Charles Francis ADAMS (1807-present). Born into one of New England’s most famous political families, Charles Adams’s politics were even more radical than those of his father. He spent some time in Russia during his youth, while his father served as minister to St Petersburg, and became fluent in the language. On his return to New England, he was educated at the Boston Latin School and then Harvard University, graduating in 1826. He established a flourishing legal practice in Boston, which was interrupted by the outbreak of the War of 1833. After the war, he sided with the more radical factions of the Republican Party, making a public and highly acrimonious split from his father John Quincy Adams, when the younger Adams joined the Whig Party. He remained a minor player in politics until the growing political agitation of the late 1840s led to a more dramatic split within the Republican Party, with the radical elements of that party combining with the Whigs to form the Radical Party. Adams became the vice-presidential candidate on Thomas Dorr’s Radical ticket, although they failed to carry a single state. After the election, President Winthrop invited Adams to take the diplomatically sensitive post of minister to Russia, which Adams accepted. As of 1855, Adams was busy in St Petersburg, trying to defuse the growing anti-British sentiments within the Russian Empire.

John ADAMS III (1803-1854). Son of John Quincy Adams, the younger Adams had an undistinguished career as a student, twice coming close to expulsion from Harvard due to his less than stellar academic performance and extra-curricular activities. He commenced a legal practice in Boston, but was forced to close this practice in 1826 due to dire financial straits – it was rumoured that his father had to intervene to save him from bankruptcy. Adams lurched from crisis to crisis for the next seven years, until he joined the Continental Army after the outbreak of war in 1833. He made a popular, although less than gifted, officer, rising to the rank of major by the war’s end. Adams was one of the soldiers in the New England contingents who operated in the Michigan Country, including the liberation of Detroit. After the war, Adams’ military reputation, and his honoured name, was enough to win him office in the Territorial Legislature in Michigan. He found a new voice as a political speaker in this new territory, arguing at length for the admission of Michigan as a state. He was elected Governor of the Michigan Territory in 1847. His opposition to splitting Michigan into multiple states was one of the factors leading to the rejection of the Territory’s most recent application for statehood in 1850. In 1854, Governor Adams was taking part in an inaugural tour of a new steam-powered ship, which was to operate on the Great Lakes, when the ship was sunk in a storm. His body was never recovered.

John Quincy ADAMS (1767-1848): The US minister to the Russian Empire during the War of 1811, he was involved in the peace negotiations that followed. Adams returned reluctantly to Massachusetts, where he retired from public life for a number of years. He returned to public life during 1817, when he was one of the founders of the Republican Party. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1818 and 1822 presidential elections. However, his proposals for improved highways and canals were largely adopted by the successful President Dana in 1823. He was appointed Secretary of State under President Sanford in 1827, but removed from office with the election of President Seymour in 1831. In the aftermath of the War of 1833, Adams tried to hold the Republican Party together, but ultimately failed as the most pro-American members fled to form the Whig Party. Elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1841, Adams served out the remainder of his life as a distinguished member of that body. He collapsed from a stroke in 1848, in the midst of a speech urging the Senate to ratify the proposed constitutional amendment ending the “natural born” restrictions on federal office, and died two days later. He never learned that the Senate rejected his request.

Jean Louis Rodolphe AGASSIZ (1807-present). Distinguished Swiss and New England scientist. Born in Montier in Switzerland, and educated in Germany, Agassiz first distinguished himself when he served under the great Cuvier. Agassiz adopted Cuvier’s philosophy of catastrophism and animal classification. Agassiz distinguished himself as an authority on fossil fish, on the presumed glaciation of large parts of Europe and North America, and as a staunch opponent of Patrick Matthew’s theory of natural selection. From virtually the year of its publication, Agassiz staunchly opposed the theory. He migrated to New England in 1844, accepting a professorship at Harvard, and continued his staunch opposition to Matthism as both a social and scientific theory. His vehement tirades are sometimes credited with contributing to the rejection of the theory in New England academic circles. In 1855, Agassiz is currently seeking to create a great “Museum of Comparative Zoology” in Boston.

Robert ANDERSON (1805-present). U.S. soldier. Born in Kentucky in 1805, and a graduate of Wilkinson Military Academy in 1825, Anderson entered service in the artillery. He distinguished himself with his service in the Michigan theatre in the War of 1833, until he was transferred to New Orleans in preparation for an expected British attack in 1836. Many military historians credit him, not then-Colonel Jefferson Davis, with winning the Battle of New Orleans by his effective use of artillery. He finished the war as a major, and continued a distinguished career during the First Mexican War, where his artillery unit was the first one to fire shots into Mexico City. Although he was encouraged to begin a political career after the war, he declined to do so, and as of 1855 had attained the rank of Colonel and was serving with the 2nd Artillery in Tamaulipas Territory.

John James AUDUBON (1785-1851). French-American businessman and entrepreneur. Born in Santo Domingo, the bastard son of a French plantation owner and his mistress, Audubon was raised for his early life in France. He was sent to America in 1803 to escape conscription. He showed an interest in drawing birds, and some of his sketches were noteworthy. However, after the birth of his first child, Victor Gifford Audubon, in 1809, he began to become more concerned with achieving financial stability than with his unprofitable hobby [1]. He went into business, running a dry-goods store in Kentucky, almost untouched by the War of 1811, and continued operating a variety of moderately successful businesses in Kentucky and, later, Illinois. He spent his last years in senility, dying in 1851.

[1] In OTL, Audubon had the same doubts, but in March 1810 he was persuaded by the noted ornithological illustrator Alexander Wilson to continue with his drawings. ITTL, Wilson had other calls on his time, and Audubon abandoned his bird drawings.

Stephen Fuller AUSTIN (1793-1849). Born in Virginia and raised in Missouri, the precocious Austin was elected to the territorial Legislature of Missouri in 1813, and was re-elected to that position each year until its admission as a state in 1817. Austin was elected as a representative of Missouri in that year, and continued to serve in the Missouri House of Representatives until 1826, when he was appointed to the state Senate. He continued as a Senator until 1835, when he was elected as governor. There was some talk of nominating him for the vice-presidency of the Patriots in 1840, but he lost the vice-presidential nomination to George Dallas, and again in 1844 (to Lewis Cass). Austin died in 1849 at the age of 56.

BALDWIN, Matthias William. Manufacturer and philanthropist. Born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 10 December 1795, died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 8 August 1864. With an excellent aptitude for intricate machinery, Baldwin found himself apprenticed to a firm of jewellers in Frankford, Pennsylvania, just as the War of 1811 was breaking out. As Philadelphia was spared most of the effects of the war, he served out his apprenticeship within the United States. With the death of several family members during the invasion of New Jersey, Baldwin had no interest in returning to the new nation of New England after his apprenticeship was concluded, and established his own business in Philadelphia in 1819. He patented a new method of gold-plating which was highly successful, and then established American manufacture of book-binders tools and printers rolls.

Baldwin’s most noted inventions, however, were in the field of steam engines. During the late 1820s he developed an interest in this technology, and designed a stationary engine for his own works. This engine received such widespread acclaim that he turned his attention to locomotive engines, and in 1832 developed an excellent locomotive, nicknamed “Ironsides”, for use on the railroads. The outbreak of war and rebellion in Pennsylvania hindered its adoption, and Baldwin himself was suspected of sympathy to the rebels. After the war, although his locomotive design was being used in both the United States and New England, he found it convenient to distance himself from Pennsylvania for a time, to avoid any condemnation for involvement in the attempted revolution. He spent some time in Washington, D.C. during the rebuilding, and was invited on a U.S. trade mission to Brazil. Here, he quickly realised how the economy of Brazil would benefit by the introduction of railroads, and on his return to the USA established a joint American-Brazilian company to import locomotives to Brazil (of his own design, naturally). The development of railroads in Brazil during the 1840s is credited with a large part of that nation’s economic expansion, particularly the coffee boom.

