Early US history

I've been doing some research into some of the early rebellions in US history and one of the major things connecting them was that they all took place in the western US (at the time of course). So i've started on a ATL with a different Shays Rebellion and have gotten to the election of Adams. So please tell me wha tyou think.



The years between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution were terbulent times in which the pressures of establishing control as a united country eventualy led to the mostly unknown yet vastly important rebellion led by Daniel Shays. A highly decorated captian in the revolutionary war he become angry at the increasing debts being placed on small farmers, of which he was one. Finaly a deteriorating economy in early 1786, esspecialy felt in his residence of western Massachusets, led Shays and 800 armed farmers to blockade the Supereme Court from convening. Eventualy a similar sized private milita arrived at the seen. Although it remained peaceful, violence was eventualy sparked when a rumor circulated that the Supereme Court had ruled indictments against farmers. Shays and his farmers began to march on the court house and fighting quickly erupted between the private milita and Shays’s farmers. Over 100 milita and farmers were killed with three times that amount being wounded and although the farmers was the better off they were forced to flee upon news of a second private army approching.
Regrouping Shays gathered nearly 2500 armed farmers who still believed in the rumour that circulated earlier while also being shocked at the violence that erupted earlier. Shays then preceded to lead a attack on the disorganized privated armies that where scattered throughout Massachusets, destroying many before they could join togather. Yet Shays was defeat at Petersham and Manshaven Massachusets to state militia a forced him to surrender what was left of his army. And all though Shays was the only one to be charged for treason deep resentment remained in New England farmers at what they perceved to be an attempt to silince their voice in government. Yet Shays Rebellion (as it is now called) highlighted some, on latter did it happen in the Annapolis Convention.
After President Washingtons was elected as the first precident of the United States his first actions were to stabilise the country after the Shays Rebellion and his second to begin to construct a working government. Washington was extremely succesful with his second action by establishing the Supreme Court in 1789, the Bill of Rights in 1791, and the First Bank of the United States in the same year. He also saw the rise of the slave economy with the advent of the cotton gin in in 1793, while passing the 11th Amendment in 1795, and finally accepting five new states into the Union. Yet with his success at starting and managing a government he was largely a failure when it came to uniting the populouse and, ironicly, the battles fought against the latter rebellions.
The first of this was the Whisky Rebllion which started in 1794 over the rasing of the liqour tax to solve the nations debt. The tax called for larger, ussualy eastern disstelleries, to be charged 6 cents while smaller, ussually western disstelleries, to be charced 9. Up and down the western frontier of the United States violent riots rocked the states, no more was this clearer then in western Pennsylvania. Armed bands of settlers harassed and stopped tax collectors from collecting their dues. Seeing an opportunity to show the forces of the federal government Washington called 12,000 militia and along with Hamilton, he marched into western Pennsylvania. “Remember Shays!” became the rallying cry of armed bands throughout the west, while those in Pennsylvania become organized under the leadership of Tompkins. He used the settler’s familiarity of the land to constantly harass the Washington’s, latter Hamilton’s, army while gathering recruits from the other western lands. After months of harassing Federal troops, Tompkins was finally forced to battle out side of Pittsburg. With an undisciplined, yet highly motivated, army Tompkins managed to hold Hamilton for nearly three hours until his lines were flanked and he was overrun. When Hamilton gave his speech before Congress on the campaign he was reported to say “To hold the west we must realize that we cannot win by force of arms and as such we must win by the pen. I do not speak lightly on this matter”. Two months latter the Liquor tax was repealed after little success.
After that Pyrrhic victory the union was rocked with argument over its handling. More western influenced states claimed it was handled sloppily and could’ve been ended before Tompkins army grew from volunteers. Eastern states shot back that the state or at least county governments were helping the rebels and allowed them to escape time and time again without reporting to Washington and Hamilton their movements. This came to head with the “Western Act” stating that all settlers in the vaguely declared “western lands” could be held against their will for a period for two weeks under order of the President. Barely passing through the Congress, Washington signed on to the “Western Act” in 1795. Largely because of this act tensions between the east and west continued for decades to come. Continued strain on the union happened with the ratification of the Jay Treaty, as many thought the United States was not asking for enough with the handing over of the Great Lake region. Tensions only eased when George Washington’s final turn ended and his time in politics ended in 1796. Washington’s final address to the union stressed stability in the union and advised his successors to avoid the deadly alliance system in Europe. John Adams was elected as the second president of the United States in 1797, inheriting a troubled and divided Union.
 
