Experiment Aflame: A House Divided - an Alternate American History

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Experiment Aflame - an Alternate American History​

The day was bright and promising. The sky was blue with wisps of clouds, the smell of the sea wafted by with the cool tug of the wind. Dozens of artillery cannons flanked either side of General George Washington, his staff and several other ranking officers standing beside him, awaiting the first shot to be fired upon the British earthworks. Washington glanced at his pocket watch, seeing it tick closer to 5:00 p.m. Tick tick tick, as the watch’s hands slid into place, Washington tucked the pocket watch away. Gripping the cannon’s lanyard, he pulled and the world exploded. ​

On October 9th, 1781 George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, was killed when the artillery gun he fired in a ceremonial first shot upon the British fortifications surrounding Yorktown exploded. The explosion killed George Washington, several artillerists, most of Washington’s staff, as well as Colonel John Lamb and General Henry Knox.

Following the sudden death of their beloved commander, American forces fell under the command of General Nathanael Greene who promised to see the campaign end in victory for Washington and the United States. The Siege of Yorktown ended on October 19th in a Franco-American victory, beginning the peace talks between the rebellious American States and the British Empire.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1783, ending the American Revolution.

The following years would be followed with great unrest in the new American republic. War debt burdened the American economy, stifling economic growth and causing tensions between the states. The federal government, made purposely weak and decentralized to prevent any form of tyranny, found itself toothless and incapable to deal with the multitude of issues that assailed it. The crisis that glaringly showed the inherent flaws of the Articles of Confederation was Shays’ Rebellion, lasting from mid-1786 to mid-1787. This brought many worried American federal and state delegates together to draft a new constitution to remedy the country’s woes. To chair the Constitutional Constitution in Philadelphia, the delegates elected Patrick Henry as president of the convention. Many favored Henry, citing his initial desire to not attend as a constitutional delegate for fear of creating an overly empowered national government as a desirable trait. It was hoped this restraint would temper those, such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, who argued for strong central government.

The Constitutional Convention, despite initial hopes for a speedy conclusion, meandered for nearly a year, lasting from May 1787 to February 1788. Delegates came and went, plans proposed and discarded, debates lasting weeks and months, some so hotly contested that one notorious argument escalated into a duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, the former dying from a gunshot wound and the other disgraced politically.

Setbacks, dozens of draft rewrites and endless compromises aside, the Convention at last presented a new constitution for government: the Articles of Union, a reformed overhaul and expansion of the Articles of Confederation. A notable addition was the creation of three branches of government: the High Court (Judicial Branch), the Assembly of the Union (Legislative Branch), and the Office of the Consul (Executive Branch).

-The High Court would be comprised of six Associate Judges and a Chief Judge. Each judge serves for life until resignation, retirement, death, or removal from office.

-The Federal Assembly of the Union was a unicameral congress, with each state electing a minimum of two representatives up to the maximum limit of five based on population. Each Assemblyman would serve four year terms with no limit on how many terms they could serve.

-The Consul was to be elected based off an electoral system, slated to serve a seven year term of indeterminable amount of re-elections. Elections were to be held after the states ratified the Articles of Union.

Between March of 1788 and January of 1791 the thirteen American States ratified the Articles of Union and in March 1791 the first Consular Election took place. Several candidates were in the contention but once the ballots had been closed and the votes counted, it was Patrick Henry who won the most electoral votes and nearly half the popular vote. Many praised Henry for his guidance through the turbulent Convention, especially his adamant support for the proposed Bill of Rights to be made integral to the Articles, guaranteeing personal freedoms and setting limits on the government's power, earning him the moniker ‘Defender of the People.”

On August 1st, 1791 Patrick Henry was sworn in as Consul of the United States, ready to lead the country in a new era.

 

[Tanner151]

Chapter 1 – A New America (1791-1794)​

Patrick Henry quickly set about to right the wrongs the American people voted him into office to correct, namely the massive debt incurred during the Revolutionary War. To be able to properly tackle the national debt, as well as to establish financial stability and credit (both overseas and internally), Consul Henry’s first amendment to the Articles of Union was the establishment of a National Bank to coordinate the nation’s finances and to establish a single currency for all Thirteen States. State debts would be taken over by the federal government, much to the relief of many states which found themselves in shaky financial situations since the Revolution.

