[Forum Game] - Empire of the Pacific

baboushreturns said:

Dear Mr. Rothschild-Morrgenthau

Thank you for expressing your interest in learning more about my position in relation to the national bank. I am against the bank as I believe it will disenfranchise the farming and working class and make them victims of government exploitation. We simply cannot allow that to happen.

-Mr. Lewis Owings

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Dear Honorable Mr. Owings,

I appreciate your speedy response. The issue that you have elevated is one that I have spent a great deal of energy to resolving - the absolute conclusion of this concern is discussed in my Treatise on the Merits and Values of a Californian National Bank. I suggest you examine the third section "THE COMMERCIAL NEED AND CAUSE FOR A NATIONAL BANK" for the resolution of this often deployed criticism.

Sincerely,
Rothschild-Morrgenthau

*Standing in front of a medium sized crowd of Californios, dissatisfied Anglos, and immigrant population groups, Juan Manuel makes a speech*

My fellow Californians, today our nation is buckling under the weight of rebellion. As we speak, National Democrats are mustering forces to depose of the Republican President Henry Jarvis and his Republican government. Republicans are in return mustering their own forces to fight the national democrats. Both sides claim the other is trying to undermine the country, destroy it, etc. My friends, we cannot allow violence to grip this country. I have seen what civil-war and revolution does to a nation when I was a young man in Mexico, it paves the way for dictators to rise. I refuse to see California come under another Santa-Anna!

I ask you my friends, my fellow citizens of this country, to stand by me. We wont support Jarvis, but we will not remove him from power. Both sides are hypocrites, preaching a new nation, a peaceful nation, and a prosperous nation. Yet both sides immediately grab their guns and use violence to force change upon the nation when their power or agendas are threatened. Do they not see what this coup will do to this nation? Our nation was already weak to begin with, and now we might as well throw our nation back to the Mexicans. I refuse to let this country return to a country led by oppression and tyranny. I refuse to partake in the violence gripping this nation.

I ask you all here today, to go out to your families, friends, and neighbors, to tell them that we do not need to go to war against our fellow Californians. Instead we must look to peaceful settlement of this crisis, a settlement involving diplomacy and not guns or death. I protest the violence gripping the nation, and I ask all of you to protest it as well. I wont let the squabbling of political parties divide this nation. I believe in California, and I wont let it fall to political dispute!

((I am forming a protest group against the coup and the government, but they will not be armed. I am also declaring neutrality in the coup))

Watercress said:

TO THE GENTLEMEN-CITIZENS OF CALIFORNIA

AN OUTLINE

OF THE

"PLAN OF SAN FRANCISCO"

OR;

THE AIMS AND MOTIVES OF THE PRESENT INSURRECTION ​

I. The replacement of the present administration with a government of NATIONAL UNITY, with CARETAKING AUTHORITY, to undertake the remainder of the present term, at the end of which elections shall be held as scheduled.

II. Immediate provisioning for the following issues:

A. The establishment of a STANDING ARMY.

B. The establishment of a NATIONAL BANK.

C. REFORM to the SENATE.

D. The REPRESENTATION of CIVILISED MINORITIES.
​

III. The restoration of ORDER both foreign and domestic; the ENFORCEMENT of internal statues and laws within the territories of the REPUBLIC, and the reconstruction of RELATIONS with our neighbours.

J. H. Somerville​

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"While I support the removal of the President, this plan is almost precisely wrong. The problem with the Jarvis regime isn't lack of power. It's the assumption of the right to size and distribute private property. And while there's an obvious practical reason for a standing army and even a bank, they amount to a more powerful government without dealing with the real problem."

After hearing about the coup, Colonel Gowan gathers a his militia and issues a statement to the government in Monterrey and the opposition forces:

The Sacramento Militia, under the command of myself, Colonel George P. Gowan, is very concerned by the latest news from the capital. Although we do believe that this government has failed to keep its promises and has grossly negelcted the people of California, such sentiments are to be expressed with the ballot, and not with the sword. We cannot support such action, however justified, against a democratically elected government. However, we find ourselves unable to fight against our brothers who feel that such action is necessary. We implore all men to reach a peaceful resolution to this crisis, rather than plunge our young Republic into civil war. Therefore, we shall remain in Sacramento, and we shall, in our duty as men of the Militia, protect the city against all attackers. We would also like to reach out to both sides to act as a neutral, mediating force so that this conflict may be resolved before any Californian spills the blood of another. May God preserve California and her people!

Signed,

Colonel George P. Gowan of the Sacramento Militia

Thadeus could not believe the mail he had received from his express services…California was in utter anarchy. A coup by the National democrats, rumors of a rebellion by the confederates, war with the natives…If nothing was done, there would be no California to return to.

