America in 1850
Part 33: The United States in 1850
Daniel Webster will go down as a man with flaws who was determined to free the slaves, and after decades in Congress, managed to do so; sort of like William Wilberforce in Britain. However, not a lot is remembered of his other policies.
He promised to try, but found it hard to let go of his desire for higher tariffs and industrialization at the expense of the west and South. Webster did try to encourage public works and manufacturing as things that blacks could be involved in, and did a lot to promote education of the freed slaves. However, people were doing that in different states, too. Webster pushed a lot of rules preventing states from adopting laws that were ‘slavery in all but name” bu, in the end, people wanted to return to a more peaceful time.
Still, his Secretary of State, James Buchanan(1), had negotiated the Maine and Oregon borders with Canada, and peace was made with quite a few natives. Sam Houston, formerly a Tennessee governor, was also the first governor of Texas into the Webster administration, and tried to work with the Freedmen who were coming out west to provide homes for them. Things had gone well, all things considered.
But, Democrats such as Thomas Hart Benton more interested in letting the states run things. People like Benton – who, being 71 in 1852, probably wouldn’t run for President ehn, was encouraging the rights of the individual much more again. With the Bank of the Untied States having been extended for 10 years in 1843, he had his Treasury Secretary check that their department could handle most of the duties of the Bank, and then vetoed a renewed charter late in 1852, stating that, “The time for a large central bank is past.” Its main adherents were all getting really old by 1850, anyway.
So, how were things progressing?
The South:
William R. King, a senator and one of the wealthiest landowners in the state of Franklin – with a plantation that borders Alabama – has used sharecropping to help keep his land active, as have others across the South, but the Black Belt, as it’s known in Franklin, has seen lots of departures of Freedmen. In fact, as industry hasn’t taken off as much here despite the poverty, because there are fears more will leave via railroads. It’s also feared more and more word about what blacks in Louisiana and, to a lesser extent, Missouri are doing will make the Freedmen too eager for learning and voting.
A Northerner, Thaddeus Stevens believes in such rights for blacks. In fact, he will push consistently for equal rights for nearly 20 years in Congress, finally getting an amendment granting blacks citizenship, extending the Bill of Rights to citizens, and giving them voting rights, rights which are growing a little in the Northeast but unheard of in the South, where strict education requirements exist. And, there isn’t much in the way of education unless the person is rich. Still, progress is being made, and people are just glad they’re free. There are more freedoms in Maryland and Delaware for blacks, though movement is slow.
The Northeast and Midwest:
The country from Maine through the Old Northwest and above the Ohio River and mason Dixon Line is an industrial heartland, more advanced than it would have been without a bunch of Federalist attempts to improve the United States. In more and more states, where there are few blacks, there are voting rights for blacks. New York has them, too, and the work of some, such as one of Daniel Cady’s daughters, has meant that voting rights for women in New York were passed by William Seward before he left for the Senate. Seward, like Stevens, is starting to lean toward full rights for blacks, and will be become president in 1860.(2) He will be the first two-termer since Webster.
For now, progress is slow, and more Northerners hope Freedmen go out West; they don’t mind a few trickling north, but there are lots of immigrants from Europe, too. There aren’t the requirements for education to vote here, as the ruling elite don’t have as much control. However, there are starting to be rumblings about the incredible poverty of some of the workers, and poor working conditions. As women gain more power, though – especially as the right of women to vote becomes a little more common with the success of Louisiana – workers’ rights will become a top priority for the nation.
The West:
Louisiana is a land where Congressman, Senator and now Governor Aaron Burr Alston oversees a growing mercantile area which boasts one of the largest cities in the United States, New Orleans. After Emancipation, they struggled because the number of Freedmen entering the city made it grow by leaps and bounds. However, by 1850 things have stabilized to a fair extent.
Amazingly, a woman named Isabella Baumfree came out with her children and married a black person in the 1820s, seeing that rights were so much greater here; her husband had died. Her second husband has been supportive enough that she is actually a representative in a local parish; a small one, but still, with her election in 1849 and that of other blacks some wonder if the majority black states of Franklin and South Carolina might be looking at their future when they see this. Which, in turn, causes them to consider sending more blacks there.
Governor Alston must rule with an iron hand at times, because there are some who will try to provoke problems. He still recalls being part of the group which stared Governor Quitman down late in 1834. And, some in his owns tate cause trouble, too. Still, this “grand experiment” seems to be working pretty well.
In the rest of the West, Iowa has been admitted to the Union, as has California this year, thanks to hordes of people going out west for the gold. The next state will probably be Florida, as even without Western Florida a part of it the state is finally getting enough people; it will enter in 1851. However, the West is growing quite a bit.