In later life, Baldwin stood for the Pennsylvania legislature – the suspicions of rebel sentiment having eventually faded away – and was elected there in 1858. He served as a representative for two terms before retiring, and died in 1864.

Roger Sherman BALDWIN (1793-present). New England lawyer and politician. A prominent lawyer in New Haven, Connecticut, Baldwin became notorious for his anti-slavery stance, adopting a number of cases where he argued for the rights of fugitive slaves to remain in New England rather than being returned to the United States. Although he avoided politics for much of his life, he accepted an invitation from Martin van Buren to seek the Republican vice-presidential nomination for the 1846 elections. Despite his powerful arguments, Baldwin failed to carry Connecticut as a state, although Baldwin became Vice-President anyway. His continual anti-slavery stance caused considerable disquiet within the Republican Party, many of whom wished to ensure cordial relations with the United States. Baldwin defected to the Radical Party in 1848, a courageous but ill-timed move which probably cost him the opportunity to win the presidency. Baldwin failed to achieve the presidential nomination for the Radicals in 1850, and withdrew from politics, although he is agitating again during the 1855 elections.

Rev. Dr. George BANCROFT (1800-present). Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Bancroft was educated in Europe but returned to New England and followed his father’s footsteps into the church. In 1855, he was residing in Nova Scotia Territory, where his preaching was very well-received.

Phineas Taylor BARNUM (1810-present). Born in Bethel, Connecticut. Entrepreneur, showman, and agitator, Barnum’s career has seen more rises and falls than an ocean jetty. His commercial career has seen him open shows and close them; his political career has seen him elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives, then resign the day after he was re-elected. (Some said this was to avoid news of a potential scandal involving the wife of another Representative). Barnum’s public profile continues to rise with every passing year.

Robert Woodward BARNWELL (1801-present). Prominent South Carolinian planter, educator and lawyer. Educated at Beaufort College, South Carolina, but shortly after he graduated described it as a ‘third-rate university, not worthy of American students’ [2]. He managed the family plantation for a time after graduating, but found himself drawn to the question of education. Determined that the United States needed advanced educational facilities to match those of New England, Barnwell diverted much of the family fortune into sponsoring a new university near Greenville, South Carolina. Barnwell University (Robert Barnwell never being plagued by any sense of modesty) opened its doors to students in 1832. Barnwell ran the university for its first twelve years, where it thrived despite competition from the two great Virginia universities. In 1844 Barnwell turned his attention to politics, where he sought and won election to the South Carolina House of Representatives. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1846, and to the Senate in 1848. By 1855, he is a distinguished member of the U.S. Senate, and there is discussion in Democratic circles of securing him the nomination as Vice-President, alongside the clear choice as presidential candidate, Jefferson Davis.

[2] In OTL, Beaufort College served as a preparatory college, rather than a full university. Barnwell attended it first, but then went on to Harvard. With Harvard now in another country, a variety of educational institutions like Beaufort College were turned into attempted prestigious universities to match those of Harvard. During the early years, these universities were not particularly successful, as indicated by Barnwell’s (and others) scathing comments.

Judah Philip BENJAMIN (1811-present). Born in what was then the Danish West Indies, and which became part of the U.S. Caribbean Territory, Benjamin moved with his parents to Georgia, and then to South Carolina. He became one of the first alumni of Barnwell University, studying law. He initially set up a legal practice in Wilmington, North Carolina, but he moved to what was then Jefferson Territory in 1842. Benjamin became a noted citizen of Jefferson, and was nominated to join the U.S. Senate on Jefferson’s admission to the Union in 1842. He served as a senator for eight years, resigning in 1850 to accept President Cass’s nomination for him as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. He is still serving on the bench in 1855.

Thomas Hart BENTON (1782-1858). Soldier, planter and politician. Born in North Carolina, Benton typified the adventurous young Southern gentlemen who sought to develop a new land for himself in the open frontier – a tradition which the United States was long to continue. He distinguished himself as a Tennessee planter, then, during the War of 1811, as an aide-de-camp to General Wilkinson. After the war, he left the family plantation to his brother, and migrated to the future Washington Territory. His brilliant oratory gave him a large following throughout the Territory. After Washington’s admission as a state in 1827, he became the new state’s first senator, and continued to hold that office for the rest of his life. Sometimes referred to as the uncrowned king of Washington, virtually nothing which passed in that state happened without his approval. He encouraged the development of Washington, and indeed of the entire west. He was one of the most vocal supporters of President Jackson’s support of Texas during the War of 1833, when most people thought it folly to start a second war, and his sponsorship of land distribution to encourage settlement into the Southwest. He advocated the telegraph, interior highways, and a transcontinental railroad. Most importantly for U.S. history, he advocated the greatest possible expansion of U.S. territory. Initially, he had championed expansion in the Pacific Northwest, but after the experience of 1833, he abandoned that idea and pushed for greater southern expansion. He enthusiastically argued in favour of war with Mexico during the First Mexican War, and demanded a negotiator who would gain the maximum possible territory. In the fading days of his life, in 1857, he pressed for the annexation of Cuba in support of the filibusters who had already entered the island. He died in Columbia City on 12 April 1858, the longest-serving Senator in U.S. history.

BIRNEY, James Gillespie. Politician and presidential candidate. Born in Danville, Kentucky, 4 February 1792, died in Biloxi, West Florida, 1 February 1861 .One of history’s rarities, an American presidential candidate who advocated the abolition of bonded labour. Of Irish descent, and educated in New Jersey – which is often regarded as the source of his antislavery notions – Birney migrated to Alabama and opened a cotton plantation in the burgeoning territory after the War of 1811. He was notably unsuccessful at this venture, due to a disinclination to allow his overseers to perform their role [5]. His plantation continued to struggle for a number of years, and he eventually became an absentee landlord while he set up a legal practice. From here, he was elected to the Alabama Legislature, where his advocacy of gradual emancipation put him at odds with most of his fellow Alabamians, but which led him to join the American Colonization Society. He eventually abandoned that Society, too, apparently disgusted at its role in organising the transportation of convicted criminals to Liberia. Even his opponents respected him, however, and in 1840 and again in 1844, Birney sought election as president. He received only a handful of votes in each case. Disillusioned, he abandoned Alabama and spent the remainder of his life in West Florida, where he unsuccessfully opposed the expansion of slavery into the shipbuilding industry.

[5] viz, he did not want them to use the lash. Birney is not quite as vehemently anti-slavery in TTL as he was in OTL – he didn’t marry Agatha McDowell, who had an influence on his anti-slavery sentiments – but he remained a staunch opponent of it.

James Gillespie BIRNEY: Birney finished his education in New Jersey in 1810, just as the spectre of war was forming. His study of law as interrupted by the war, and he moved to Alabama and opened a cotton plantation. He remains there at the outbreak of the War of 1833.

Chief BLACK HAWK: One of the leading chiefs in the Indian Confederation; the Sauk lands stretch on both sides of the Mississippi. Black Hawk and his warriors were responsible for some of the raids during 1829-1830 which brought the United States and Britain to the brink of war, and it took considerable effort by Tecumseh to force Black Hawk to stop. As of 1833, Black Hawk and the Sauk were reported to be near the Mississippi, in the former Illinois Territory.