hers the next installment



Adams was mostly likely not the right man for president at the time, but his actions are hardly as damnable as some would believe. An idealist Adams decided to disregard Washington’s advice and begin his presidency with the, often controversial, XYZ affair and the undeclared war with France that it produced. Even a bigger strain on the union was the Alien and Sedition Act of 1797 which broadened the powers of the federal government by giving the presidentspower to deport any alien he considers dangerous, while also extending the time for citizenship and making it illegal to publish false information about the government. This was largely aimed at the pro-western and pro-state party the Democratic-Republican Party. It back fired on Adams and instead increased the Democratic-Republican Party membership while also increasing western animosity against the government. This culminated in the Virginia-Kentucky Compromise latter that year, which reinforced states rights while curtailing many of the Alien and Sedition Acts powers.
After the quite year of 1798 Adams entered into one of his most difficult with the death of George Washington in 1799. The entire nation mourned his loss for months on end, while others used the opportunity to claim the government’s actions as directly against the great hero’s wishes. Things again boiled over when Adams and the Congress began to enforce the House Tax later that year. German immigrants, largely living in the west, were most angered by this as it reminds them all of the much hated Hearth Tax. This was an obvious repeat of the Whiskey Rebellion and should have been noticed sooner, yet Adams inability to realize his position allowed for rebellion to again take hold. Started by John Fries, a veteran of both the Revolutionary war and the Whiskey Rebellion, it quickly gathered supported throughout the west as peopled flocked to cause. Gathering a force of close to 5,000 (some report it as much more) he was quickly able to expel the hated tax collectors from western Pennsylvania and gave his famous speech at Bright Horse inn “We flee nations because of their oppression. We leave families and lives in the hope of bringing them over. I personally have bled for this country from its founding through its rebellions. How am I rewarded? How are we rewarded? With oppression that equals the great ‘lords’ in Europe!”. Adams response was swift calling up 12,000 militia and with Philip Schuyler as commander marched against Fries. Fries opted to avoid a confrontation with Schuyler and instead, much like in the Whiskey Rebellion began to harass the militia, many of whom didn’t want to fight fellow citizens for the second time in a decade. Desertion plagued Schuyler as he continued to try and force Fries to give battler, which he finally did on his own terms.
The Battler of Trumbauersville was a disaster for Schuyler. Flanked and constantly harassed, Schuyler was forced to leave the field in defeat. Adams and the Congress were shocked at the turn of events and rumors of full scale revolution circulated the upper tiers of the government. Alexander Hamilton is quick to suggest that a second army of 13,000 be raised to ‘escort’ him as negotiator. Adams is quick to agree and the newly raised army march’s west. Fries and Hamilton eventually met at a small inn outside of Trubauersville, a few miles from the battle. Negotiations lasted for more then a week as neither party could compromise. Fries claimed that the government had failed in its duties and as such the western lands should be allowed to secede peacefully from the Union. Yet Hamilton was a strong debater and eventually a compromised was met. Fries would disband his army, all men who served in Fries army would sign a document banning them from ever picking up a weapon against the government, all of Fries men would also be banned from any life in politics, and finally Fries must turn himself over to authorities on charges of treason. In exchange western Pennsylvania will become the state of Appalachia while western Virginia would become the state of Western Virginia.
Hamilton rushed back to Philadelphia, leaving the army, to present the proposal to Adams and the Congress. It was met with heavy resistance, it was said that Adams yelled at Hamilton for close to an hour about failing his duties, while the Congress nearly threw him out. Two things convinced the Congress and Adams to agree to the compromise. The first being the second armies defeat after fighting erupted over the militias rapping of a girl. Secondly, Fries began to march towards Philadelphia. A finally speech by Hamilton managed to secure the proposal in the Congress, while Hamilton spent nearly two days convincing Adams. But as 1800 rolled around the union accepted the two states of Appalachia and West Virginia into the Union.
Adams final year in the presidency saw the creation of the Library of Congress and the Logan Act, prohibiting citizens from negotiating with foreign countries. But largely the government was run by Burr after Hamilton fell out with the Federalist Party and joined the Democratic-Republican Party. It also saw great prosperity and stability with disgruntled westerners of other states moving to the growing cities of Pittsburg and Erie.
The 1801 election was one of the most heated in United States history. A weaken Federalist party put Aaron Burr up for presidency, after Adams became a pariah for letting Fires rebellion get out of hand, while the Democratic-Republicans put Thomas Jefferson on their ticket. It was a brutal campaign by any standards with Jefferson comparing the Federalists to “Lords who scream for feudalism” while Burr gave the example of Hamilton to prove that the Democratic-Republicans were “A party filled with turn-coats and traitors that would make Benedict Arnold proud”. It was extremely close but in the end the Jefferson won and the Federalist Party was broken as a political opponent.
 