It would take months of heated debate but the First Bank of the United States was created and given a charter of twenty years with a chance of renewal in 1811. The Bank would begin minting a new currency to replace the various state currencies and the Revolutionary-era Continental banknotes (Coinage Act of 1791). This angered a great many, who saw Henry’s actions as unconstitutional for the Articles of Union made no mention of such an institution. This would lead to the creation of the first American political parties in the winter of 1791, namely the Centralists led by John Adams and the Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson.

Following the Bank’s creation, Henry went to work. Tariffs on foreign goods were raised to generate income, as were minor tariffs on goods crossing state lines. The former proved beneficial, if not well loved, to Americans as it promoted local industry which was slowly but steadily growing. The latter however proved especially unpopular, with protests common throughout the country. Consul Henry, despite his known distaste for powerful central government, refused to shirk on this matter, stating that paying off the national debt and establishing a standing army and navy as absolute necessities for the young republic to survive as the 19th century neared.

Though unpopular, Henry’s Tax Scheme (as critics labelled it) began to take make progress as 1791 continued into 1792. The national debt no longer increased in amount owed as the money earned from taxes paid the interest and began to pay off the debt, though admittedly did so slowly. The Continental Army, having been consistently underfunded and reduced since the Revolutionary War, saw its budget greatly increased by the end of the year, allowing the Continental Army to field five regiments (bringing the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Regiments back into formation and reforming the 1st and 2nd) while the Continental Navy was brought back into existence (having been dismantled as an organization in 1785). The first four ships were to be modern frigates designed to protect American merchant ships in the Atlantic and to act as coastal defense if need be.

The increased size and funding of the Continental Army worried several states, but Consul Henry was quick to point out that state militias outnumbered the federal army several times over which soothed many fears. Especially once Henry ordered that the 1st, 2nd and 4th Continental Regiments were to deploy to the Northwest Territory to bring the war against the Western Indian Confederacy to a victorious close. This Army of Ohio, as it was dubbed, marched to the Northwest Territory in mid-1792 under the command of Brigadier General Anthony “Mad Anthony” Wayne.

Following the trifecta of success that was passing of the Bank Bill, Coinage Act, and the Army-Navy Reconstitution Act (all proposed and ratified in 1791), Consul Henry pushed onward with several other amendments to the Articles of Union (amendments required three-fourths of the Assembly and state legislatures to ratify). In 1792 the Office of the Vice-Consul, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Consular Cabinet were all proposed and ratified into the Articles of Union. The Vice-Consul was to direct the Cabinet and chair it if the Consul was otherwise unavailable or not in the capital city of Philadelphia, as well as act as successor in case anything befell the Consul or if the incumbent of the Office was impeached. The members of the Cabinet were to be appointed by the Consul but must first be approved by the Assembly after exhaustive interviews and a review of character to ensure the Cabinet would not staffed with Consular yes-men and allies whose loyalties aligned more to the Office than that of the country.

Infrastructure, particularly roadways, were deemed of great importance to Henry’s consulship to help expedite economic growth, ensure faster and more reliable travel between cities and the states, and he hoped to reinforce the fading American national identity with this cooperation. To supplement the Roadway Act of 1793, several Centralist Assemblyman proposed the Federal Highway Patrol, a policing body to ensure safe travels alongside the rebuilt and expanded road system. This was vehemently vetoed by Consul Henry, though it was unknown at the time if he truly disliked the notion or if he did so to curry favor with Jefferson’s Republicans. Later American historians would note that the First Consul’s motivation was more monetary driven than anything else. While the federal government of the United States was bringing in more money than it spent, it was doing so only barely. Enlarging the Army, reviving the Navy, upgrading the country’s major roadways, and enlarging the federal government was all proving quite expensive and Henry was very firm that his administration would not add to the nation’s already extensive deficit.

