Excellent comments and very interesting. Anybody see any issues with a third Bank of the United States?
The Union Forever: A TL
- Thread starter Mac Gregor
- Start date
Excellent comments and very interesting. Anybody see any issues with a third Bank of the United States?
the beginning of animation and the discussion of the movie industry in general. specifics would also be appreciated.
1920s
The 1920s
Politics and the Economy
The 1920 Presidential Election
Despite the urgings of some Republicans, Theodore Roosevelt citied poor health and chose not to seek a third term as President. The race for the Republican nomination soon devolved into a contest between Roosevelt’s Vice President Jacob R. Alexander of Oregon and Great War veteran and one term governor of New Hampshire Leonard Wood. The 60 year old Wood, who had rose to the rank of Lt. General commanding the U.S. 3rd Army in Europe, eventually squeaked by a narrow victory at the Republican National Convention in New York City. For his running mate, Wood was paired with Missouri Senator Nelson R. Doner.
As competition the Democrats nominated former Indiana Governor Erik Millman and Representative Neil Pilson of Kentucky. 1920 would see significantly wider use of new technological mediums for campaigning like radio and newsreels than previous elections. During the campaign the Republicans touted their success over the past quarter century of how they had lead America out of a depression and to victory in the Great War. The Democrats’ strategy differed considerably, having adopted a temperance plank in their platform which resonated with many teetotalers and women voters. Significantly, the 1920 Democratic platform was noticeably less nativist than in previous years marking the beginning of the Democratic Party’s slow turn away from its sometimes racist past. Another important difference between the two parties’ platforms was the Democrats’ vow to abolish the third Bank of the United States set up under the Robert T. Lincoln administration and return America to a specie backed currency. The Democrats also continued to favor a more isolationist foreign policy than their Republican counterparts. In the end, the Republicans won the election and retained control of the White House and Congress but with reduced margins.
The Wood Administration
Leonard Wood
Republican from New Hampshire
24th President of the United States
Leonard Wood holds several important records as president such as being the last U.S. president born before the Civil War, the last President to be elected without a middle name, and the first U.S. President to have fought in the Great War. However, what Leonard Wood is most famous for today occurred a mere five months into his presidency when he became the first U.S. president ever to be assassinated. On August 27, 1921 a deranged former dock hand named Emmett Scott Drager shot and killed President Wood during a speech at the Norfolk Naval Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia. The country was deeply shocked by what former President Roosevelt called “this cowardly and most un-American act.” Although one of the shortest presidencies in U.S. history, President Wood’s achievements during his brief tenure included the 1921 Veteran Relief Act and the creation of the Department of Territorial Affairs which would help lead America’s resent wartime acquisitions to statehood in the decades to come.
The Presidency of Nelson R. Doner and the Panic of 1923
Nelson R. Doner
Republican from Missouri
25th President of the United States
An arch politician meant to counter the political inexperience of Leonard Wood, Nelson R. Doner found himself catapulted into the Presidency upon Woods tragic assassination. President Doner possessed little of the poise or charisma of his predecessor, having relied on his inherited wealth and connections to Missouri political bosses for securing elected office. Troubles began to befall the Doner Administer almost immediately as his presidency was beset with one scandal after another. The largest of these scandals involved alleged bribery by Illinois politician Brendan Theol to secure appointment as Vice President. However, the real death knell for the Doner Administration sounded on April 6, 1923 when the stock market plummeted ushering in an economic panic. Racked by scandal and a thinner congressional majority than RTL, Doner could do little to improve the economic situation before the 1924 presidential elections.
1924 Presidential Election and the Return of the Democrats
Harold K. Abercrombie
Democrat from North Carolina
26th President of the United States
Having accomplished relatively little during his three years as President and with the country still mired in recession few were surprised when the Democrats led by the presidential ticket of Harold K. Abercrombie and Kenneth P. Bergstrom swept the elections. Abercrombie, a hero from the Great War and a senator from the state of North Carolina, become the first Democrat elected president in twenty-eight years since President George A. Custer in 1896. Although the Republicans barley managed to hang onto the Senate by a two vote majority the House of Representatives fell to the Democrats.