Democratic presidents from 1849-1861 promoted very inexpensive land sales, and the Republicans will continue this in the 1860s. This is helping quite a few people to be able to afford to go out West. The U.S. Army has seen enough of the Freedmen helping to protect against natives by 1850 that they are considering allowing such troops into the Army, though they aren’t ready to integrate yet; the Navy has been integrated for decades.(3)
As for culture in general, the United States is full of independents, and they haven’t lost that pioneering spirit. However, there is some frustration in all parts of the country tht the Federal government grew so much. They are glad that the government is now trying to shrink some, and will be glad to see tt Seward won’t increase it too much.
However, they also recognize that there is a need for regulation in some areas, as the growing womens’ suffrage movement is accompanied by a movement to improve working conditions. Baumfree’s famous speech at the 1848 Womens’ Rights Convention, “Aren’t I A Person?”, will be fondly remembered by many. True to the rugged, individualistic spirit, she at first declared herself too busy to think about education, though she eventually did attend Louisiana State University and earn a degree. Education is seen as important enough that schools begun by blacks are sprouting up all over the South and even in the North, though in some areas integration is seen as possible only because there are so few blacks.
Libera, too, is getting bigger, as America has had much more ability to colonize Africa. However, it hasn’t grown to the extent some had hoped; especially not with Burr’s offer of free land in Louisiana and then in Texas. As those in the “Burr machine” also support this, it’s believed that the Democrats – still called Democrat-Republicans in the unique state of Louisiana – will remain in power long enough that it will become customary for the races to live together, even if some freedoms aren’t quite there yet.
However, Freedmen attempts to go to British Natal haven’t worked out; the British totally control hat area. However, the British used the presence of Freedmen with them to help in planting their colony next to the Cape one, as a way to make contact with locals. Natal is growing enough tht the British would be able to help the Dutch should there be rebellion.
---------------------------------------
(1) Buchanan was actually a Federalist at the start of his life, though likely a weak one, like the compromise group of Clinton and Clay in 1824 and ’28.
(2) One of those who still could easily be born after the POD given the gradual butterflies I noted I use like some others. In fact there is an Elizabeth Cady; it was a very common name, after all.
(3) Also true in OTL.
Part 33: The United States in 1850
Daniel Webster will go down as a man with flaws who was determined to free the slaves, and after decades in Congress, managed to do so; sort of like William Wilberforce in Britain. However, not a lot is remembered of his other policies.
He promised to try, but found it hard to let go of his desire for higher tariffs and industrialization at the expense of the west and South. Webster did try to encourage public works and manufacturing as things that blacks could be involved in, and did a lot to promote education of the freed slaves. However, people were doing that in different states, too. Webster pushed a lot of rules preventing states from adopting laws that were ‘slavery in all but name” bu, in the end, people wanted to return to a more peaceful time.
Still, his Secretary of State, James Buchanan(1), had negotiated the Maine and Oregon borders with Canada, and peace was made with quite a few natives. Sam Houston, formerly a Tennessee governor, was also the first governor of Texas into the Webster administration, and tried to work with the Freedmen who were coming out west to provide homes for them. Things had gone well, all things considered.
But, Democrats such as Thomas Hart Benton more interested in letting the states run things. People like Benton – who, being 71 in 1852, probably wouldn’t run for President ehn, was encouraging the rights of the individual much more again. With the Bank of the Untied States having been extended for 10 years in 1843, he had his Treasury Secretary check that their department could handle most of the duties of the Bank, and then vetoed a renewed charter late in 1852, stating that, “The time for a large central bank is past.” Its main adherents were all getting really old by 1850, anyway.
So, how were things progressing?
The South:
William R. King, a senator and one of the wealthiest landowners in the state of Franklin – with a plantation that borders Alabama – has used sharecropping to help keep his land active, as have others across the South, but the Black Belt, as it’s known in Franklin, has seen lots of departures of Freedmen. In fact, as industry hasn’t taken off as much here despite the poverty, because there are fears more will leave via railroads. It’s also feared more and more word about what blacks in Louisiana and, to a lesser extent, Missouri are doing will make the Freedmen too eager for learning and voting.
A Northerner, Thaddeus Stevens believes in such rights for blacks. In fact, he will push consistently for equal rights for nearly 20 years in Congress, finally getting an amendment granting blacks citizenship, extending the Bill of Rights to citizens, and giving them voting rights, rights which are growing a little in the Northeast but unheard of in the South, where strict education requirements exist. And, there isn’t much in the way of education unless the person is rich. Still, progress is being made, and people are just glad they’re free. There are more freedoms in Maryland and Delaware for blacks, though movement is slow.