By early 1794 Patrick Henry’s term as Consul was nearly halfway over and his popularity was on the ascendant, with both Adam’s Centralists and Jefferson’s Republicans vying to have Henry commit to one of their parties for the Consular Election in 1798 yet Henry refused to do so. He kept both parties “in the balance and at a distance” as he called it, never favoring one over the other for he believed that the head of state of the American republic and commander-in-chief of its armed forces should never mire itself with party interests but rather focus its attention towards issues affecting the country as a whole. While noble, this would later prove a crippling blow to Henry’s political career in the upcoming years. In mid-1794 a proposal that had circulated in the Federal Assembly since 1790 to have a new capital city built along the Potomac River was permanently shelved by Henry, stating that Philadelphia had served well enough thus far and would continue to do so henceforth. However the town of Yorktown was renamed in George Washington’s honor, and would be called Washingtonville, with a small marble column placed where the beloved general had died, called the Washington Monument. A plaque rests there at its base covering his sable leadership during the Revolution and a brief biography. During these first few “golden years” as some would dub it, the States of Vermont and Kentucky joined the Union in 1792 (Vermont in early 1792 and Kentucky in late 1792), showcasing American expansion westward to the Mississippi River. Tens of thousands would settle along the Western Frontier ad the Northwest Territory, with hundreds even braving the Mississippi River into French Louisiana to either search for riches or to escape government oversight, while still others continued westward to the Pacific Ocean.

Though Henry’s political star was at its peak and was largely well-liked and respected by the common man, the rise always comes before the fall…

 

[Tanner151]

Chapter 2 – Whiskey Rebellion (1795)
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The Year 1795 of Our Lord began well for the United States. The national debt was continuously being whittled away at, the construction, expansion and upkeep of major roadways was underway though it would be years until completion, and the wars being fought in the Northwest Territory were slowly turning into America’s favor following the decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in late 1794 that scattered the Western Indian Confederacy. However troubles would soon make itself known, starting in the quiet countryside of western Pennsylvania.

The Whiskey Rebellion, as it was quickly coined, began in early 1795 when tax collectors dispatched by State Governor Thomas Mifflin scoured the Pennsylvania countryside to enforce the tax on distilled spirits, principally whiskey as it was the favored American liquor of the time. Western Pennsylvanian farmers refused to pay what they saw as an infringement on their rights, that the Whiskey Tax was taxation without representation despite Governor Mifflin and the Federal Assembly stating that such a tax was well within their legislative rights.

The leader of the rebellion, Major James McFarlane, roused the frustration and anger of his fellow farmers, and quickly assembled an ad-hoc militia numbering seven hundred men. These men gathered their rifles, many of them having served in the Revolutionary War or the border skirmishes with Indian tribes, and marched promptly to the state capital of Harrisburg to plead their case with Governor Mifflin. Though ready to use diplomacy and negotiation, McFarlane was more than ready to take up arms to defend himself and the lives of his fellow rebels but Governor Mifflin was determined to avoid bloodshed and called for the State Militia to observe but not to engage. A company of cavalry acted as scouts and kept eye on the rebels to ensure there was no looting or violence. McFarlane’s men however composed themselves professionally and marched peacefully through western Pennsylvania, buying and bartering for supplies as they went, typically (and ironically) using whiskey and other distilled spirits as their currency.

However this state of peaceful uprising came to an end in the town of Carlisle. Located some thirty miles west of Harrisburg, McFarlane’s rebels chose to shelter there for the night, the locals allowing it but bade the rebels to stay in an empty barn on the edge of town. McFarlane and his officers would sleep in the barn while the other seven hundred men slept out in the nearby fields either in tents or beneath an open sky. Some complained about the cold early spring mornings but these men had experienced worse, limiting their displeasure to private grumblings around their campfires, huddled together as comrades-in-arms.

On a gentle rolling hill two and a half miles away camped the State Militia scouts dispatched by Mifflin to keep a watchful eye on the disgruntled farmers. It is from their commander, Captain Ian Henson that the following testimony is taken from.


‘My men and I had stopped for the night, to ease the horses and our sores, keeping a close watch on McFarlane. The rebels had so far acted as gentlemen, true sons of Pennsylvania, and as we set up camp I ordered a watch party divided into several shifts to ensure nothing awry came about.