Based heavily around the president’s Southern Baptist upbringing, the puritanical Abercrombie administration was a welcomed change for many Americans from that of his scandal plagued predecessor. Keeping his campaign promise, President Abercrombie sought to abolish the Bank of the United States and although a bill did pass the House it was narrowly defeated in the Republican controlled Senate. Long supporters of the Temperance movement the now empowered Democrats sought to establish a nationwide prohibition on alcoholic beverages. A constitutional amendment was passed by both houses of Congress but failed to achieve ratification in the allotted time by only two states. Following this defeat the Temperance Movement would begin its slow but steady slide into obscurity. Although historians differ as to why the once powerful temperance movement failed to achieve its ultimate goal a number of states, especially in the south, would keep prohibition as the law of the land for years to come.
Despite these policy setbacks by the end of 1926 the economy had mostly recovered and was booming by the time of the 1928 elections. As such President Abercrombie and Vice President Bergstrom coasted to reelection victory over their Republican challengers Marvin Clary of Ohio and James Cowen of Sequoyah. Foreign policy during the Abercrombie administration was marked by a return to isolationism and what he termed as a “business centric” approach to nations in the Western Hemisphere.
American Culture in the 20s
American culture during the 1920’s would be marked by the spread of several new music forms. The first was the guitar heavy music known as “Delta” after the Mississippi Delta region where it partially originated. Originally performed almost exclusively by and for Black Americans over the decade Delta music would spread around the country and even to Europe. Another was Jaleo or Ruckus, a fast paced dance music from Cuba which blended Caribbean and North American instruments and styles. Ruckus soon became the music of choice for American night clubs and dance halls illustrating the influence that America’s Caribbean states were having on the country. In sports, boxing and auto racing increased dramatically in popularity during the 20s with the Tulsa 100 becoming one of the nation’s premier sporting events. Along with radio, motion pictures continued to grow during the decade including animated shorts with dozens of cartoon character such as Shane Bayard’s Dreamworld Film Company’s Ricky Raccoon and Tom Turkey entering into American popular culture.
Ricky Raccoon
1926
Foreign Developments
End of the Chinese Civil War
After 18 years of fighting, the Chinese Civil War came to a close when Republican forces captured the capital of Peking on October 1, 1921 officially ending thousands of years of monarchial rule in China. General Chen Ching-Kuo was installed as the first president of the new republic. The long war had taken its toll on the country, with tens of millions of Chinese dead form either the marauding armies or the subsequent famines. Furthermore, while the United States was the first nation to recognize the new republic other powers had used the nearly two decades of warfare to expand their own spheres of influence. After officially incorporating Manchuria into the Russian Empire in 1920, the Russians moved quickly to establish the puppet states of the Khanate of Mongolia and the Emirate of East Turkestan out of the former Qing Empire. Meanwhile, Great Britain secured the independence of Tibet. While the Republic of China deeply resented these actions by Russia and Britain, years of war left them to weak to seriously contest them. As such, China would seek close ties to the United States for economic and military assistance. Despite the end of the civil war, China would continue to experience a plethora of problems as the shaky republican government tried to hold together and modernize the impoverished county.
The Great Game
With the fracturing of China, the century old rivalry in Central Asia between the British and Russian Empires intensified to levels not seen in decades. The two nations would spend vast sums of money building fortifications and railroads to strengthen their claims. Other countries in the region were forced to take sides. Afghanistan favored the British while Persia sided with Russians after the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1924 in which the Russians gave monetary and military assistance in return for naval basing rights. These policies were not without their criticisms as liberals in both the United Kingdom and Russia deplored the large amounts of money which they claimed was being wasted on trying to gain control of areas that the people cared nothing about. Throughout the decade, the United States maintained its anti-imperialist stance and urged calm between the two rival powers.
Norwegian Independence
Although advocacy for Norwegian independence had been slowly gaining steam for decades, the uncertainty of the Great War and its immediate aftermath had dampened secessionist zeal until the early 1920’s. With the ascension to the throne of the unpopular Swedish King Charles XVI in 1920, on July 16, 1922 the United Kingdoms of Norway and Sweden was formally dissolved after a successful referendum for independence by the Norwegian people, ending 107 years of unity. The Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, selected a prince from the Danish house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg to be their monarch installing him as King Magnus VIII.
Flag of the Kingdom of Norway
1922
Last edited:
This is really cool Mac. Thanks so much for the animation bit. 
Just three things.
1. Where are you getting these pictures from?
2. Are these new Presidents going to be historical figures, or will they be made up?
3. Your picture of Ricky Raccoon isn't showing up. Could you please post it again? I'm very curious to see it.
Other than that, keep it up!
Just three things.
1. Where are you getting these pictures from?
2. Are these new Presidents going to be historical figures, or will they be made up?
3. Your picture of Ricky Raccoon isn't showing up. Could you please post it again? I'm very curious to see it.
Other than that, keep it up!