Simon BOLIVAR (1783-1852). South American general and statesman: Bolivar was one of the envoys sent in the unsuccessful diplomatic mission to Britain in 1811. On his return, he became a spectacularly successful general, despite occasional reversals. He was proclaimed President of the Republic of Colombia [OTL Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador], and assisted in the liberation of Peru. Colombia was spared from the worst of the European counter-revolutions, and Bolivar was able to defeat most of the attacks even before the French withdrew. The European invasions proved a distraction from the brewing civil wars within Colombia. Bolivar did his best to hold together Colombia from the pressure of Venezuelan separatists, but was forced to concede its independence in 1848. He died in 1852, one of the most honoured of statesmen.

Charles Louis Napoleon BONAPARTE [Napoleon III] (1808-present). Son of King Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland. Involved in three failed coup attempts against King Louis-Philippe, but spared imprisonment as his cousin drew the blame. He became a leading member of the Second Republic after the February Uprising. He was nominated as president in the aftermath of the Confederation War, and promptly seized power to establish the Second Empire. In 1855, he is consolidating his power as French Emperor, and musing on ways to achieve national greatness under the shadow of the three-headed eagle.

Napoleon Francis Joseph Charles BONAPARTE [Napoleon II] (1811-present). Son of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and his second wife, Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. Napoleon II was kept as a virtual prisoner in Austria until 1834, when with the accession of King Louis-Philippe in France, he was granted freedom to leave. Napoleon II was reportedly linked to three failed coup attempts within France, the last in 1843, and was imprisoned there. After the February Uprising in 1849, he was swept to power as the President of the Second Republic, only to oversee the defeat of France during the Confederation War in 1852-1853. He went into exile in England, leaving power to his cousin, Charles Bonaparte, and in 1855 he remains a bitter, disappointed émigré. He is harbouring thoughts of carving out a new French empire in the Pacific, where he thinks there may be more chance of displacing the Germans.

Sir Isaac BROCK (British-Canadian general): In 1811, General Brock was defeated outside Amherstburg by the Union forces under General Pinckney. He was injured and then taken prisoner during the battle, and sat out the rest of the war as a prisoner. He died in obscurity.

John BROWN: Often called a Yankee caught on the wrong side of the border, John Brown’s father was a wandering New Englander who led his son through much of New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio before the outbreak of the War of 1811. He herded cattle for General Pinckney’s army during the war, and ended up at the burning of York (later Toronto). Brown returned to Pennsylvania, where he tried to run several businesses, but failed. By the late 1820s, Brown had become part of the “Velvet Circle” in Pennsylvania, who issued tracts and speeches against the extension of slavery, calling for its gradual abolition. By 1833, John Brown was being accused of extremism even within the Velvet Circle, and had been associating with other prominent Pennsylvanians who advocated secession from the United States in favour of joining free-soil New England.

Orestes Augustus BROWNSON (1803-present). Prominent New England minister, philosopher and social commentator. His life consisted of a series of religious episodes, with a constant thread of rejecting divine revelation and the strict authority of religion. He briefly flirted with the transcendentalist movement in the 1830s, but abandoned that movement when he felt it amounted to little more than empty talking. He continues to advocate improving society through the abandonment of Christianity, secular education and humanism. He is one of the few prominent New England thinkers to accept Matthism as a theory, although he rejects some of its social applications, and many of his writings have been used by the growing Radical movement within New England.

James BUCHANAN (1791-1836). Pennsylvanian politician. A volunteer during the War of 1811, he was wounded in the unsuccessful defence of Washington, D.C. He served in the Pennsylvanian House of Representatives, and later the Senate, and was one of the most influential Senators just before the outbreak of the Pennsylvanian Revolution. He earned a reputation for dithering and doing nothing while his state was tearing itself down around him. Some suspected he wanted to preserve Pennsylvania within the Union, while others accused him of being a New England sympathiser who lacked even the courage to follow through with his convictions. He met his death at the hands of John Brown, the notorious Pennsylvanian revolutionary, who was seeking to intimidate Pennsylvanian politicians who were considering re-unification with the United States, after their revolution had been suppressed.

Aaron BURR: Famous for the intrigues of his earlier career, and the murder of Alexander Hamilton, Burr continued his chequered career after the outbreak of the War of 1811. He is often suspected of arranging the murder of Rufus King, although without any hard evidence. He is, however, credited with arranging for De Witt Clinton to bring New York into the Republic of New England. Clinton briefly appointed Burr as minister to the United States (in 1815), but Burr was expelled after a U.S. protest. In 1823, Burr was lucky to escape with his life after attempting to arrange an expedition from Detroit to annex large parts of the Indian Confederation to New England. He currently has links to the Velvet Circle and other pro-secession groups within the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

John Caldwell CALHOUN (1782-1853). Seventh President of the United States. Prominent as a War Hawk during the War of 1811, Calhoun was one of the politicians who scrambled for election in 1824. Due to a deal in the House of Representatives, he was elected President, with Monroe as Vice-President. His presidency was noted for his vigorous championing of “restoring America’s honour”, expansion of the armed forces, and for the difficulty he had dealing with the rising influence of the Jacksonians. Defeated in the 1828 elections, he joined the Patriot Party in 1830, and served as an influential elder statesman within that party for the remainder of his life. He continued to press for expansion of U.S. territory west and south, and lived long enough to see the United States win the First Mexican War.

Salmon Portland CHASE (1808-present). United States political figure. His family moved to Pennsylvania after the War of 1811, and he attended Harvard. He won a name for himself as a lawyer and abolitionist in Pennsylvania, but he opposed the revolution and joined the new state of Westylvania. He served in the Westylvanian Legislature, initially as a Patriot, but he recently joined the nativist Freedom Party, and although the Freedom Party vote was low in 1856, he is working actively to win Westylvania for the 1860 elections.

Cassius Marcellus CLAY (1810-1843). Kentuckian abolitionist and revolutionary. Clay tried and failed to bring about abolition or even restrictions on slavery through legal means, but found himself ignored before the War of 1833 and targeted afterwards. Frustrated by the encroachment of slavery, Clay conceived a plan to seize control of the Kentucky legislature, force them to pass a bill abolishing slavery within Kentucky, and he firmly believed that there would be uprisings in support of abolitionism. He succeeded in seizing control of Frankfort for a time, but his expected support failed to materialise. More than half of the Kentucky legislators died during the uprising, but the Clay rebellions became a symbol of horror throughout the United States.

Samuel COLT (1814-present) [4]. New England inventor and businessman. Founded a weapons company during the War of 1833, producing his famous Colt revolver, and which continues to supply a variety of weaponry to the New England government.

Sir James Henry CRAIG (1748-1812). British soldier and Governor of Canada. His arbitrary actions served to alienate the French-Canadians during his term as governor, and his other attempts at reform were hindered by the outbreak of the War of 1811. He died in 1812.

David CROCKETT: Born in East Tennessee in 1786, Crockett first rose to prominence during the War of 1811, when he served under General Wilkinson in the Indian Wars, including the Creek War. He served three terms in the Tennessee legislature before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1825, and re-elected in 1827, 1829, 1831 and 1833. A charismatic if uneducated speaker, Crockett was originally a supporter of President Calhoun, but later transferred his support to President Andrew Jackson. Crockett was one of the influential voices behind the 1833 declaration of war against Great Britain and New England. During the war, he helped to negotiate the peace treaty with Mexico, then he was an emissary to the failed negotiations in Stockholm. He died in 1843.

Charles DARWIN (1809)-present. British parson. Darwin graduated from Cambridge with a degree in divinity. Although he had a keen interest in natural history, Darwin’s proposals to travel overseas to study the natural world were abandoned after he was first unable to arrange a visit to Madeira, and then again when he was passed over for a voyage on the Beagle [1]. In 1855, Darwin is a country vicar with an interest in amateur natural history, as much as he can study while remaining supportive of his flock – he has published treatises on barnacles and earthworms, and has delivered some noteworthy works on geology.

