had become the greatest power in the World by securing itself numerous colonies throughout the World. New England itself needed to do the same and gain colonies. Of course, America was all spoken for and Asia too far away. But Africa on the other hand…
The conference was a huge success and it firmly placed the ideological ideals of the new Industrial Party. These ideas soon became quite popular amongst the New England populace, who were tired of the Federalists and were happy to be offered something new. The Conservative Reaction soon gathered popularity as it presented an alternative to the ‘Tyrannical Liberalism’ of the Federalists.
April:
The negotiations between the Shawnee Nation and the Sioux Tribes finally came to fruition as a formal agreement was reached. The Sioux allowed greater military co-operation with the Shawnee to build up their own Army while also seeing how other reforms could be enacted. The sheer size of the Sioux Nation worked against this however as the various different Tribes and peoples constantly clashed on practically every issue except resisting the white settlers. Reform to the ways of the white man like the Shawnee had done was simply completely out of the question.
Nevertheless, Sioux Tribesmen began to join the Shawnee Army to learn what they could and pass it onto their own people. The Shawnee Parliament also allowed Sioux representatives to sit on their Parliament in an advisory role in order to show them how a state could be centralised. The USA looked on with the advances with unease, the Shawnee had gradually become a military power to keep an eye on and any form of Alliance with the Sioux would have severely upset the balance of power. Not much was done however due to the fact that the experience the American Army had had with fighting Natives had led them to believe they were only a nuisance at worst. New England and Britain were deemed to be the real threats.
July:
The Treaty of Sao Paulo, the Alliance between the Brazilian and British Empires was signed on the 18th. The Treaty was signed as a result of growing antagonism between the Spanish Federacion towards Brazil and Britain over repeated attempts to stir up trouble in South America. Britain was utterly guilty of smuggling and aiding Brazil with spreading Revolutionary ideals and aiding rebels against the Federacion. The Treaty confirmed that in the result of a War with the Federacion, one nation would aid the other.
The Treaty was as much for political necessity as much as anything else. In the event of a War in the Americas, Britain would be combating the combined Navies of America and Spain while defending its own shipping lanes from attack from Spain itself. New England had its own Navy but that was purely going towards defence. Brazil was needed in order to draw attention away from Britain and gain them some breathing room. Brazil itself was grateful of the added thought of British aid in any conflict, having territorial ambitions in South America and wanting to act upon them whenever it could.
November:
In the election for the American Presidency, Henry Clay won it by a thinner than usual margin for the Democratic-Republicans. For his role in letting down the Texan rebels, Harrison had done a huge amount of damage to the Party and it was a major cloud hanging over its head. To combat this, Clay decided he needed to take a firm stand on all issues that threatened America, from the Sioux to Oregon. Clay made it clear that America would not be stand down, even if War was the price.