I was woken by one of my men around two o’clock in the morning. He shook me awake, babbling incoherencies, but when my full senses returned and I stepped out of my tent I saw what caused my men such discomfort. The town of Carlisle was afire.’

-Excerpt From Revolution to Rebellion
by Colonel Ian Henson, U.S. Continental Army (retired)​

It is unknown by modern historians what exactly caused the Carlisle Fire. Some believe it was caused by a careless local or an intoxicated rebel who had drunk to much in an effort to keep warm as the temperature fell. What can be certain is that the fire that started near the barn was not malicious but an accident.

While to the State Militia cavalrymen it was sight of confusion, unfortunately it did not appear as an accident to the Continental Army company that was encamped nearby a mile away. This was the Continental Army’s Third Regiment Fourth Company and had been on training maneuvers in the Pennsylvanian countryside. Fourth Company was making way towards Philadelphia when they had chosen to camp outside of Carlisle, their decision to encamp there having nothing to do with the rebels (in fact the officer in charge, Captain William Terrell, had not heard of the Whiskey Rebellion and would only learn of it in the following days).

Fourth Company, seeing the fire quickly sweeping through Carlisle, rushed to town to aid the locals, but when they appeared the Continental men assumed the armed rebels to be militant vagrants and formed lines. The rebels, thinking Mifflin or Henry had ordered a military response, formed their own lines. It is unknown who fired the first shot, with both sides accusing the other during the subsequent testimonies, but once the gunfire started it did not stop until Captain Henson’s cavalry arrived to put an end to the fighting. Casualties were fourteen dead, thirty-seven wounded on the Continental side while the rebels lost seventeen men and twenty-nine wounded. Two State Militiamen were also wounded, one from helping put out the fire that destroyed a third of the town and another from a stray smoothbore.

The Battle of Carlisle was the first battle of the Whiskey Rebellion. McFarlane and many of his compatriots were arrested for treason but hundreds of the rebels escaped before they could be apprehended. Most returned to their farms, later signing amnesty papers and pardoned though some were jailed, but nearly a hundred, led by a radicalized David Bradford, fled and regrouped at Bower Hill on March 12th, 1795. Bradford called for volunteers to aid him in preserving their constitutional rights and, due to half-true rumors and imaginative speculation, Bradford was able to assemble some three hundred men, mostly city youths from nearby Pittsburgh wishing for a daring adventure.

A formidable force on paper but Bradford’s Brigade, as he named it, was but a paper tiger that folded the moment three companies of the Continental Second Regiment rendezvoused with the remnants of the Third Regiment’s Fourth Company. Numbering roughly three hundred and fifty men, many veterans of the Northwest Indian Wars, the Continental Army soldiers encircled Bradford’s Brigade on March 19th, 1795, causing all but a few dozen fanatics to surrender without a shot being fired. Those that stayed fought and died, slaughtered to a man by overzealous Continental men. Thirty-three rebels died, David Bradford included, while the Continental soldiers lost only four (two of which died the day following the battle due to wounds sustained). Following the Battle of Bower Hill, the Whiskey Rebellion was defeated and the results shook Patrick Henry’s administration.

While many lauded Henry’s actions, particularly a large majority of the Centralist Party (primarily industrialists, merchants, and Northerners), many more were horrified by what they saw as military heavy handedness. Henry, for his part, was quickly cleared of blame by an investigation carried out by the High Court. Chief Justice John Jay declared that though Henry ordered the Second Regiment’s redeployment from the Northwest Territory to Pennsylvania, it was only to observe and track the rebels, not engage them in combat. The Battle of Carlisle was quickly determined to be an incident made worse due to assumption, confusion, and heightened emotions, but one that Consul Henry was in reality blameless for.

Despite being officially cleared of any wrongdoing by the highest judicial body in the land, Patrick Henry’s reputation and popularity took a notable hit. Thomas Jefferson’s Republican Party, champions of farmers and states’ rights, grew in size in the months following the Whiskey Rebellion’s end, many seeing Henry as a Centralist in all but name due to his policies. Not even Henry’s well-known dislike for powerful central government was enough to salvage his credibility. This would set the stage for what was to come.