Jefferson DAVIS (1808-present). American general and statesman. Davis attended Wilkinson Military Academy, Virginia [the U.S. replacement for West Point]. After graduating, he entered the army and stayed there throughout the War of 1833. He rose through the ranks during the war, mostly by virtue of being in the right place at the right time, and with an expanded need for experienced officers. By 1836, he was a Colonel serving under General Coffee defending the southern frontier, and took place in the Battle of New Orleans. After General Coffee died in action, Davis took it on himself to assume the brevet rank of brigadier general, and led the successful defence of New Orleans, although later historians are inclined to grant others with most of the credit for the victory. Davis remained in the army after the war, building a career as a general. In the First Mexican War, he was second-in-command to General Zachary Taylor for the successful invasion of Mexico, and after Taylor succumbed to disease (believed to have been malaria, but accounts vary), Davis found himself outside Mexico City with an army ready to invade. He lost no time in capitalising on the opportunity. In 1855, he was at the forefront of consideration for the Democratic presidential candidature.

Thomas DAVIS (1814-present). Irish nationalist. Davis has been influential in advocating a sense of “Ireland for the Irish”, and fostering a sense of nationalism. After witnessing the failure of two severe revolutions (in 1833 and 1849-50), and the bloody conflict within the peoples of Ireland, Davis has become even more committed to achieving a peaceful, united nation of Ireland. He visited Canada in 1851, and after noting how well that nation had succeeding in holding itself together despite the Protestant-Catholic split there, has become one of the leading voices calling for Kingdom status for Ireland.

DECATUR, Commodore Stephen. Naval commander. Born in Sinepuxent, Maryland on 5 January 1779. Died at sea on 5 December 1840. Although born in Maryland, Decatur was raised in Pennsylvania, and early in his life saved his mother from assault by a drunkard. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy at the age of 16 and served there for all of his adult life. He distinguished himself by a variety of actions during the War of 1811. After the war’s end, he continued to serve in naval actions such as the mission to Algiers and some of the brief anti-piracy raids during the 1820s. In the War of 1833, he had more of an administrative role in the Board of the Navy, but assumed responsibility for direct command of naval vessels in the Chesapeake after the death of Commodore Warrington. After the war ended, he returned to an administrative role. Decatur’s end was appropriate for such a decorated naval veteran: he toured the naval units during the Pirate Wars and was killed in action during an engagement near St Martin, and buried at sea.

Francisco DE GOYA (1746-1828) (Spanish artist): Served as court painter to the French during the Napoleonic invasions of Spain. His frighteningly realistic etchings in “The Disasters of War”, which would be published after his death, depicted the horrors of war. After the defeat of Napoleon, De Goya was pardoned for his service for the French but ordered into exile. He was briefly a court painter to the King of Sardinia, but moved first to France then to Mexico. His depictions of the French invasion of Mexico City are considered amongst his finest works. He died in Mexico City on 15 June 1828.

Manuel DE GODOY (1767-1847). Spanish statesman. After being evicted from Spain in 1808, Godoy resided in Paris where he was, perhaps unfairly, accused of involvement in Napoleon II’s abortive coup attempt in 1843. He died in prison four years later.

Agustin DE ITURBIDE: One of the key figures in the Mexican War of Independence, De Iturbide was successful in serving on both sides, until he finally had himself proclaimed Emperor of Mexico in 1822. His grip on the throne looked shaky, but the French invasions helped to unite Mexicans behind him, allowing him to act as the figurehead of resistance. He was also fortunate that one of his main rivals, Vicente Guerrero, died during the invasion. De Iturbide maintains a shaky grip on the throne at the outbreak of the War of 1833.

Charles John Huffam DICKENS (1812-present). Australian author. Born in Portsmouth, England, he narrowly escaped gaol himself when his father was sent to debtor’s prison in 1824. The Dickens were able to gain release from prison in exchange for settlement in Australia (which was then New South Wales). Settling in Sydney, Dickens established a career as a reporter and then as a novelist. His novels depicting the injustice of the convict system have become hugely popular in both Australia and in the United Kingdom, Canada and New England.

DINGANE: [Largely as per OTL]. Dingane became King of the Zulus after assassinating his brother Shaka. He continues to oversee the expansion of the Zulu Empire.

Dorothea DIX (1802-present). New England nurse. Dix took up a career as a nurse during the War of 1833, and was one of the key figures involved in the advances in medical organisation which were developed during that war [things like a permanent medical military corps, some principles of hygiene, which would not be developed OTL until the American Civil War]. Since that time, she has become an influential campaigner for mental health in both New England and the USA.

Thomas Wilson DORR (1805-present): New England statesman. Dorr set up a Rhode Island legal practice in 1827, and joined the “Young Republicans” arm of the Republican Party of New England. Throughout his career, Dorr argued against the franchise limitations both within his own state and elsewhere in New England, against the natural-born constitutional restrictions, and the other immigration restrictions. His agitation grew to the point where he was expelled from the Republicans in 1845, and he was one of the founders of the Radical Party when this merged with the old Whig Party. Twice a presidential candidate for that party (in 1850 and 1854), Dorr’s most proud moment has been the 1853 abolition of Rhode Island’s property qualifications for voting.

Thomas DOUGLAS, Lord Selkirk (1771–1842). Canadian pioneer. Determined to bring Scottish people to North America, Lord Selkirk established a settlement at Red River, and became its unofficial governor. The North West Company brought lawsuits against him, citing false evidence, but the claims were quietly dismissed after the British governor decided that further settlement of the northwestern territories was more important, post-War of 1811, than a patently false lawsuit. The town of Selkirk [OTL Winnipeg, Canada] is but one of many places named in his honour.

John Henry EATON (1790-1856). American statesmen. Established a legal practice in Tennessee, and then stood for membership of the House of Representatives in 1818. He was elected to the Senate in 1827. Forced to choose a political party in the aftermath of the break-up of the Republicans, Eaton opted to join the Democrats, but was always an uneasy member of that party. He served under Jackson as Secretary of War, mostly because of a shared hatred of the British, but he was disappointed with that party’s abandonment of the anti-British line after the war. He defected to the Patriots in 1841, resigning his seat in the Senate. He was appointed governor of Iowa Territory by President Mangum in that year, and reluctantly oversaw that territory’s adoption of a state constitution which permitted slavery. He served as Governor of Iowa, both as a territory then as a state, until he retired on medical grounds in 1854 and died two years later.

Edward EVERETT (1794-present). New England statesmen. One of the youngest presidents in New England history, Everett became president more or less by accident. Elected to the House of Representatives in 1831, Everett had been considering resignation to seek the governorship of Massachusetts in 1834 when he was offered the vice-presidential candidacy by Thomas Oakley. (It is reported that Oakley wanted someone who was unlikely to outshine him). Everett agreed, and served as vice-president from 1835-1839, and then as president from 1839-1843. He established a reputation as a masterful if long-winded orator (some of his speeches ran for over three hours). After his presidency, Everett has become one of the Federalists distinguished elder statesmen, and made several speaking tours of Europe.

Charles James FAULKNER (1806-present). Virginian lawyer and politician. Built up a legal practice for himself for a number of years before serving in his state legislature in 1831, then in the senate, and was elected governor of Virginia in 1851. He retains this rank in 1855.

Milliard FILLMORE (1800-present). A New Yorker of inspiring mediocrity, Fillmore joined the Republican Party and gradually worked his way into seniority, finally securing the Vice-Presidential nomination for the 1850 elections, under William Dayton. Catapulted into national prominence after he won election as Vice-President while under a Federalist president, Fillmore’s term in office has been distinguished by competence. But he was unable to secure the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1854, being kept as vice-president while Franklin Pierce sought and won the presidency.

