The Bigger They Are... is an alternate history world where the United States experienced an even more expansionist 19th Century, but also even more sectional differences.
The Stores Proper will pick up on the eve of the 1908 Presidential Election, where increasing resentment by the opposition to the National Union Party lead to a Progressive unity ticket against the ruling National Union Party. Things only get worse from here, because remember, The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall...
The 1908 National Union National Convention (Often called the UNC for short) was a boisterous affair, much as you would expect from The Natural Party of Government who had occupied the White House continuously from its foundation in early 1868. The Party had a lot of money, and they like to flaunt it for the whole country to see. Senator Robert Hearst of New York, the party favorite to succeed incumbent President Charlemagne Tower Jr. was selected as President, and Perennial Candidate John W. Bryan was selected as Vice President to hopefully relegate him to the obscurity common of that office.
The Populist-Progressive National Convention was also a very energetic event, with the finer points of policy being debated in halls and in the bathroom stalls. The party nominated House Minority Leader Joseph Cannon as their President and Governor Delano of New York as their Vice President. They knew that this was their only chance to break the National Unionist dominance, as a defeat would surely lead to them dividing up as they had been wont to do for the last 40 years.
And finally, the runt of the litter, the Southron National Convention was a quick affair, with Governor Furnifold Simmons of North Carolina nominated for President, and Augustus Octavius Bacon of Georgia nominated for Vice President. Their platform was simple, continued resistance to Federal Domination, and secretly the re-secession of their states from the Union.
The Expansion Era 1837-1845: William Henry Harrison/Francis Granger (Whig) [1] 1845-1849: James Buchanan/Robert J. Walker (Democratic) [2] 1849-1857: Winfield Scott/Thomas King (Whig) [3] 1857-1860: Charles Sumner/Sam Houston(Whig)
1860-1861: Charles Sumner/Vacant ("National" Whig) [4] 1861-1865: Graham N. Fitch/James Mason (Democratic) [5] 1865-1869: William H. Seward/Salmond P. Chase ("National" Whig/Liberty Ticket) [6]
The Second Era of Good Feelings 1869-1870: William H. Seward/Salmon P. Chase (National Union) [7] 1870-1873: Salmon P. Chase/Vacant (National Union) [8] 1873-1877: Salmon P. Chase/Thomas F. Bayard
1877-1885: William Tweed/Cassius M. Clay (National Union) [9] 1885-1893: Nathaniel P. Banks/William W. Astor (National Union) [9] 1893-1901: George A. Custer/Henry G. Davis (National Union) [9][10] 1901-1908: Charlemagne Tower/William Windom (National Union) [9]
[1] – Tippicanoe was elected by Congress after the Whig gambit to deadlock the college to prevent Martin Van Buren's election succeeded, and attempted to pass Whig economic plans, including the reinstatement of the National Bank. However Harrison's presidency was dominated by foreign policy, with the Canadian Revolutions and the Canadian War for Independence breaking out mostly because of Harrison's support for the rebels. The Chartist Revolution in Britain essentially guaranteed an American victory in the war, which saw the Canadian republics granted independence under American guidance, and the Maine and Columbia borders set to the maximum American claims. During this time the Texan War for Independence break out to the nation's south, and the Texan government lobbied the Federal Government for annexation, but Harrison decided to leave the issue to the winner of the 1844 Election. [2] – James Buchanan was elected mostly on the unpopularity of John Tyler, who while stating he was in favor of Texan annexation was painted by Buchanan as being for it solely for political gain. He passed the Texan annexation bill with minimal riding bills, to which the Mexican government responded by moving troops to what they considered the border, the Pecos River. The American government responded by moving its troops to the border, which was shortly followed by a skirmish, and an American declaration of war. The Mexican-American War resulted in the Treaty of Buenavista, which ceded to America the Mexican States of Chihuahua, Tejas, Las Californias, Nuevo Mexico, and Sonora. It also granted the independence of the nations of the Rio Grande Republic and the Yucatan under American guidance. But despite victory in the war, Buchanan was not able to help the Panic sweeping the nation's banks and was unable to gain reelection. [3] – Winfield Scott, Old Fuss and Feathers, was elected on his wartime notoriety as well as via the virtue of not being James Buchanan. He led the nation through a period of peace that had been missed over the last decade, and enacted much legislation that would further the Whig Party's power. [4] – Charles Sumner was elected President on the back of President Scott's endorsement, and pretty well stayed the course set about by his predecessor. This ran into issues with the Platte-Platte Act, which would have allowed territories to decide for themselves whether or not they had slavery, which essentially destroyed the Compromise which had kept the peace between Slave and Free States for so long. President Sumner vetoed this act, wishing to maintain the hard line between slave and free states, causing Vice President Houston to resign and run against the President in 1860, splitting the Whig vote between Sumner's "National" Whigs and Houston's "Opposition" Whigs. [5] – Governor Fitch was elected because the Whig vote was split, and quietly passed the Platte-Pawnee Act soon after he entered office. But tensions began in his own party after he seemed to still want to limit the power of slave-owners, vetoing the Fugitive Slave Act. This left him the victim of his own party split, with the Southron Democrats splitting off with their own candidate in 