Me likey the map!
Something tells me the U.S. will be wanting a pacific coast come the 20th century.
Well the current trend is more focusing on industry rather than the Manifest destiny however flashpoints may occur.
La República de Oro: A History of the Californian Republic
- Thread starter Zrew33
- Start date
Well the current trend is more focusing on industry rather than the Manifest destiny however flashpoints may occur.
I know Its more than a few days but heres the map of the Republic of California in 1850. As always and questions queeries or issues do feel free to pester me
Beautiful. I love it.
(Salinas being a province/state reminds me of my Gran Francisco campaign in the After the End CK2 mod, which I highly recommend to anyone who plays CK2. Damn Dukes of Salinas. I should have destroyed that title when I had the chance.
)Constantinople
Banned
Glad to see a timeline where Monterey remains the capital. I live about a five to ten minutes drive from the Presidio and the Custom House, so it's nice to see those featured in a timeline. Have you been to the area? If you need any help regarding Monterey's development as a capital, PM me.
Beautiful. I love it.
(Salinas being a province/state reminds me of my Gran Francisco campaign in the After the End CK2 mod, which I highly recommend to anyone who plays CK2. Damn Dukes of Salinas. I should have destroyed that title when I had the chance.
Thank you! I've played that CK2 mod however it was the older version.. before they opened up the western half of the US
Glad to see a timeline where Monterey remains the capital. I live about a five to ten minutes drive from the Presidio and the Custom House, so it's nice to see those featured in a timeline. Have you been to the area? If you need any help regarding Monterey's development as a capital, PM me.
It seemed like the logical place to start and there isn't really any point in moving. No I've never been the Western-Half of the US being stuck in the Old World and all. I have been to Boston and Ironically seen the US version of Northampton/Wollaston which is where I'm from in the UK.
Emperor RyRy
Banned
LAS CALIFORNIAS MUST RISE AGAIN
MEXICO SHOUKD FALL INTO CIVIL WAR AS THEY ARE GERY GOOD AT IT
THEN CALIFORNIA COMES IN WHOOPS THEIR ASS AND DEMANDS BAJA
THEN THE NATION BECOME LA REPÚBLICA DE LAS CALIFORNIAS
MEXICO SHOUKD FALL INTO CIVIL WAR AS THEY ARE GERY GOOD AT IT
THEN CALIFORNIA COMES IN WHOOPS THEIR ASS AND DEMANDS BAJA
THEN THE NATION BECOME LA REPÚBLICA DE LAS CALIFORNIAS
Emperor RyRy
Banned
You're right. It's not. Viva Las Californias muddafuqqa.
It's not supposed to be funny. It's serious business, kicking Mexico's ass.
THIS guy gets its.
Emperor RyRy
Banned
Sorry for being a party pooper, my bad.
I like the idea of stronger Mexico. Your gonna need some internal reforms for that, though.
Just make a coalition to restrict Maerican Manifest Destinies. I'm sure Britain will join once they realize that the USA is becoming the biggest economy n
Well depending on how the American slavery debate finishes the US will be weaker which will help Californian worries of the US venturing towards the Pacific for a while.
Plus I'm not too sure that Britain would enjoy joining a pact with California and Mexico against the USA if they are not top dog.
Plus I'm not too sure that Britain would enjoy joining a pact with California and Mexico against the USA if they are not top dog.
Well I need to read up a bit more about China in the latter half of the 1800s however it would presume that they would still be under the thumb of Europeans during the time. However talking of Asia, Japan will have a slightly different industrial growth as they will be part of a "War" (for lack of a better term) between France and Great Britain. With America not available for influence due to the lack of a Pacific Coast I thought that they were the only two that had the capacity to be able to wage such as "War".
Yeah that would the easiest way of describing what I mean.
next part is in the works too!
4th Presidency of the Republic of California
Charles Willis: 1854-1858
“Damn that Walker.” - Charles Willis, Played by Keith Branagh, Crossing the Colorado, 2003.
He sent a further 6000 infantry, under the command of General Leroy Taylor to back up of the 3000 who had been previously sent however now where regrouping along just over the Californian border. In addition he sent the Clipper CNS Gold around the Baja Peninsular to send word to William walker who he hoped he could gain some form of assistance from. Willis was not overly fond of Walker feeling that he was an ignorant man who plunged his nation into an undesirable war; however he could be of some use. He warned Walker of the Mexican army marching south to reclaim La Paz; he also requested that he would prepare some form of defensive line to await the Californian Army. Willis agreed to Taylor’s plan to regain control of the Colorado River which would cut of any reinforcement route of the Mexican army, once the River was under Californian control he would then send a contingent of the Californian Army towards La Paz to help Walker’s Militia. The plan worked fairly well as the Mexican Garrison at the Colorado River fell quickly under the Californian’s superior numbers. The 5000 Californian Soldiers sent towards La Paz engaged the Mexican army, who had been harassed by members of Walkers Militia. The Battle itself didn’t last too long with the Mexican soldiers fighting on one side and harassed in their rear by the Militia, eventually the Mexican Army surrendered to the Californians and General Taylor. The Second Battle of La Paz was a huge victory both for Willis and California showing that a certain amount of power did lie within the young nation. It also helped propel figures such as General Taylor in the public eye as he returned as a hero to many of the Californians.