 

[Tanner151]

Chapter 3 – The Panic (1796-1798)​

The American economy had been fairly stable, though admittedly shaky, throughout Henry’s administration but in early 1796 economic woes soon began. What started as a land distribution bubble burst quickly gained ground as the economy tanked Atlantic trade, hitting the United States and Britain harsher than elsewhere. To curb the downward spiral the First Bank of America began to reprint the infamous paper Continental Currency, bringing back the popular saying “Not worth a Continental.”

This economic downturn, following so closely on the heels of the Whiskey Rebellion, would prove to be the nail in the coffin of Henry’s Consulate. Patrick Henry as President of the Constitutional Convention and then Consul of the United States had struck a fine balance between an able central government whilst respecting states’ rights and individual liberties, had introduced a stable currency, repaired and expanded a significant amount of the young nation’s key infrastructures, began American settlement of the Northwest Territory, securing American supremacy of the area, and had added three states to the Union (Vermont and Kentucky in 1792, followed by Tennessee in 1795). However, Henry had also expanded governmental powers, increased the size of the Army and re-founded the Navy, introduced multiple taxes, many of which proved unpopular (especially amongst rural populations), and was in power when the Whiskey Rebellion was so violently put down. The American people had begun to grow unhappy with the current administration, causing both the Northern-centered Centralist and Southern-centered Republican Parties to distance themselves from the First Consul.

The next two years would be spent combating the Panic and attempting to promote economic recovery. The results were mixed but as 1797 moved into 1798 the worst of the Panic was over but by this point Henry’s political career was in ruins. Henry had contemplated running for re-election as an Independent in 1798 but the Consul confided to his secretary that such a move would be unwise. Instead, Henry spent the final months of his term hammering out a deal with Great Britain, one that had been in the works since early 1795. The Jay Treaty, signed in London on January 3rd, 1798, assured American commercial sovereignty and helped stimulate America’s economic recovery. This would be the Defender of the People’s last major act as Consul of the United States.

On March 6th, 1798 the second consular election took place and the first in which proper political parties were in the midst of things. Both parties were young, having not been around during the country’s first consular election though the movements would soon spawn following the Bank Bill of 1791. Initially both tried to entice Henry to join their party, but the First Consul was adamant in not favoring either. The two parties put forth their candidates in the early months of 1797 and both revealed their policies. The Centralist Party, with John Adams at the helm, promoted industrialization, high tariffs, retaining Henry’s taxes, maintaining warm relations with Britain, a moderate to large-sized standing national army, and a strong central government. The Republicans on the other hand, led by Thomas Jefferson, promoted agriculture, low tariffs, low taxes, distancing itself from Britain in favor of the French Republic, fielding a small national army to be supplemented by moderate-sized State Militias, and a more limited and decentralized federal government to better protect states’ rights.

The election was hard-fought, with much of the North voting Centralist (as expected) whilst much of the South voted Republican (again, as expected). Once the votes were tallied it was revealed that Thomas Jefferson had won the election and had become Consul-elect. On August 1st, 1798 Thomas Jefferson was sworn in as the second Consul of the United States.

Patrick Henry would shake the hand of his successor in front of Independence Hall and stay for the celebratory dinner afterwards, then he subsequently retired from politics. Henry would die the following year from stomach cancer a broken demoralized man. Henry’s reputation would not immediately recover in the following years, especially during Jefferson’s term as Consul, but in the mid-19th Century, Henry’s reputation and popularity began to recover with his consulship being viewed quite favorably. Many historians believe that if Henry had been elected to another term as Consul then the United States may very well have avoided the civil war that would soon engulf the nation in the new century’s opening decades. But alas we will never know.

As Jefferson moved into the Powel House in Philadelphia the United States, particularly the slave-owning elite of the South and the advocates of state rights, cheered on the man who had written the Declaration of Independence and would lead the United States of America into the nineteenth century.