part 3



When Jefferson took office he had a united populace behind him, quite western states in support of him, and a weak and dying opposition. This allowed him to do a number of things, most importantly, keeping a low profile for the first two years of his term. This allowed him to focus on keeping the newly converted Hamilton out of party and government positions and issues, while having as little to do with meddling in people’s affairs as much as possible, exactly what was needed at the time. When he did bring the government back into the scene it was with the Louisiana Purchase, more then doubling territory and popularity by buying it cheaply from the cash-strapped French. He followed that up by granting Ohio statehood and increasing his political power in the Congress.
1804 was an even more hectic year. Burr and Hamilton decided to settle their long standing feud with a duel that ended with Burr getting a flesh wound, hardly the climatic ending that many expected and even hoped for. Indiana was barely accepted to statehood and proved the pivotal state in ratification of the 12 Amendment, which some say was exactly what Jefferson was looking for. Clark and Foil and also set out to explore the recently purchased territory. Jefferson also so the opportunity to cement his power in the government by establishing the Settlers Corps, an organization to encourage and help settlers move further west. While he was an effective president in getting through any law he felt strongly for, Jefferson manly succeeded by not doing too much. Instead he let the nation settle down after decades of upheaval.
Jefferson’s second term started with a literal bang as the US navy and marines defeated the Barbary pirates in Tripoli, securing US interests in the Mediterranean. The first nation road also was started and would end up connecting every state in the union up to that point and beyond, going as far as Illinois territory. Settling also increased to the western territories on the successful return of Clark and Foil, quickly becoming national heroes. But the second half of Jefferson’s presidency became the most important as it would lead the United States into war and revolution.
Starting with the restrictions placed on US shipping, tensions between the US, France, and Britain reached levels not seen since the revolutionary war. And with the passage of the Embargo Act of 1807 it began to look like war was brewing between the three powers. Yet even at this late stage the war could have been avoided if the USS Leopold wasn’t sunk by the British. Negotiations were brief and war was quickly declared between the US and Great Britain, with France in and undeclared war on the side of US.
The US was looked to be in a sorry position for a war as its navy was small and its army a mere paper tiger with little to hold it up. Yet what few considered was the navy’s recent experience in Tripoli and the very experienced militias that often supported that regular army. Once the war began ship yards up and down the Atlantic coast began construction along with the newly constructed ship yards in New Orleans. The Army, with large supplements of militia and under the command of Hull, threw into the Canadian border around the Great Lakes. Detroit was the first city to be attacked with a large army of around 7,000 militia and regulars. It was largely successful as there was little opposition except for the easily defeated Indian armies. Sir Isaac Brock’s counter attack was had initial success but thanks to the more experienced militia it was defeated with heavy casualties, ending all offensives actions by the British for the duration of the war. Sub theaters against the Creek Indians were equally successful where Andrew Jackson decisively defeated them and threw out all British aligned forces. At sea the British fared little better as US ships were generally of better quality, they were eventually forced to assign patrol routes to at least two ships. Finally after the battles of Montreal and Quebec Sir Brock was forced to surrender what remained of the Canadian Army in early 1808.
The war then refocused on the battle at sea. With massive ship productions happening up and down the Easter Seaboard while newly upgraded shipyards in New Orleans began turning out their first ships. Quickly the British lead in number began to slip while quality of ships only continued to improve. Furthermore the loss of the Canadian ports forced the British to operate out of the Caribbean caused the failure of the Blockade of the Eastern Seaboard in late 1808. The British had rough choices to make as 1808 began to dawn, either sign a peace treaty with the possibility of substantial losses, or take ships out of the European theatre and into the American one. Yet instead of making a decision they chose neither and instead dragged the war into 1810. Finally Treaty of Toronto was resolved under a number of conditions, firstly the peninsula that Toronto resides on will be handed over to the US, and secondly the British will lift the embargo on US goods. Because of the War of 1807 British influence in North America was drastically reduced compared to the equally rising influence of the United States.
The war period was one of continued domination by the Democratic - Republican Party with the election of Alexander Hamilton after the second term of Jefferson. Jefferson’s war years were occupied with one key issue, slavery. In 1807 the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves came into effect. The following year the slave trade with Africa was ended and soon early signs of the Democratic-Republican schism were seen. Western farmers were in massive support or the ending of slavery on purely economic terms as may settlers in the west owned a small family farm and couldn’t possible compete with the larger plantations of the south. Jefferson’s time as president of the US was successful in that it secured US interest in North America while keeping both western and eastern tensions relatively calm. Yet his inability to solve the east-west problem meant that it continued to simmer under the surface only to become a problem for later administrations.
 
