The year is 1875. Fifteen long years ago, a simple raid on Harper's Ferry took place. Armed with advanced weapons and unnatural coordination, John Brown and his countless comrades seized the arsenal, the nearby town, and the surrounding plantations. What had been planned as the beginning of a guerilla struggle spiraled into a full-blown revolution.
Now the Freedmen's Republic, governed from Atlanta, finds itself with an unexpected problem. John Brown, the Premier for the past fifteen years and the leader of the alliance of governing powers, is retiring.
Questers are asked to lend their support to the various parties within the Republic and thus chart the course of the nascent nation. The game begins in the winter of 1875.
The year is 1875. Fifteen long years ago, a simple raid on Harper's Ferry took place. Armed with advanced weapons and unnatural coordination, John Brown and his countless comrades seized the arsenal, the nearby town, and the surrounding plantations. What had been planned as the beginning of a guerilla struggle spiraled into a full-blown revolution.
As the confused and sclerotic political system of the United States remained in hapless gridlock and foreign empires prioritized stabilizing their own peripheries, abolitionist movements took to the streets, worker's organizations demanded free labor for all, slaves took up arms against their masters, and the native inhabitants of the continent seized the opportunity to ensure they shall never suffer the Trail of Tears again. From sea to shining sea, the whole continent was ablaze.
Ten years ago, a formal peace treaty was signed. The United States was officially declared dead, and from its ashes, like the phoenix, arose new nations, conceived not in liberty for a select few but freedom for all.
The Freedmen's Republic, governed from Atlanta, is perhaps the most powerful of the three, and the unofficial leader of the Des Moines Alliance. It is a nation that its inhabitants can be proud of - it has broken the planter class, ended slavery and anything that remotely resembled it, enacted widespread literacy programs, and started significant industrialization and infrastructure programs. And that is to say nothing of the famous Technological Institutes, full of cutting-edge innovations that have greatly improved the lives of countless people.
However, it also faces many struggles, from hostile foreign powers to an unfavorable balance of trade to growing government debt to bureaucracies beholden to local interests.
The three-term Premier, John Brown, has reached the limit he is allowed to take under the National Laws. He has announced his intention to retire to the farm he lived for many years in North Elba and write his memoirs.
With his retirement, the coalition that supported him may splinter. The perennial outsider parties see their chance to take the reigns of government.
No one is certain who the next Premier will be, although there are many hopefuls leading campaigns across the nation...
Vote for your party. Here are the following options:
[] The Socialist Worker's Party: A left-wing splinter from the Worker's Party, they advocate for the complete transition to a democratically planned economy, the destruction of patronage networks, tighter integration with the Des Moines alliance, an aggressive foreign policy, and greater rights and protections for minorities, women, etc.
-Discipline: 7 (Highly organized, but with a number of competing tendencies)
-Popularity: 3
-Localism: 1 (They are totally opposed to the local patronage networks scattered across the country)
[] The Worker's Party: The leftmost of the three main parties of the republic, they advocate for the intensification of industrialization and infrastructure programs, increased government sponsorship of cooperatives and government industries, tighter integration with the Des Moines alliance, a moderately aggressive foreign policy, and increases to the rights and protections for women, minorities, etc.
-Discipline: 6 (Organized, but with many competing tendencies)
-Popularity: 7
-Localism: 4
[] The Freedmen's Party: The most popular party in the republic, they advocate for status quo economics, increase investment in education and quality of life initiatives, tighter integration with the Des Moines alliance, and a neutral foreign policy.
-Discipline: 6
-Popularity: 8 (they are the natural party of governance
-Localism: 7 (the party machinery is heavily intertwined with local bureaucracies)
[] The Radical Republican Party: When the old Republican Party splintered, the majority chose to form a new organization, which joined the ranks of the leading parties. They are the publicly acceptable right-wing party. They advocate for the loosening of government regulations, an aggressive foreign policy towards France and Spain, and restrictions on immigration.
-Discipline: 5
-Popularity: 5
-Localism: 6
[] The National Union Party: The remnants of the Democrats, the right wing of the Republicans, and a host of other minor parties nominally unified. While attempts at advocating for the return of slavery are suppressed, they have found a suitable alternative set of proposals, including nativism, conciliation towards the European power, abandoning the Des Moines alliance, and drastically slashing government spending.
-Discipline: 2 (they are raucous and have no unifying ethos other than opposition to the Freedmen's Republic)
-Popularity: 2 (their powerbase was smashed years ago and has not been allowed to recover)
-Localism: 3 (they do have some awareness of how to manage political machines, even if most existing ones refuse to work with them)
This election is special - there is no primary, just the main round that determines what the government composition will be. The largest party in the government will have their leader become Premier for the next five years, who has influence over what legislation is introduced and the procedures of the National Assembly. I will create them if need be, however, you can also write up your own proposal for a party, which will give them a small boost.
Also, this is a sequel to a quest where John Brown received assistance from time travelers.
Discipline - scale from 1-10, represents how disciplined, organized, and unified party apparatus is
Popularity - scale from 1-10, represents how popular and well-known party is
Localism - scale from 1-10, represents how entangled party is with local bureuacrats and patronage networks. Higher localism gives boosts to voting power, but can affect how platforms are implemented.