 

[Tanner151]

Here are the first three chapters of my new alt-history timeline, the first three of many I hope. Experiment Aflame begins with Washington's death at the Siege of Yorktown and goes from there. I hope to have this story make it to the mid-20th century. I am not the most well-versed in Early U.S. history so I'm going to make mistakes and if I write something that shouts ASB, please let me know. Constructive criticism is always welcome. My goal is for this to be an entertaining and interesting story and if I have to stretch realism a little then so be it.

I do have a vision for this story and what I would like to see happen (the world will be a much different place than OTL). So while I will edit and revise based off feedback, critiques and insight for those with a more in-depth knowledge of the time period, the heart and direction of the story won't change very much.

I hope you enjoy! Be sure to let me know what you thought of the story thus far. The initial chapters are a bit short but I expect them to increase in length and depth as time goes on. Please leave a comment as feedback is essential for ensuring a high-quality entertaining read and a like as well as that helps motivate me to keep writing consistently.

Chapter 4 is currently being worked on.

 

[Tanner151]

Chapter 4 – An Opportunity Wasted and the Quasi-War (1798-1805)​

Thomas Jefferson’s consulship was largely spent dismantling much of what Patrick Henry had worked so hard to accomplish. Taxes were greatly reduced in number, making Jefferson and the Republicans very popular with those from low-income families or who dwelled in poverty. The first tax to be removed was the hated Whiskey Tax, temporarily bolstering Republican support on money-strapped farmers north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Debtors’ prisons were reduced in number across the United States, while debts were restructured to allow the debtor more leniency in paying their dues.

Riding this wave of popularity, Jefferson slashed the budget for the Army and Navy, and downsized the two branches. The Army would be reduced to three regiments (the 1st through the 3rd) and the Navy’s next two frigates were scrapped (one dismantled entirely while the other’s mostly-constructed hull was sold to the Kingdom of Sardinia). The federal government was greatly downsized, with Jefferson aiming to make the central government nothing more than a mediator between the states and facilitator of national interests with foreign powers. This, Jefferson stated before the Federal Assembly, was the purpose of the federal government as dictated by the mandates in the Articles of Union.

Jefferson saw the American republic grow with Tennessee and Ohio admitted to the Union. Thousands travelled westward towards Indiana Territory (formerly the Northwest Territory but the name changed following Ohio’s statehood), eager to claim territory and start new lives. The same occurred in the south in the newly developed Mississippi Territory. Some American families and adventurers however began to move even further westward, encroaching on French-controlled Louisiana Territory, causing several border disputes along the Mississippi River and the territory east of New Orleans.

As Americans continued westward expansion and integrating new states into the Union, a matter that had thus far been largely ignored began to rear its ugly head: slavery. The North had long been a hotbed of anti-slavery sentiment, despite the many thousands who were still held in bondage there. Northern States had begun to phase out slavery since the Revolution, with several abolishing America’s peculiar institution outright in the years since. This was beginning to cause increasingly difficult friction in the Federal Assembly and between the states themselves as both pro- and anti-slavery argued their cases. The issue temporarily became quiescence as Ohio was admitted as a free state while Tennessee entered the Union as a slave state, calming both sides that the other would not be able to field a significant majority over the other. Abolitionists began to align themselves with the Centralist Party while the Republican Party held that slavery was an American right to be protected by both state and federal governments.

Across the country newspapers criticized and demonized the opposition, making this period known as the Era of Ill Feelings. Jefferson, like Henry before him, was a slave-owning Southerner which alienated him in the eyes of many Northerners, especially towards the end of his consulship. While a controversial issue that threatened to tear the Union at the seams, it would have to wait for its day as things in the west and in the Atlantic began heating up.

This Louisiana-Mississippi border skirmishes soon devolved into trade disputes as American and French merchants and their hired guards fired upon one another frequently in the waters just off the Louisiana coast. Dozens of skirmishes and ambushes followed over the next two years, hundreds killed or captured. The local French, never numbering more than some 60,000 settlers, heavily employed Indian tribes to provide the bulk of their forces, further intertwining the close relationship between the two peoples that had first begun to truly cement during the French and Indian War some forty so years ago. After the ambush and slaughter of an American convoy of westbound settlers, including over a hundred women and children, Consul Jefferson had no choice but to begin military action against France. Thus began the Quasi-War.