1864. [6] – Governor Seward of New York led a coalition of the Liberty Party and National Whigs to victory in 1864, promising to keep slavery only in territories that had up to that point already voted for slavery, or below the Compromise Line. This began a crisis that would eventually cause a civil war, with the southern states seceding as the Southron Republic. Seward would oversee the war utilizing many new inventions such as the Morse Wire, and the Pierce Gun to devastating effect. However the war would still last 6 long years, being surpassed in its ferocity only by the Second Civil War. [7] – The 1868 saw the codification of Seward's coalition of Northern Whigs and Liberty Party members into the National Union Party alongside the Peace Democrats, the party that came to dominate what became known as the Third Party System. Seward would die of a stroke, but the party he created would outlive him by four decades, but in that time it would almost completely escape his intent. [8] – Chase set the course that the Union Party was to take for the rest of its existence, spoils politics, laissez-faire economics, and tight control of the nation's consciousness. Chase would remain a popular figure in the party's leadership until his death. [9] – The so-called Second Era of Good Feelings was characterized by rampant robber barons ruling the economy with an iron fist, a falling power of the legislative branch, and intense corruption in the Federal government, including a runaway spoils system, blatant vote manipulation, and otherwise shady deals best exhibited by President Tweed. [10] – The 1892 Presidential Election has been forever looked back upon by historians and psephologists alike as the great harbinger for Things To Come. The Populist Labor Party of Henry Teller won a majority of the popular vote, but through mass bribery, the National Unionists managed to gridlock the college. Henry Teller then died a week before the House contingent election under suspicious circumstances, and Custer waltzed to a comfortable election.
The National Union Party has its origins in the union between the Northern Democrats and National Whigs during the First Civil War (or First Southron War as it is called in Florida), masterminded by President Seward during the 1868 Election, to maintain stability in wartime. (Similar to the British wartime "National Governments") Seward himself intended it to be a stop-gap measure that would dissolve back into its constituent parties once the crisis had passed. But fate would have it that the party would both outlive its founder, struck down by a stroke three months after the war, and completely morph beyond its original intentions. This latter point was cemented with the Presidency of William Tweed, who took the principles of his home's Tammany Hall and applied them at a national, nigh industrial level, making the NUP an almost-unbeatable electoral juggernaut.
The 1908 Election was not the first time that the left-wing elements of the United States had united in a bid to unseat the Natural Party, 1892 had almost seen the Populist Labor Party win a plurality of the Popular Vote. But questionable tactics then occurred (read: bribery) that then saw numerous electors "defect" during the vote keeping either Custer or Teller from the needed Electoal Vote majority. Teller then died under suspicious circumstances the week before the House Contingent Election, and Custer easily swept to a majority of delegations, because there was no precedent of what to do in such an eventuality.
And yet, the Liberal elements of the nation sought again to make a seemingly-Quixotic attempt to unseat the Unionists, despite most pundits scoffing at the idea of a PPP victory. And then news broke that shook the nation, large-scale corruption had been uncovered by investigative reporters in New York that pointed back to Senator Hearst directly, alleging his participation in a massive prostitution scandal in the City. This led to the surprising loss of Pennsylvania by the Unionists, and a narrow Populist majority in New York. However this still left the Populist-Progressives with one elector shy of an electoral majority, and National Union Party prepared for the necessary wheeling-and-dealing that would be necessary to pull off a successful Contingent Election.
However a faithless Maryland Elector cast his vote for the Populists, giving Cannon a majority in the College, and setting the nation abuzz. However unbeknownst to the President-Elect, a secretive group met in smoke-filled rooms met, hostile to the Populist ideals, and one General Pershing was poised to "Save this country from this radical menace..."
"Thank you Mr. President, I will ensure that it is done." Pershing closed the door to the President's office and walked down the hall to the stairs.
"It's time, gather the men." The soldier saluted and scurried off, to the telegram room to muster the troops, both locally the contingent that would assist him in his immediate endeavor, and nationally to centralize his support base. It's tragic, this nation has come so far, we have defeated all foes that opposed us, the British thrice, the Mexicans twice, and the South once, and these bastards throw it all away in one election. Hearst was weak, that's why he lost, that's why they let the nation fall into the hands of the rabble. Of Socialism. His hands clenched at that last word. No, this nation has been rotten to the core since Tweed got his greedy hands all over it, abandoned the South to fall back into the hands of those Dixie traitors. I'm going to remake this nation, better, stronger, and more powerful than she's ever been before, I'll crush these traitors who sold out their like the scum they…
"Sir." Pershing jumped at this sudden intrusion.
"What!? Haven't I told you not to sneak up on me?" he snarled at his Lieutenant
The soldier recoiled at this sudden outburst, "Sorry sir, I didn't realize you were... preoccupied... Anyway, the men are ready."
"Good, good, let's move! In formation!"