The Northeast and Midwest:
The country from Maine through the Old Northwest and above the Ohio River and mason Dixon Line is an industrial heartland, more advanced than it would have been without a bunch of Federalist attempts to improve the United States. In more and more states, where there are few blacks, there are voting rights for blacks. New York has them, too, and the work of some, such as one of Daniel Cady’s daughters, has meant that voting rights for women in New York were passed by William Seward before he left for the Senate. Seward, like Stevens, is starting to lean toward full rights for blacks, and will be become president in 1860.(2) He will be the first two-termer since Webster.
For now, progress is slow, and more Northerners hope Freedmen go out West; they don’t mind a few trickling north, but there are lots of immigrants from Europe, too. There aren’t the requirements for education to vote here, as the ruling elite don’t have as much control. However, there are starting to be rumblings about the incredible poverty of some of the workers, and poor working conditions. As women gain more power, though – especially as the right of women to vote becomes a little more common with the success of Louisiana – workers’ rights will become a top priority for the nation.
The West:
Louisiana is a land where Congressman, Senator and now Governor Aaron Burr Alston oversees a growing mercantile area which boasts one of the largest cities in the United States, New Orleans. After Emancipation, they struggled because the number of Freedmen entering the city made it grow by leaps and bounds. However, by 1850 things have stabilized to a fair extent.
Amazingly, a woman named Isabella Baumfree came out with her children and married a black person in the 1820s, seeing that rights were so much greater here; her husband had died. Her second husband has been supportive enough that she is actually a representative in a local parish; a small one, but still, with her election in 1849 and that of other blacks some wonder if the majority black states of Franklin and South Carolina might be looking at their future when they see this. Which, in turn, causes them to consider sending more blacks there.
Governor Alston must rule with an iron hand at times, because there are some who will try to provoke problems. He still recalls being part of the group which stared Governor Quitman down late in 1834. And, some in his owns tate cause trouble, too. Still, this “grand experiment” seems to be working pretty well.
In the rest of the West, Iowa has been admitted to the Union, as has California this year, thanks to hordes of people going out west for the gold. The next state will probably be Florida, as even without Western Florida a part of it the state is finally getting enough people; it will enter in 1851. However, the West is growing quite a bit.
Democratic presidents from 1849-1861 promoted very inexpensive land sales, and the Republicans will continue this in the 1860s. This is helping quite a few people to be able to afford to go out West. The U.S. Army has seen enough of the Freedmen helping to protect against natives by 1850 that they are considering allowing such troops into the Army, though they aren’t ready to integrate yet; the Navy has been integrated for decades.(3)
As for culture in general, the United States is full of independents, and they haven’t lost that pioneering spirit. However, there is some frustration in all parts of the country tht the Federal government grew so much. They are glad that the government is now trying to shrink some, and will be glad to see tt Seward won’t increase it too much.
However, they also recognize that there is a need for regulation in some areas, as the growing womens’ suffrage movement is accompanied by a movement to improve working conditions. Baumfree’s famous speech at the 1848 Womens’ Rights Convention, “Aren’t I A Person?”, will be fondly remembered by many. True to the rugged, individualistic spirit, she at first declared herself too busy to think about education, though she eventually did attend Louisiana State University and earn a degree. Education is seen as important enough that schools begun by blacks are sprouting up all over the South and even in the North, though in some areas integration is seen as possible only because there are so few blacks.
Libera, too, is getting bigger, as America has had much more ability to colonize Africa. However, it hasn’t grown to the extent some had hoped; especially not with Burr’s offer of free land in Louisiana and then in Texas. As those in the “Burr machine” also support this, it’s believed that the Democrats – still called Democrat-Republicans in the unique state of Louisiana – will remain in power long enough that it will become customary for the races to live together, even if some freedoms aren’t quite there yet.
However, Freedmen attempts to go to British Natal haven’t worked out; the British totally control hat area. However, the British used the presence of Freedmen with them to help in planting their colony next to the Cape one, as a way to make contact with locals. Natal is growing enough tht the British would be able to help the Dutch should there be rebellion.
---------------------------------------
(1) Buchanan was actually a Federalist at the start of his life, though likely a weak one, like the compromise group of Clinton and Clay in 1824 and ’28.
(2) One of those who still could easily be born after the POD given the gradual butterflies I noted I use like some others. In fact there is an Elizabeth Cady; it was a very common name, after all.
(3) Also true in OTL.