thank you i'll post the next installment tonight with the one after that on friday or saturday.
 
aight this is the newst installment so any suggestions or critisism is welcome and as always i got terrible spelling and grammer.



Beginning in 1809, Hamilton inherited the US in one of the best positions it was ever in. The economy grew by leaps and bounds as citizens began to felt a new sense of unity over the second victory against the British. Immigration to the west rapidly increased as new industries and opportunities began to pop up. Jackson celebrated his second year in office with the admittance of Louisiana and Toronto as states in the Union. Jackson, meanwhile, became the champion of his party as he solidified his position while slowly shifting party policies to a more pro-east position.
Immigration to the western territories and states (Appalachia, West Virginia, Ohio, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi area, Illinois, and Indiana area) grew by leaps and bounds. Looking for new land European’s and easterners began to fill in the once rural lands. Even though they weren’t not nearly at the same size as those in the east, towns and small cities began to sprang up. The idea of expansion was very much in thoughts of all who moved west. Largely thanks to the Settlers Corp this was possible. Although not enthusiastically led (thanks to leaders put in place by Hamilton) its ability to organize caravans of people insured that more then 4 people rarely died on the any trek west.
The first term of Alexander Hamilton’s was full of glamour yet little else. Indiana (1810), Illinois (1811), and Mississippi (1811), and Alabama (1812) were accepted as states with heavy pro Democratic-Republican leanings. Embargos on French and English shipping was repelled as long as US shipping was not endangered in any way by the various parties. Roads saw a boom as every eastern state was connected with a sophisticated (at the time) road system that allowed for easy travel. Canals were also heavily expanded and developed. Inter-state trade expanded by leaps and bounds and those towns and cities on the great lakes soon thrived as transportation hubs for the west. Only the expiration of the First Bank of the United Sates dampened an otherwise perfect term of presidency, earning him one of the greatest landslide victories in presidential history.
Hamilton’s second term was markedly less successful. Although starting as strong as the previous term it quickly turned sour with the Panic of 1816. Started by the creation of the Second Bank of the United States and the loans they called in, it quickly spread throughout the country. Both agriculture and manufacturing facilities began to close down and unemployment reached all time highs. Solutions of all kinds were proposed yet Hamilton tried nothing. By 1817 immigration to the west again began to pickup but largely to escape the poverty ridden cities of the east for opportunity in the west. The US economy seemed to digress on a monthly basis with little hope for recovery.
Hamilton quickly saw his power disintegrating as the now pro-east Democratic-Republicans were faced with a river of settlers west, while those in the east began to despair with the failure of the economy to pick up. He hoped to kill two birds with one stone when he disbanded the Settlers Corps and raised heavy taxes on westerners. The idea was to stop the movement west with the loss of organized caravans and heavy taxes, while also providing incentive for people to move back east and stimulate the economy with the buying of new property. Sadly for him it only accomplished to anger easterners who wanted to move west and westerners who had recently moved and now faced unbearable taxes.