James FITZGIBBON (1780-present). Irish-born Canadian soldier. Fitzgibbon distinguished himself in two North American wars. In the War of 1811, he led a force of volunteers, styled “Bellboys” after he had them use bells during a raid to make Americans think they were a herd of stray cattle. Fitzgibbon’s small-scale raids won several critical victories in the Niagara Peninsula. He remained in Canada after the war, and in the War of 1833 he was appointed Adjutant General of Militia and won a number of victories around the Great Lakes, particularly in the liberation of Detroit (supported by a New England force) and in the subsequent defence of Michigan.

William Lloyd GARRISON (1805-1824): William’s father deserted his family in 1808 due to crippling debt; one of many New England merchants affected by the Embargo Act. Garrison’s early life was one of hard work and determination, working through failed apprenticeships. Unable to gain suitable employment anywhere on land, Garrison enlisted in the New England Navy, where he served on the NES Swan, and later transferred to the Argus under Commander Perry. During the boarding of a suspected slaving ship, Garrison was shot and later died of his wounds. He was buried at sea on 7 July 1824.

Horace GREELEY (1811-present). New England newspaper baron. Born in New Hampshire, Greeley moved around New England in various printing trades before settling in Hartford in 1840 and opening a newspaper, the weekly Hartford Tribune, a pro-Whig, pro-social reform paper which became widely-read. The paper continues to support the Radical Party since the Whigs merged with that party.

John Parker HALE (1806-present). New Hampshire political leader. Starting his political career as a New Hampshire Federalist, Hale converted to the Republicans after the War of 1833, winning a Senate seat. His vocal anti-slavery voice made him less well-regarded amongst the Republicans, and he defected to the Radical Party in 1851. He still holds a New Hampshire Senate seat, but may be vulnerable to losing it at the next election.

Hannibal HAMLIN (1809-present). Maine and New England political leader. Hamlin has worked his way through the political offices in Maine as a Federalist, largely because winning office in Maine more or less requires Federalist credentials. As a Senator, he recently stood for vice-president on the Federalist ticket at the 1854 elections, but he is becoming increasingly uncomfortable as a member of that party.

William Henry HARRISON (1773-1843). American general and political figure. The Governor of Indiana Territory during the leadup to and outbreak of the War of 1811, forces under Harrison’s command suffered a number of defeats at the hands of British-armed Indians and, later, combined British-Indian forces. Discredited by his military failures during the War of 1811, Harrison retired into obscurity in civilian life.

Robert Young HAYNE: Prominent South Carolinian Senator, then Governor from 1826. A staunch opponent of Jackson, and founding member of the Patriot Party which formed after the break-up of the Republican Party. Hayne has become outspoken in his opposition to the centralisation which is taking place under Jackson, despite his support of the general principles of expansionism and slavery extension. Hayne was particularly famous for pardoning several people convicted of importing slaves into South Carolina during 1827-1828.

Francis Bond HEAD (1793-present). British and Argentine entrepreneur. After a varied military career – including serving under Wellington’s defeated force at Waterloo in 1815 – Head migrated to Argentina to set up a mining company there. He has been quite successful for himself, and is still living there as one of the main figures in the British-descended community in Buenos Aires.

Joseph HOLT (1807-present). American lawyer and public official. Born in Kentucky, he commenced a legal practice in that state, and became widely known as both a public speaker and lawyer. He practiced law in both Kentucky and Tennessee, and set up an office in Knoxville (as it then was) when it became the federal capital in 1841. In 1847, he was assisting prosecutor during the trial of Marcellus Reid, the assassin of President Mangum. Although a Democrat, he continued to gain influence in Columbia City during the Cass years.

HONG Xiuquan (1812-present). Chinese social reformer and revolutionary leader. Hong Xiuquan has inspired and led a revolution in southern China, nicknamed the “Taiping” revolution, which began in 1852 and is currently expanding its control rapidly. Hong is currently seeking Western support and the capture of a port city, two things he will need to ensure that his rebellion has any hope of success. The British have no interest in working against the established government of China, but he has recently met with emissaries from (or purporting to be from) the Netherlands and France.

Sam HOUSTON (1793-present). Texan military leader and statesman. Enrolled in the army after the outbreak of the War of 1811. Badly wounded four times during the war. Remained in the army afterwards, until his resignation in 1819. Studied law in Tennessee, admitted to the bar. Unsuccessfully stood for election to U.S. Congress in 1823. After the break-up of his marriage shortly thereafter, Houston migrated to Texas. He soon rose to prominence in Texan affairs, being nominated for several military commands, and attending the Conventions of 1830 and 1831. He was one of the signatories to the Texan Declaration of Independence on 12 January 1833, and shortly after was elected general. He attended the peace negotiations in 1834. He became the first governor of Texas-Coahuila after General Porter declined the nomination. Houston initially argued against the partition of Texas into multiple territories, but then conceded its inevitability and became the first governor of the state of East Texas. He became the Vice-President under Lewis Cass in 1848, and retains that office in 1855.

Victor HUGO (1802-present). French poet, novelist and dramatist. Hugo has written a number of notable novels and dramas. An ardent republican, he fled France after the fall of the Second Republic in 1853 and is currently in self-imposed exile in the United States. His view of republicanism is being tempered by what he has found there.

Andrew JACKSON (1767-1844). American general political leader. Jackson distinguished himself in the War of 1811 through his staunch but ultimately futile defence of New Jersey, as the state was ceded by the Treaty of Lisbon. As military governor of what was then East Florida Territory during the early 1820s, Jackson distinguished himself with his defeat of the Seminoles. He won the largest number of electoral votes in the 1824 elections, but Calhoun became President when the election was sent to the House of Representatives. Jackson formed the Democratic Party in response, and was catapulted to the presidency in 1828. He spent his first term marshalling military strength and cultivating friendship with France, and then declared war on the Indian Confederation, New England and Britain soon after his re-election. Despite the ambiguous outcome of the war, Jackson sought and won a third term in office, and remained President until 1840. He retired from public life, worn out by the responsibilities of office, and died in 1844.

Andrew JOHNSON (1808-present). A very good tailor, Johnson tried to enter politics a couple of times earlier in his life, but was quietly blocked by the planters in Tennessee, and settled into the working-class life he has continued to the present day.

Francis (Frank) White JOHNSON (1799-1833). Martyr of the Texan Revolution. Johnson migrated to Texas in 1825. He was an outspoken delegate in favour of independence at the constitutional conventions, and led the first force to take up arms against Mexico. He was one of the casualties of the first engagement with Santa Anna in 1833.

Don Benito JUAREZ (1806-present). Governor of the Mexican state of Oaxaca since 1846, Juarez became an outspoken liberal reformer, and was one of the key figures in the revolution that overthrew Santa Anna after the humiliation of the First Mexican War. Elected President in 1853, he has instituted a program to break the civil power of the Church, including confiscation of ecclesiastical property.

KAPODISTRIAS, Count Ioannis Antonios (1776-1854). Influential Greek political leader. Born in Corfu (then under Venetian rule). Secretary of State of the Septinsular Republic (Ionian Islands) 1803-1807. Entered Russian service in 1809, filling a variety of diplomatic and military roles culminating in a role of de facto foreign minister 1816-1822. Departed Russian service over dispute for lack of support for Greek revolt. Elected provisional president of Greece in 1827. Negotiated favourable peace terms with Britain, France and New England in 1828, leading to recognition of Greek independence by Ottoman Empire in 1829. Served as prime minister under King Leopold I of Greece from 1830-1841 and again from 1845 until his retirement in 1849. Credited with major reforms of the Greek state. A highly successful diplomat, his most notable post-independence successes were obtaining the Ionian Islands from the United Kingdom in 1834 in exchange for neutrality in the Russo-Ottoman War of 1834-1836, then after the war’s end successfully negotiating with Russia to force the Ottomans to cede Grevena to Greece.