Thomas Jefferson had long admired France, as did many Americans at the time, for they helped liberate the Americans from the shackles of English tyranny. This admiration deepened when the French Revolution began, as the French people deposed their own monarchs and beheaded them whilst forming a republican government. Not even the ensuing Reign of Terror significantly damaged the two nations’ relations but once Napoleon Bonaparte came to power and began to rule in an authoritarian manner this started to alarm the United States. Napoleon’s wars across Europe painted him as a warmongering demagogue in the United States and it made the American government quite hesitant to work with him or his government.

The Quasi-War between the United States of America and the French Republic (later French Empire) lasted from early 1804 to early 1806, fought almost entirely at sea. The American and French Navies fought in the Atlantic, principally in the West Atlantic, and saw the Continental Navy become outnumbered in every skirmish. Jefferson’s dismissal of a powerful navy early in his consulship only made this worse. For much of the Quasi-War, the bulk of the Continental Navy were repurposed merchant vessels laden with cannons but these were nowhere near as fast or well-armed as purpose built vessel of war, leading to American casualties and defeats far greater than those of the French.

For much of the war, only a fraction of the French Navy fought against the Americans, their priority being the far larger and much more dangerous Royal Navy of Britain. Following the Battle of Trafalgar in which the Royal Navy secured a great victory, establishing Britain as the predominant naval world power for the next hundred years, the Quasi-War became all but non-existent, with only four naval engagements fought in the last six months of the war.

In early 1806, the Quasi-War came to a close with no great cost suffered on either side, a quid pro quo mindset having been adopted. Rumors abound that after the war Napoleon wished to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United States but popular support at home would have expressed their displeasure at the thought so the proposal was never offered. This led to Emperor Napoleon in 1813 releasing Louisiana as a colonial territory of France. Louisiana was released as it was deemed not worth the effort to re-establish France’s North American colonial empire following the Saint-Domingue Revolt (Haitian Revolution), especially since Napoleon needed the soldiers, supplies, and above all money for the wars in Europe as his fortunes were beginning to turn sour as the battles fought in Central Europe continued. As part of the New Orleans Agreement of 1813, Louisiana would pay France an estimated six million American dollars to help refill Napoleon’s depleting coffers. On May 17th, 1813 the Protectorate of Louisiana was established. In the end less than half of the amount would be paid as Napoleon was ousted from power on April 4th, 1814 and later once again during his Hundred Days.

The Quasi-War proved damaging to Jefferson’s tenure as Consul, leading to his defeat to the Centralist Party candidate John Adams in the 1805 Election. Consul Adams, not wanting to lose the slim majority the Centralists held in the Assembly, did not deign to introduce new taxes or major governmental shakeups. Instead he spent his consulship focused on combating the Indians in the Indiana and Mississippi Territories who began raiding American outposts and settlements with great frequency. Shortly after his election in August 1805 dozens of minor Indian rebellions sprouted up throughout the United States, the Native Americans having grown tired of the oppressive state and federal governments. The State Militias of the American States, alongside the three regiments of the Continental Army, gained valuable experience during the Indian Wars of 1805, with many officers earning a name for themselves, one being Colonel Andrew Jackson of the South Carolinian Militia.

After the Indian rebellions were squashed, much bloodshed being spilt on both sides, Adams focused on attempting to find a solution to the matter of slavery, fearing that the issue would permanently divide the nation if not settled soon with something to appease both sides. This would prove the opening catalyst of the dismal events to follow.

 

[Raziel]

The Louisiana territories seems like a haven for Indians/Native Americans to seek shelter in from the United States Militia/Army.

It's quite understandable that Jefferson would downsize the Army and Navy so that the nation would have more money to spend elsewhere where it's much needed. As stated, it was this move that was the downfall for Jefferson and the Republicans party when the Quasi-War did start. That and the move westward and the conflict with the French in the Louisiana territories.

 

[Tanner151]

Updated the name of the thread, added ‘A House Divided’ in between ‘Experiment Aflame’ and ‘an Alternate American History’

Working on the next chapter and have been world building the past few days.