I am liking the idea of Britain still keeping good influence in the world for a while longer and you know they are the former colonies going to be better off with Britain investing more money in their infrastructure
Leonard Wood was real historical person. I don't know about others. I didn't find anything about them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Wood
This is really cool Mac. Thanks so much for the animation bit.
Just three things.
1. Where are you getting these pictures from?
2. Are these new Presidents going to be historical figures, or will they be made up?
3. Your picture of Ricky Raccoon isn't showing up. Could you please post it again? I'm very curious to see it.
Other than that, keep it up!
Glad you are enjoying the updates. To answer your questions..
1. From Wikipedia and Google images of course.
2. The last two presidents, indeed everyone from now on will not be OTL historical figures. The pictures for Presidents Doner and Abercrombie are from some random politicians from OTL (figure out who and you get a prize). One of my pet peeves for AH is when an OTL individual shows up even though the POD happened before his birth (i.e. TL-191), which would almost certainly butterfly his existence away or at least make him a very different person. I am interested in hearing from the board though on whether they agree with me or would like to see historical figures continue to appear in the TL.
3. Ricky Raccoon is now rendered in all his black and white glory, and yes he will appear in color later.
Thanks for your support and cheers!
Thanks so much for the support. Its great to get feed back. Just let me know if there is anything in the TL you want me to discuss. Cheers!
Something about Brancaleonian Italy? A guy named Brancaleone at the helm of my country is really a matter worth discussing (and I still don't know if you gave him that name on purpose).
Is anything happening in the other forgotten continent (South America)?
And are there Modern architects (Bauhaus school et similia) in TTL's Europe? Please, don't tell me you're another LeCorbusier hater! I'd be most displeased if there weren't a Rationalist architecture in the world you created!
Is anything happening in the other forgotten continent (South America)?
And are there Modern architects (Bauhaus school et similia) in TTL's Europe? Please, don't tell me you're another LeCorbusier hater
! I'd be most displeased if there weren't a Rationalist architecture in the world you created!Something about Brancaleonian Italy? A guy named Brancaleone at the helm of my country is really a matter worth discussing (and I still don't know if you gave him that name on purpose).
Is anything happening in the other forgotten continent (South America)?
And are there Modern architects (Bauhaus school et similia) in TTL's Europe? Please, don't tell me you're another LeCorbusier hater
Excellent questions. I will include updates on Italy and South America in my next update on the 30s. I don't know much about architecture. Feel free to send me some information or suggestions about what architecture should look like in TUF. Thanks for your support and keep the questions comin.
Help Needed
As ya'll can see by this pathetic attempt at a 5 dollar bill I still need some qualifed help with this TL's money. Anyone game?
As ya'll can see by this pathetic attempt at a 5 dollar bill I still need some qualifed help with this TL's money. Anyone game?
It's not that bad. Better than a few thing's I've seen. LOL at the Lincoln on the $5 bill.
The best bills that I have seen are
by jycee for Wilcoxchar's Union and Liberty TL and
this one by LylyCSM2
Lycaon pictus
Donor
And of course it would say "Bank of the United States" not "Federal Reserve Note." (It probably wouldn't say "Third Bank" because the people designing it wouldn't want people asking what happened to the first two, and if they need to worry about this one.)
The denominations of the note could be $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000, $10000. It probably would have images of Presidents, just to make the notes easy to recognize and distinguish from one another on sight (faces being something the human brain is wired for.) I'm guessing Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Polk, Boreman, Hill and both Lincolns, in whatever order you think best.
The denominations of the note could be $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000, $10000. It probably would have images of Presidents, just to make the notes easy to recognize and distinguish from one another on sight (faces being something the human brain is wired for.) I'm guessing Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Polk, Boreman, Hill and both Lincolns, in whatever order you think best.
Excellent points. Indeed, the bills would say "Bank of the United States". For color I think they would be green as greenbacks predate the POD. They probably wouldn't have "In God We Trust" but maybe E pluribus Unum or "The Union Forever" or "The Union and Constitution Forever." I agree that the bills should be adorned by the portraits of the TL's Presidents.
Now all we need is someone who could design one.
Actually the phrase "In God We Trust" predates the PoD as well. The phrase comes from Francis Scott Key's Star Spangled Banner. It's in one of the stanzas that are almost never sung. So it could be "In God We Trust" but that depends on how popular Key's song is ITTL.