John “Radical Jack” George LAMBTON, Earl of Durham (1792-1840). British politician. Lord Durham campaigned vigorously for parlimentary reform, and just lived to see its introduction in 1840 before his death.

Robert E. LEE (1807-present). Appointed to Wilkinson Military Academy in 1825, Lee was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after his graduation. Lee was a First Lieutenant at the outbreak of the War of 1833, and rose through the ranks to that of Colonel before the war’s end. He operated in the northwestern theatre, and earned a reputation for brilliant manoeuvres, but also for over-running his lines of supply on a regular basis. In the First Mexican War, Lee was named General and responsible for the occupation of New Mexico. He remains in the army in 1855 as one of its most experienced commanders.

Abraham LINCOLN (1809-present). Born in Kentucky, Lincoln’s family migrated to Missouri, then to Ohio, then to New England in 1830. Lincoln entered state politics in New York, eventually rising to State Senator as a Republican, but unable to run for federal office under the New England Constitution. He defected to the Radicals in 1854, and with the passing of the Fourth Amendment, he was eligible for federal office. He was appointed to the New England Senate in 1855.

Henry Wadsworth LONGFELLOW (1807-present). New England lawyer, orator and political leader. Longfellow entered legal practice in 1828, and soon became noted for his effective arguments. He also had a habit of writing letters to friends which were masterful displays of the written word, particularly in his support of abolition. Encouraged by his friend Hannibal Hamlin, Longfellow sought and won election to Congress in 1853.

William Lyon MACKENZIE (1795-present). Canadian reformer. Condemned by many for his part in the 1837 rebellions, MacKenzie spent several years in exile before being pardoned and invited back as part of the British plans to reform Canada. He was an opponent of Kingdom status, but has since relented given the stable rule Canada has enjoyed under James I.

Willie Person MANGUM (1792-1847). American president. One of the more notable members of the Patriot Party, Mangum won election to the presidency in 1840. He was re-elected in 1844, then assassinated in 1847.

Horace MANN (1796-present). New England politician and mental health advocate. Mann established a political career for himself as a Federalist in Massachusetts. His well-planned life took a dramatic turn when he sponsored a hospital for the mentally ill in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1838. The opening was also attended by Dorothea Dix, the nurse who had just completed a distinguished service as a medical organiser to the Continental Army. They reportedly fell in love instantly, and were married six months later. Since then, Mann has continued his public career, with a focus on support his wife’s interest in mental health.

MOHAMMED Ali Pasha (1769-1850). Egyptian leader. Mohammed introduced considerable reforms to Egypt, including a system of conscription which allowed him a much expanded army, and turned Egypt into a power which stretched into Arabia. After being invited to assist the Turks suppress the Greek revolt, Mohammed saw his fleet destroyed by the Greeks, and then the Sultan renege on his promised offer of Syria. Mohammed’s armies engaged in a protracted war with the Turks over Palestine and Syria. The Turks’ position, already precarious, was decimated when the Russians declared war in 1834. Mohammed seized control of Palestine and Syria during this period. His virtual empire was soon consumed by revolts, however, which were supported by Britain and France, who had grown wary of Mohammed’s considerable power. In 1842, the European powers intervened openly, forcing a settlement between the Turks and Egypt, which confined Mohammed’s power to Egypt and Sinai. He died eight years later.

Ramon Maria NARVAEZ (1800-present). Spanish general and statesmen. Narvaez distinguished himself by his victories over the Carlist generals during the First Carlist Wars. He held the premiership from 1840-1852 (with brief interruptions), but has now had to return to the battlefield as Spain is engulfed by the Second Carlist Wars.

Joshua Abraham NORTON (1811-present). American entrepreneur. Born in Britain, and migrated to South Africa with his family, then to the United States in 1848. He entered North California soon after it was conquered, and established Empire Investments in 1852. He has since invested heavily in North California and other parts of former Mexico, to the point where some of his contemporaries have dubbed him “Protector of Mexico”.

Daniel O'CONNELL (1776-1815). Irish barrister. Established a legal practice, but was killed in a duel with John D'Esterre when O’Connell refused to pay to cross a bridge which D’Esterre was collecting tolls for.

Robert OWEN (1771-1854). Welsh social reformer. Owen became noted for his establishment of a socially conscious factory at New Lanark, and his proposals for social reform and the cure of poverty were well-received in many circles. However, his vocal dislike of established religion discredited his proposals, and popular support for his social reform almost vanished overnight. Owen attempted to set up a social reform commune in Kentucky, but this was also a dismal failure. He established his “socialist” system in 1834, and advocated it his writings for the remainder of his life, but he achieved very little, although his activities are usually cited as a source of inspiration for Karl Marx, whom Owen met in London shortly before his death. Owen died in 1854.

Robert Dale OWEN (1801-1843). American abolitionist. Owen settled in Kentucky in the United States in 1824, when along with his father he attempted to set up an equitable social reform commune there. He remained in Kentucky, advocating his father’s principles, and extending them to call for the abolition of slavery in the state. Owen was a member of the Kentucky Legislature during the Clay revolt, and defied them by uttering his famous words, “Like you, I would rid this world of slavery. But unlike you, I would achieve it through the rule of law, for without law, we shall all become slaves to anarchy.” Some sources claim that Owen was shot by Cassius Clay himself after hearing these words, but others state that it was a member of the rebellious militia.

Louis-Joseph PAPINEAU (1786-present). French-Canadian political leader. An ardent republican, Papineau was one of the leading French-Canadians in the 1836 rebellions. Exiled after the war, Papineau spent the next few years living in the United States and then in France, advocating republicanism as the best form of government. He was permitted to return to Canada during the discussions which led to the formation of the Kingdom. He opposed Kingdom status on its formation, and migrated to New Brunswick, where he has become a leader campaigner for New Brunswick joining New England in preference to Canada or remaining under British rule.

Sir Robert PEEL (1788-1853). British political leader. A lifelong opponent of Catholic Emancipation, Peel became Prime Minister in 1829 and continued to staunchly oppose this proposal, with the support of the king, until the Irish revolt of 1833 coincided with the U.S. declaration of war. Peel struggled to hold the office of Prime Minister, and was ousted in 1835. He continued to oppose Emancipation, but it was passed after the war. Peel never regained office, dying of tuberculosis in 1853.

Louis PHILIPPE (1773-1851). Orleanist King of France. Swept to power by the December Revolution in 1834, King Louis Philippe sought to act as a modest king, working for the interests of his subjects. However, he became more conservative as he grew older, and became the source of much public discontent. He was further plagued in that his only son, Ferdinand-Philippe, died in 1828 of a carriage accident without any children, and Louis was unable to produce any subsequent male heirs. He fled Paris in 1849 in the face of revolution, taking up residence in the United States, and died there in 1851. The Orleanist royal line ended with him.

Franklin PIERCE (1804-president). 12th President of New England. Elected in 1854 and inaugurated in 1855 as a Republican president.

Gideon Johnson PILLOW (1806-present). American legislator. After establishing a legal practice in Tennessee, Pillow entered the Tennessee Legislature in 1843, and then became a federal Senator in 1850. A Patriot with substantial Democratic leanings, Pillow was in 1855 seeking the Vice-Presidential nomination in time for the 1856 elections.