Willis requested the peace after the Victory at La Paz. He was willing to exchange the Baja Peninsular for the sum of around $30 000. Willis wasn’t interested too much in the entirety of the land itself as it was sparsely populated with very little in terms of natural resources to be useful to California; however it would place California’s borders with Mexico completely along the lines of Rivers. Willis wanted to totally secure California from the south, so the final border along the Colorado River’s mouth would be perfect. After much deliberation the Mexican Government accepted the peace deal on May 25th 1855, although it was helped by further Californian incursions into the Sonora province, taking several key towns. In a gesture of what could be considered good-will, Willis handed over Walker [1] and several other leading men to the Mexican Government for their hand in starting the war. The total of 10 men, including that of Walker would eventually see their fate at the end of a firing squad after being found guilty of their crimes. The Governorship of new territory would be given by Willis to General Vallejo [2] who announced his retirement from the armed forces in that year.
As the territory itself didn’t give much in the way of valuable resources Willis focused in what he could, namely the defensive capabilities of the Colorado River. He ordered a number of defensive forts [3] to be built along the Colorado and Gila Rivers. The constructions of the forts were merely a show of power than being effective defensive structures as many were poorly supplied or ineffectively manned. Although the building of the forts especially in Southern Colorado brought a slight economic boost to the region as workers and their families moved in to build the forts and infrastructure to complete them. The Settlement of Carthage saw the most benefits as the agricultural town grew faster due to the completion of the Los Angeles – Carthage Railway in 1856. The town grew from around 500 to well over 2000 in a few years bring a number of businesses with them. The railway was built on its way to the San Juan coalfields to the east and Carthage [4] was a useful stopping point between them.
As one conflicted ended another began to rise. The Slavery debate had been heating up further since the presidency of Franklin Peirce and with another election it was Slavery that dominated in Campaigns of the political parties. In contrast to the political changes of California so too did it occur in the United States with the Republican Party under William H Seward becoming the first Republican President of the United States [5]. This sudden change of President would lead to an event which modern Historian would refer to as the Great American Status Quo [6]. Following the results of the 1856 election the Southern States decided to secede from the United States fearing that the Republicans would interfere with their Slave Owning activities. The ceding states formed the CSA, the Confederate States of America and elected William H Gist as their president. President Seward would call the secession an Illegal Act compared to Gist’s being that States have a right to ceded if they so wished. This act lead to years of an awkward stand of, neither nation wanted to be the first to initiate a war however Gist’s CSA still didn’t have any legal recognition by any world power leaving it alone. Seward’s response was along the lines to leave the CSA to do its own thing, believing at the beginning of the crisis for the states to return to the fold once they see that the Republican Party was not going to be as harsh as they thought, especially as the Slave State of Virginia refused to cede along with the rest of the south with the help of Seward’s persuading them being one of the last of the southern states to decide. Seward tried to Rally the people of the USA by stating that his focus was on the people of the Union not those of the CSA. This sudden turn of events shocked Willis and the Californian Government Willis openly refused to even think of Legitimising the CSA as a sovereign nation, although how much influence California had at the time was fairly on the level of nil during this era. Rumours of Trade issues soon leaked into the Californian population leading however they too were pushed aside by Willis’ Monterey Speech on February 9th 1857. The secession of the CSA did affect California in one way as it put an end to the planed Californian-American Railway as much of the western half ran through what was now CSA territory. This hampered any further increase of trade with the United States.
The crisis occurring in the CSA however didn’t do too much to dim the growth of California, with the fears slowing residing as neither side did anything to further escalate the tensions. 1857 would not relent on events that would occur in California. On January 9th the St Andrew’s earthquake [7] would shake the nation. Reading 7.9 on the moment magnitude scale it would lead to death of 3 citizens. Two were recorded when the bell tower in St Andrews collapsed another due to a fire that broke out in Fort Shepherd. A further 9 would die due to infections caused by the earthquake. Most of the damage occurred around the St Andrews, a railway town along the Monterey – Los Angles route, where the earthquake was named. This was the first major disaster that the Republic had felt and it didn’t help the nation’s mood with issues arising across the border. There wasn’t much that Willis could do accept call for calm especially as certain religious denominations called this an act of god. The earthquake also damaged several miles of rail network between Monterey and Los Angles which the Californian Government was quick to repair although it would take several months to clear the damage and fix the track.