To further add to Hamilton’s worries, James Lowel gained a large following in the west after published his pamphlet “Western Ideals” (1816) which champion that the western ideals of achievement earning a place in the community. Latter Lowel wrote “Democracy in a Western Form” (1817) that called for a so called ‘earned citizenship’ in which any white male over the age of 16, no matter what condition, can earn the right to vote and run for political office, with no other difference between citizens and ‘full citizen’. The same year the “Democracy in a Western Form” was published the Independent Party was formed by Lowel and many of his followers. Although it was a regional party, it quickly gained the support of westerners and would soon win control of many of the state legislatures.
The election of 1816 was, to put it politely, a headache of epic proportions. Corruption marked every step of the way as both the weakened Democratic-Republicans and the Federalist used bribery to sway voters and ballot counters. When the votes were finally tallied, the Democratic-Republican candidate, James Monroe, won by less then a 500 votes. Federalist quickly cried for a recount which was agreed and came to the conclusion that the Federalist won by nearly 2,000 votes. Seeing no end to this the decision was put before the senate which, after a week of deliberation, decided that Monroe was indeed the winner of the election.
Although the economy began to pick up after his election, Monroe still faced daunted obstacles in the resurgent Federalist Party, the rising Independent Party, and the still weak economy. Monroe’s first act as president was the recreation of the Settlers Corps and the abolishment of the “Western Tax”. This won him the support of many in the West, yet fewer people took advantage of this after having little money left after the failed expeditions of the previous year. Furthermore he was able to sign a trade agreement with France that lowered tariffs on US shipping while giving the French navy access to New Orleans and if France is at war of England, Boston. The economy soon began to recover as US goods began to flood into France and its colonies.
As the economy grew the Federalist saw their support go back to pre-bust levels. Yet soon they would surge back up as a Federalist Senator admitted that the Democratic-Republicans bribed him to vote for Monroe. Soon more Senator’s stepped forward that they were bribed by Democratic-Republicans and the Federalist. Quickly the situation degenerated into a shouting match between the two parties. The people felt disenfranchised by both parties and while the two predominantly eastern parties lost support the Independent Party grew by leaps and bounds.
 
thanks i appreciate it. The reason i didn't continue is that i didn't see any responses, so I assumed that people weren't interested. I've had a few TL's posted on this board but none of them seemed to strike a cord with people. This was just the latest one. But if people are interested i've got notes of this tl up to the mondern day and would love to continue it.
 
i like how the regional differences are more pronounced...i guess i'm a free west sorta guy.

is there a south/north civil war still?
 
yeah but its latter and involves more than just the US. In mine the west stages numerouse failed uprisings from about 1836-1854 when a civil war vinally erupts. Unfortunetly the west loses. The second civil war happens in the 1870's between the north and the south. The south technically wins but falls apart a decade and a half latter. The west finally wins independence in a third civil war in the turn of the century. But i believe i'm going to change the first civil war into more of a large scale rebellion/uprising type.
 
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