The voting power for each party is based on these three stats, combined with their total votes, proportion of voting power, omake bonuses, and how the nation has done since the last election. This is translated into how many seats they win in the election
Each turn is one year long.
Each party can have a platform with five planks they will try to implement if they get into the government, and two planks representing actions taken outside of the halls of power.
Once per turn per party, someone can write an omake, create art, etc. This will be rewarded with a small boost to voting power for the turn.
Government
Government Type: Parliamentary Republic (National Assembly)
Governing Document: Freedmen's Charter (civil rights, guaranteed welfare, freedom of conscience)
Head of State: N/A
Head of Government: N/A
Legislative Coalition: None
Foreign Affairs
Diplomatic Status: Recognized by Britain, France, German Confederation, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Mexico
War and Peace: Ceasefire with Northern Warlord States, peace treaty with Mexico and the Dominion of Pacifica
Alliances: Part of Des Moines Alliance with Turtle Island Confederation and Worker's Republic of America, alliance with Haiti
Trade Agreements: Turtle Island Confederation, Worker's Republic of America, Great Britain, France
Border Disputes: Mexico, Northern Warlord States, Dominion of Pacifica
War
Army Type: Volunteer Militia (Freedmen's Army)
Army Quality: High
Army Quantity Adequate
Fort Quality: Critical
Fort Quantity: Critical
Navy Type: Coast Guard (Freedmen's Navy)
Navy Quality: Adequate
Navy Quantity: Critical
Seaport Quality: Low
Seaport Quantity: Critical
Interior
National Stability: Adequate
Regional Stability: Texas (Low)
Law Enforcement Quality: Low
Law Enforcement Quantity: Low
Bureaucracy Quality: Low
Bureaucracy Quantity: Adequate
Finance
Treasury: Low
Debt Ratio: High
Tax Income: Low
Tariff Income: Low
Fee Income: None
Expenses: Critical
Principal Creditors: Britain (55%), Domestic (25%), France (20%)
Principal Debtors: None
Economy
Economic Output: Low
Economic Growth: Low
Economic Activity: Agriculture (50%), trade (15%), light industry (20%), heavy industry (15%)
Commercial Output: Low
Commercial Growth: Critical
Trade Partners: Britain, France, German Confederation, etc. [mixed] (20%), Des Moines Alliance [mixed] (80%)
Living Standards: Adequate
Technology: Ideal
Public Works
Road Quality: Adequate
Road Presence: Adequate
Rail Quality: Low
Rail Presence: Adequate
Utility Quality: Adequate
Utility Presence: Low
Port Quality: Low
Port Presence: Adequate
[X] The Worker's Party: The leftmost of the three main parties of the republic, they advocate for the intensification of industrialization and infrastructure programs, increased government sponsorship of cooperatives and government industries, tighter integration with the Des Moines alliance, a moderately aggressive foreign policy, and increases to the rights and protections for women, minorities, etc.
[X] The Socialist Worker's Party: A left-wing splinter from the Worker's Party, they advocate for the complete transition to a democratically planned economy, the destruction of patronage networks, tighter integration with the Des Moines alliance, an aggressive foreign policy, and greater rights and protections for minorities, women, etc.
-Discipline: 7 (Highly organized, but with a number of competing tendencies)
-Popularity: 3
-Localism: 1 (They are totally opposed to the local patronage networks scattered across the country)
Cool to see this continuing along!
[X] The Worker's Party
For this turn, assuming we're attempting to tack left, aiming for a strong performance from both the Socialist Party and the Worker's Party seems like it would be ideal? Though admittedly, I'm mostly just voting for the Workers Party since I'm unsure if any amount of votes will be able to overcome the massive stat disadvantage that the Socialist Party has, at least for this turn.
Wonder what the international socialist movement thinks of us... up and downtime. (And I do hope, that even if the time machine breaks/is broken, we can eventually regain contact with our friends in radical Reconstruction.)
[X] The Radical Republican Party: When the old Republican Party splintered, the majority chose to form a new organization, which joined the ranks of the leading parties. They are the publicly acceptable right-wing party. They advocate for the loosening of government regulations, an aggressive foreign policy towards France and Spain, and restrictions on immigration.
[><] Win American Rights(WAR) faction
Europe is dead, full of old men leading even older empires. They will not tear the new world down with them!
How close do we need to align with the chosen party policies?
If i can convince the Radical Republican voters to back 5 planks about going to war with the european colonies, would that be a valid option even though it ignores all other RR positions?
How close do we need to align with the chosen party policies?
If i can convince the Radical Republican voters to back 5 planks about going to war with the european colonies, would that be a valid option even though it ignores all other RR positions?
Presumably the "respectable bipartisan who will vote for anything so long as they get to bomb [insert foreign country here]" still exists no matter the form the Republican Party takes. This time they just want to bomb imperialists, not the imperialized.
The RR probably arent going to win the election anyway but maybe we can be the junior partner in a coalition. Our senior partner can worry about trifling matters like the economy or education while we make sure to shoot imperialists
Edit: Is there a map to see who we need to shoot first?