Towards the end of Willis term in office the Californian Government following the movement of many of the unemployed into the Northern California Territory took upon themselves to create a new district. This was also pushed forward following the discovery of Gold [8], leading to the second California Gold Rush, however this was in no-where near the same drastic migration seen in the first. The district would be named Humboldt after the bay where the main coastal settlement was based, which was then used as the administration centre until the settlement of Cardiff was given district capital at the end of the 19th century. Although not on the scale of the late 1830/40s the region did feel a sudden boost of population following the Lesser Californian Gold Rush It saw the immigration of more people of the gold world although it mostly saw internal migration. This was an issue to Willis’ Government who had hoped to continue to push people into the Colorado territory. However once again issues arose as people moved into Humboldt when many settlers came into conflict with the Native Americans of the region. In an attempt to remedy the situation by declaring that the North-Western corner of Humboldt district would be made into a Native American zone, although this still didn’t stop tensions and fights breaking out between the settlers and the natives. The settlers became annoyed feeing that the Government was not looking after them and the Native Americans became further annoyed both by Governmental interference, by forcing them of their lands and into this new zone, and by disregarding the basis of Californian Constitution who the Native Americans felt protected their rights. The Native Americans made up a substantial amount of the Californian population and Willis didn’t want to face an open rebellion on his hands. He attempts to continue to solve the problem by placing further restrictions on development of new settlements by coercing people to move into sites where there was already a major settlement. He continued to make the Humboldt Declaration, with help of Congress who passed the act securing it, and set up another series of smaller reservations across the Humboldt District.
Willis’ presidency was seen by many to be one of conflict. However he used his victory against the Mexicans in the Walker War well to gain both more land and prestige for California, he continued to expand the nation’s infrastructure and economy. The cities where growing as well as the nation. However it was his body that failed him towards the end. Willis faced a series of illness the year before the next election and decided to drop out of the presidential race at the Nationalists Committee. The Nationalist elected George Stuart Roberts to lead the party into the election which he would win intern riding on the back of the victory that the party had gain in the war against Mexico although the election was close. With the counter party of the Federalist, headed by Henry Green used Roberts origin, that being of South Carolina, to say that he would bring California into war with the Union if war would to occur. However Roberts countered this attempt to damage his reputation by stating that Green was both a Mormon, which was false, and claiming that attacking a person on their origin was not what California was built on, especially as almost the entirety of California’s population was foreign born. Regardless the voters seemed to side with Roberts pushing the Federalist Party into another defeat.
Authors Comments
[1] It would take several months for Californian authorities to catch Walker as he tried to flee back to the United States however he would be caught just north of Los Angles along with the other men.
[2] Even early into his presidency Willis was trying to separate what he considered the main backbone of California’s Federalist Party. Feeling that giving a leading man governorship over a territory with very little infrastructure would help his party’s chances during the next election.
[3] Most of these forts would be crudely made out of wood.
[4] OTL Phoenix, Arizona.
[5] With no Fremont taking charge of the Republican party and from what I read they might have stood a better chance. No Fremont because he wasn’t involved in the Mexican-American War like OTL however perused a more political career, just not well enough to get elected as presidential candidate.
[6] I hope I don’t annoy people if they don’t go to war… just yet?
[7] I don’t feel that butterfly wings would change the movements of the tectonic plates. Just in this TL all natural disasters akin to the Planet itself such as Earthquakes and Volcanic eruptions will happen as it did OTL. Events such as Hurricanes or Tornados might be more effective by the divergence however I’m not overly decided on this.
[8] An attempt of amendments following an oversight on the Gold Rush.
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Yay, new update!
The USA and CSA not immediately fighting is a cool scenario that I've never seen in an actual TL before, I like it!
I agree that tectonic plate movements are probobly not going to be effected by the butterflies, at least not until long after the modern day (2015).
Thank you. Well the idea is that as not all of what would be classified as the slave states ceded such as Virginia it's created a form of a barrier between the two nations. With Steward hoping that showing the southern states that he's gentle with Virginia will mean they'll want to re-join the Union. The European nations such as France and the UK are really just waiting to see whats happening. It's not overly bad for the UK as the USA is more industrialied in this TL thanks to Clay so they can continue to give their goods to the US. I would guess the only problem would be cotton. As I'm sure it might make some diplomatic crisis if the UK starts trading with the CSA for cotton as it might show that they're supportive of the nation and annoy the USA. I'm not stating that the Union has the massive influence it has as in our 20th century but I'm sure it would still have an impact.