The column of troops began its nearly two mile march to the Capitol. That wretched hive of corruption. As he walked down Constitution Avenue, he had a speaking trumpet, and spoke to the people gathered on mall in various locations.
"People of Washington, please return to your homes or places of residents, Under the terms of the American Safety Law, I am ordering you all to comply, for your own safety."
Either the intensity of his speech, or the column of soldiers at his back convinced most people to comply. They think they can just sell out our nation to the dogs just because one Elector from Maryland had a bad sense of Judgement? The Socialists had obviously paid him off, or he was one himself. "Lieutenant, send out an order to arrest the faithless elector from Maryland first chance you get. I want him shot." They think we're just going to stand by while they pick apart our glorious nation, piece by piece? No, it is time we True Patriots take back control of our Destiny, and stop these Socialists, once and for all.
This last musing brought him to the front steps of the Capitol, and his column began to fan out.
"I want every exit sealed, and every last reporter's notepad confiscated."
He marched through the rotunda, a sizable portion of his column still with him, and into the main House Chamber. He pulled out his service revolver, and fired a shot into the air.
"Gentlemen of the House, by the Power vested in me as Commander of the United States Army by President Charlemagne Tower, I, James T. Pershing, hereby find you all guilty of treason against the United States Government. And hereby declare the United States Constitution to be suspended and this nation under martial law"
****
The 1908 Pershing Coup was a reaction to the Electoral College vote for that year's Presidential Election, which say the Populist-Progressive Party win by a single faithless elector. The Junta that orchestrated the coup was composed of General James Pershing, the commander of all U.S. Military Forces (A position he was appointed to by President Tower), Mitchell Palmer, Majority Whip Knute Nelson, and Charles Carlin [1], leader of the American Liberty Group, a paramilitary group dedicated to protecting America from Radicalism. The junta declared itself the "Patriotic Council for the Removal of Socialistic Influences from America", and Pershing declared himself the Chief Patriot. The coup would set off the chain of events that would spark the Second American Civil War when the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, Comanche, Rio Grande, Sonora, California, Sacramento, Nivada, Jefferson, Oregon, Vancouver, and Columbia nullified Federal authority, and the former 7 met in Terminus, Georgia, and the latter 12 met in San Francisco, Sacramento to discuss their next course of action against this tyranny. At the same time, Chief Patriot Pershing, marched American troops into the Canadian Republics, claiming he was doing so because the Canadas "Harbored Enemies of the American State".
The United States in December, 1908 following the coup:
In January of 1909, 18 States, 3 Territories, and a further 8 splinter state governments passed motions of secession from the Second American Republic, citing attempted violations of civil liberties by the PCRSIA, and the illegitimacy of Pershing's suspension of Congress and instatement of martial law. Simultaneously, Cajun partisans funded by the Second French Empire announced the secession of Acadiana from the State of Louisiana (Which now technically had three rival state governments.)
The Pacific laps at the beach, same as it always does, day in, day out, tide in, tide out. And yet Victor couldn't help but be mesmerized by the simple machinations of mother nature, he supposed that the patterns helped him meditate, take him away from the stress that would be awaiting him back inside.
His mother had always taught him the power of being left alone with one's thoughts in times of stress. His father was an astrologer, and had shown him the patterns of everyday life, and how one could take solace in how no matter the problem, it all would pale in comparison to the grand scale of the universe.
He supposed the shore was much akin to America over these last forty years, being slowly eroded by the seemingly endless blue tide. The National Union Party wearing away at our civil liberties, with our shores trying their best to remain stable. But one could not sit idly by, as the great beaches of California need to be protected by men to stop washing out to sea, our civil liberties need to be protected from being washed away by vigilant men and women.
A lone fisherman sat out in the nearby sea, casting out his nets in a hopeless quest of catching some paltry amount of fish from these depleted shores. It seems no matter the greater existential threats facing us all, someone will still just go on living.
He turned to the approaching footsteps he heard behind him
"Jack, It's time"
***
In January of 1909, delegates from 18 States, 2 Territories, and 3 Native Tribes in Sequoyah gathered in San Francisco at the Cliff House to discuss a course of action in the face of the growing dictatorship of "Chief Patriot" Pershing. These delegates signed a document known as the Declaration of Freedom, which delineated a list of charges leveled at the junta, a commitment of delegates and their states to take action to overthrow the illegitimate government, and the formation of the so-called "Coalition of Freedom".
***
"FOR TOO LONG has the Federal Government trampled on a state's rights to decide its own fate, but NO MORE! The Southron Nation is tired of the antics of a government that obviously does not care for anything besides lining its own pockets! So it is in my position as President of this Convention that I declare the unilateral secession of the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina from this abusive Union."
***
"Mounsier Riel"
"Mister Gordon"
"My nation turns to yours again, my Francophone brother, because while we may be able to resist an American Invasion separately, we must pool our resources yet again, like 1837. Only together can our movements truly drive back the Unionist Menace, the Two Canadas must stand as one so we can be free."
The two men shook hands, "Welcome to the ALC" they said in unison.