Edgar Allan POE (1809-1851). Orphaned early in his life, Poe was fostered by a series of merchant families. Poe graduated from West Point in 1829 and was admitted to the Continental Army. By 1833, he had attained the rank of captain and was stationed in a fort near the New-York Pennsylvania border. Poe was repeatedly been reprimanded by his superiors for writing poetry and other fiction when he should be commanding his men. During his military service in the War of 1833, Poe composed the haunting poem “The Ravens”, describing the horrors of war. He left the army after the war and published a series of novels, as well as acting as an editor. He was found comatose in the streets of Boston in 1851, and was delirious for the next two days before dying. His precise cause of death is unknown to this day, but is suspected to have been some kind of brain disease.

James Knox POLK (1795-1854). American political leader. A lawyer in his youth, Polk entered politics and eventually became the Vice-President during Jackson’s third term in office (1837-1841). Polk sought the presidency himself during the 1840 elections, but he was defeated by fellow North Carolinian Willie P. Mangum. He continued to argue for westward expansion during his later career in the U.S. Senate, and eventually switched to the Patriot Party after Lewis Cass became President and also advocated western expansion.

George PREVOST (1767-1812): Prevost served as the overall commander of military forces in British North America during the first part of the War of 1811. He led a wing of the invasion forces into New Jersey during 1812, and was killed in the Battle of New Brunswick in that year.

Lt. Col. Charles-Michel DE SALABERRY: Military commander during the War of 1811. He had a number of victories over Union forces, including some successful raids into upstate New York around Buffalo.

Antonio Lopez de SANTA ANNA (1794-present). One of the main figures in the Mexican War of Independence, and renowned as a national hero for helping to repel the French from Mexico City during the European invasions, Santa Anna attempted to defeat the Texan rebels during 1833-1834, but was soundly defeated and forced to swallow a peace treaty conceding Texas and part of Coahuila. Santa Anna led the Revolution of 1834 and became President in the next year, after the death of Emperor De Iturbide. Santa Anna held the office of President, very tightly, from 1835-1852, but most of his tenure in office consisted of leaving his vice-presidents to run the country, then dismissing them when they became unpopular. His attempts to impose centralisation during the late 1840s were cut short by the outbreak of the First Mexican War. Santa Anna was overthrown after the conclusion of the war, and went into exile first in Cuba, and then in New England.

Henry Rowe SCHOOLCRAFT: (1793-1821). Explorer, ethnologist and victim, Schoolcraft took part in an ill-fated expedition to find the source of the Mississippi. He died at the hands of hostile Indians somewhere along the northwestern borders of the Indian Confederation, according to the panicked accounts of survivors of the expedition.

William SEWARD (1801-present). New England statesman. Seward has been a moderate Republican throughout most of his life. Although he has espoused anti-slavery sentiments – like most of the Republicans – he moderated these after the War of 1833, seeking to end the practice of slavery in the United States by “peaceful dialogue and exertions of conscience”. His moderate statements served to distance him from some of the more radical elements of the party, and he was a firm opponent of the defections to the newly-forming Radical Party. Seward remains an influential figure in the Republican Party in 1855, and is being touted as a future presidential candidate.

Horatio SEYMOUR (1810-present). New England political figure. The nephew of his namesake, the 6th President of New England, the younger Seymour has become the leading Federalist in New York State. Although leading a minority within the state, Seymour has recently sought to partition New York State into eastern and western portions, believing that an eastern state would be likely to follow him into the Federalist fold.

SMITH, Junius. Lawyer, entrepreneur, pioneer of ocean steam navigation, and founder of America’s tea industry. Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on 2 October 1780. Died in Charleston, South Carolina, 24 May 1857. In 1802, Junius Smith graduated from Yale University, Connecticut, New England (then still part of the United States). Smith established an early reputation as an excellent orator and barrister. His effective practice of law led to his appointment to pursue a case against the British government for the seizure of an American merchantman. He successfully pleaded the cases, receiving a large damages award. This trip to London is credited with creating his mistrust of the British, which was only aggravated by the continued British seizure of American vessels during the Napoleonic wars.

On his return to Connecticut, Smith established a variety of commercial ventures, particularly in exports. He experienced considerable success, but found his operations interrupted by the outbreak of the War of 1811. He passively resisted New England secession throughout the war, and then migrated to Charleston, South Carolina in the aftermath of the war. Here he continued his commercial operations, and achieved even greater success, despite being branded in some quarters as “an American Yankee”. He had particular success as a shipbuilder in Charleston’s burgeoning shipbuilding industry, including some commercial vessels but more for military vessels under Navy Secretary Clay’s naval expansion program. His innovations included the use of bonded labour [1] in shipbuilding, although this remained limited in scope until the post-War of 1833 expansion of bonded labour in manufacturing.

Smith developed an interest in the potential for steam-powered vessels. He began the project in 1827, and released a prospectus in 1829, founding a joint American-British-New Englander steam navigation company [2]. His construction of the first commercial vessel was interrupted by the outbreak of war, and the British-New Englander military raids caused further damage to his shipyards. However, he returned to the project after the war, and the successful transatlantic voyage of the “Concord” in 1839 was largely the result of his efforts. His navigation company continued to prosper throughout his life.

Smith’s other major contribution to the United States was his successful pioneering of the tea industry in South Carolina. The tea plant had been available in South Carolina since 1799, when it was accidentally delivered in a shipment to the botanist Andre Michaux, but its commercial potential had been ignored for decades. Smith had purchased a plantation at Golden Grove some years before the War of 1833. During his enforced idleness after the outbreak of war and the stalling of his commercial endeavours, Smith turned his attention to his plantation, and the cultivation of tea. His first plants were established in 1834, and the first harvest was delivered in 1837. Smith proved an adept marketer, and demand for tea in both the local market and exports proved substantial [3]. Indeed, tea was so successful a commercial product that it was the only cash crop that could outmatch cotton for rates of return on investment, and tea planters rapidly joined the social elite of South Carolina and, later, Georgia.

Junius Smith himself did not devote all his attention to tea plantations, maintaining his widespread commercial interests on both sides of the Atlantic. He remained a curious figure in South Carolina society: wealthy and generous by any measure, unfailingly polite, but still regarded as a “Yankee”, and noted for treating his slaves kindly, to the point where some accused him of giving them de facto freedom. In the twilight of his life, Smith was one of the few established men [4] in South Carolina to oppose the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment [which authorised Congress to re-enslave or expel all free blacks within the United States] and subsequent Expulsion Act. He died one of the wealthiest men in North America and, indeed, in the world.

[1] i.e. slaves. Bonded (or indentured) labour is a catch-all term used by many American writers to include all the varieties of chattel slaves, convicts, peons, serfs, debt-slaves and contracted labour variously employed throughout the United States, but in this period, slaves were the only form of indentured labour.

[2] This was established during the brief thaw in American-New Englander relations under the Sanford presidency.

[3] In OTL, Junius Smith introduced tea later, during 1848, and although it was commercially successful, the venture ended with his death. Here, the changed circumstances mean that he introduces it earlier, and it becomes an established part of South Carolina’s industry.

[4] i.e. slaveowner.

Joseph STORY (1779-1845). New England jurist. Appointed to the founding Supreme Court of New England by President Pickering in 1811, Story established a strong role for the Supreme Court in New England which paralleled that which John Marshall was establishing in the United States. Although several Federalist presidents believed that the gradual encroaching of the Supreme Court’s authority, Story continued to develop and extend the law in areas such as equity and the admiralty laws. He was made Chief Justice in 1830 by President Sanford, a role which Story maintained until his death in 1845.

Charles SUMNER (1811-present). New England statesman. One of the youngest men ever elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, Sumner served three terms as a Representative, and then sought and won office as a federal Representative. Originally a Republican, Sumner abandoned that party for the Radicals in 1850 and is one of the few Radical Representatives from Massachusetts. He remains a member of the New England House of Representatives in 1855, unable to secure a Senate appointment in Federalist-dominated Massachusetts.

Roger Brook TANEY (1777-1835). Maryland lawyer and politician. Although beginning his political career as a Federalist, Roger Taney was quick to abandon that party during the War of 1811. He served Maryland as a State Representative, then as one of the leading members of the State Senate, then he was appointed the state’s Attorney General in 1829. Failing of election to the U.S. Senate in 1832, Taney continued to play a leading role in Maryland politics. He had the misfortune to be caught in the British-Yankee raid on Baltimore in 1835, and is remembered to this day as a martyr of the war. His epitaph reads: “Here lies Roger Brook Taney, friend of liberty during both peace and war, supporter of those in need. He died at the hands of the enemies of freedom. Let all those who pass read these words him and know who betrayed him. Lest we forget.”

Zachary TAYLOR (1784-1851). American general. A career soldier, Zachary Taylor saw service in all of the United States’ wars for the first half of the nineteenth century. He served in the War of 1811, both Seminole Wars and the War of 1833, finally achieving general’s stars in 1836. General Taylor led the American forces who supported Juan Pablo Duarte in his restoration of independence to the Dominican Republic in 1840. As one of the United States’ most senior generals, Taylor led the invasion of Mexico during the First Mexican War, but died of malaria before laying eyes on Mexico City.

Alfred TENNYSON (1809-present) is currently a British poet of middling fame, as of 1855, and some expect him to deliver more famous work soon.

Louis Adolphe THIERS (1797-present) is a popular French historian, noted for his dramatic portrayals of the ideals of the First Republic. Thiers found it politic to leave France when Napoleon III re-established the Second Empire, and is currently in self-imposed exile in southern Italy.

William Barret TRAVIS (1809-present). Born in South Carolina, Travis had a brief career as an attorney before his marriage in 1828. When his wife died in childbirth the following year, Travis left South Carolina and moved to Arkansaw Territory. Disappointed with the prospects there, he moved onto Texas in 1830. He arrived to find Texas a hotbed of unrest, with the growing calls for independence from Mexico, and volunteered to join in the militia there. With the declaration of independence in 1833, Travis assumed command of a detachment of militia, and distinguished himself during the Texan Revolution. As head of the First Texas Volunteer Cavalry, he played a vital part in winning the Battle of New Orleans in 1836. Travis entered the regular army after the war, and was a Colonel during the U.S. acquisition of North California, which led to the outbreak of the First Mexican War. Travis was then named Governor of North California Territory.

John TYLER (1790-present). Virginian and American statesman. A prominent lawyer in his youth, Tyler followed his father’s footsteps into the governorship of Virginia in 1825. An early advocate of the rightness of Matthism, particularly in its applications to matters of race, Tyler has campaigned vigorously and extensively for the extension of slavery to all areas of the United States where it would be economically viable. In 1855, Tyler is a distinguished United States Senator, and a firm advocate of the need to establish a “regulated system of classification of the races” in the newly-acquired former Mexican territories.

Martin VAN BUREN: After the chaos of the War of 1811, Van Buren rose to prominence in New York. He was a moderate Federalist at first, but abandoned that party for the Republicans after the Federalists continued to oppose the elimination of property qualifications for voting. He was elected as a New York Senator in 1823, and became one of the leading Republicans in that state. He was a staunch supporter of President Sanford during the latter’s election, but had a rift after he was passed over as Secretary of State in favour of John Quincy Adams. He was appointed to fill a vacancy in the New England Senate in 1832, and after distinguished service as a Senator successfully won election as the 10th President of New England, and only the second Republican. Van Buren has remained with the Republican Party since, and continues to advocate good relations with the United States.

Cornelius VANDERBILT: Prominent New York capitalist, his steamboat empire expanded dramatically with the construction of canals was given federal approval by President Dana in 1823. His growing commercial empire includes strong trading links with the Canadas and the United States. Vanderbilt has been an opponent of the establishment of tariffs in New England, and has lent his considerable financial support to the most pro-United States wing of the Republican Party. His business dealings suffered a brief setback during the War of 1833, but Vanderbilt has continued to expand his shipping and canal-building empire. Most of New England’s commerce passes through Vanderbilt-owned ships, and by 1855 he has started to expand his railroad interests, including the first discussions of a transcontinental railroad to unite New England and Canada.

Daniel WEBSTER (1782-1850). New England statesman. As a young man and moderate Federalist, Webster is reported to have originally opposed secession, but to have changed his views after the assassination of Rufus King. He established a strong legal practice in New Hampshire, and then represented that state first as a Representative and then, from 1827, as a Senator. Along with most of the Federalists, he advocated high tariffs to support the burgeoning manufacturing sector of New England, despite the commercial friction this caused with Britain. He was selected as Vice-President on Edward Everett’s Federalist ticket in 1838 to win the “swing state” of New Hampshire, and followed into the Presidency in the 1842 elections. As President, Webster’s most noteworthy act was to purchase Nova Scotia from the United Kingdom. He is also remembered as a great orator, with quotes such as “I was born an American; I have lived as a New Englander; I will die as a Yankee”.

Hugh Lawson WHITE: Prominent Senator from Tennessee. First elected in 1823, re-elected in 1829. Serves as President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. Widely regarded as Jackson’s heir apparent to the Presidency, although there are also rumours that Jackson will seek a third term in office. [Note: not to be confused with Hugh White, a relatively obscure New York Congressman in both OTL and TTL.]

William WIRT: Eminent author and lawyer, William Wirt became a long-standing Attorney General, serving from 1816-1832. He retired on the grounds of ill-health, and died two years later.

Levi WOODBURY (1789-1852). New England statesman and jurist. Woodbury had a political career in his youth, becoming a New England Senator, before abandoning his political career to accept an appointment to the New England Supreme Court in 1831, and he became the Chief Justice in 1845 after the death of Joseph Story. Woodbury served as Chief Justice until his death in 1852.

Frances WRIGHT (1795-1850). Frances Wright was Scottish-born but had a lifelong interest in North America. She visited North America in her youth. Her famous travelogue “Views of Society and Manners in North America” hailed New England as a progressive nation but condemned the United States as more backward than the Old World. Wright was particularly appalled by slavery and made vigorous efforts to finding a way to stop the practice. Wright settled in New England and became an advocate of further social reform within New England, particularly women’s rights. Although her demands in areas such as equal education, legal rights for married women, liberal divorce laws, and birth control were not realised in her lifetime, Wright is a viewed as a pioneer by later New England women.

Archibald YELL (1797-present). American opportunist. Born in North Carolina, but an early migrant to Tennessee, Yell earned a deserved reputation as an eccentric showman with an eye for the main chance. He moved seamlessly between military and political careers. He served a distinguished career in the Tennessee Legislature, interrupted only by occasional bouts of military service. Yell took part in the War of 1811, the Second Seminole War, the War of 1833, and the First Mexican War. He led the volunteer contingents in the march on Mexico City, then migrated to North California, where he currently resides.

David Levy YULEE (1810-present). American statesman. Born in St Thomas in what would become the U.S. Virgin Islands (part of the Caribbean Territory), Yulee studied in Virginia, and maintained close links with the United States. A staunch supporter of slavery, Yulee established a plantation in what was then Jackson Territory, and was accepted as the first Jewish Senator. Yulee has maintained his Jewish faith [1], and has published arguments advocating the compatibility of Judaism with slavery.

[1] Mostly because they have many other people to hate, Americans ITTL are notably less anti-Semitic than they were in OTL during the nineteenth century. Being a Jew can still be a barrier to social advancement in some ways, but much less so than in OTL.