If everyone was going to go insane back home in California , then he must in the same fashion and attempt something he would have never done a few days ago. Whatever may come out of this meeting, he could only hope, his actions were judge righteous by god and that history would not prove him wrong for what he was about to do.

Thadeus would do whatever was in his power to save the republic form the greedy men that would turn it apart, even if it costed him his political future. Thadeus was above all a businessman, and California was the best business, he would not let greedy, short-sighted and power hungry men ruin it if he could help it.

*After his speech, Juan Manuel steps down from the podium to be greeted by fellow Californios.*

Californio 1: Senor, you are a idiota inepto! Have you not heard the news from the North?

Juan Manuel: Senor, I do not know of any news. I wish to see an end to the violence, that is all.

Californio 2: Tell that to the hundreds of dueños de esclavos and milicia pro-esclavitud heading this way.

Juan Manuel: Pro-slavery militia men are heading this way?

Californio 3: We have also heard reports that many in the California Ascociation party wish to see you join them in the struggle against the Demócratas Nacionales. The head of the CA is trying to muster support against the slave-holders and their militias. Your neutrality will only split support

*Juan Manuel put his hands on his hips, his head soon turned deep into thought.*

Californio 2: Senor, perhaps it is also time to create a militia?

Juan Manuel: We dont have a choose. We must protect this land from marauders and pillagers.

((I am forming a militia that is neither pro-republican, or pro-Nat Dem. This militia will fight to protect the people of Southern California from marauders and pillagers during the Civil War. Until the civil war is resolved, consider this militia hostile to any side that dares to attack the innocent people of Southern California, and any side that attacks their homes or farms. This militia will also fight to prevent slavery from spreading to a land that for a long time has been anti-slavery. We will also be operating with California Association Militia in stopping slavery from spreading to this area.

Yes this is a 180 turn from pacifist to defensive warfare, but this is 1840s California, pacifism I realized could easily get a lot of people killed.

BTW: The Milita will be called The Militia for the Protection of Innocents))

I urge President Jarvis to resign and allow peace and stability to return to California once again. I do not relish the idea of a civil war, but it has become clear that one shall happen so long as Jarvis remains in office. While I may support efforts to remove President Jarvis from power, this is only because it would be the best for the Californian people. Should President Jarvis resign, I believe an immediate presidential election should be held to determine his successor. In the meantime, an executive council composed of representatives from each party should rule until a new president is elected. This is the only way that California shall get through this crisis in one piece and not fall to the ambitions of its enemies while ensuring a peaceful and democratic transition of power.

~ Albert Augustus Sheridan
Assemblyman from Los Angeles

Pierre looked out onto the chaos rocking San Francisco. Brief firefights could be heard as Nat Dem mobs fought off Republican sympathizers. Smoke could be seen from certain sections of the city, as the chaos had rendered the Fire brigade useless. This chaos could be seen everywhere, and Pierre knew it first hand. He had fought a few brief naval skirmishes with Mexican ships, and watched helplessly as they looted and pillaged the coast. He had tried to bring this to the attention of the National assembly, but other conflicts soon ensured his cries go unanswered. He was just ordered to slow the Mexicans as best as he could. That had been a year ago.

Now, he didn't receive orders. His immediate superior, the Secretary of the Navy O'Dea, had left his post to fight for the rebellion in San Francisco, and all communication from the Capital was cut off. Due to the chaos, no one thought of appointing a new one.

Pierre was now the Chief Commander of the Navy of the Mexican Republic.

Not that the title meant much. The Navy only had a few Cutters to its name, after all. Pierre was now thankful that he had worked so hard in turning what few men he had into a disciplined force. Out of all the services, the Navy was the most professional, and had the fewest desertions. Of course, it didn't really have men to spare anyways.

He sighed. He had achieved his dream of rising to greatness in a foreign revolution, just as his Uncle had done. He now saw the dark side of that dream, the nightmare that awaits any revolution. He saw the gore and the anger and the chaos, the blood turning the streets red. He remembered the stories his relatives told, their eyes wide with horror, as they whispered the terrors of the Revoloution in France.

Did he want to be another Lafayette? A Napoleon? Perhaps, worst of all, a Dumouriez?

He did not know the answer. But what he did know, was that his men, his navy, was one of the few oasis' not stricken by the bloody coup. He knew what he had to do. He turned to his quartermaster and his first mate, and to the rest of his crew.

"Men, cast off. Make way for the open sea. May the Lord have Mercy upon our souls."

Under his breath, he said a short prayer.

Coup Supporters:

City Guard of San Francisco
Leader: Charles Thomas Frost ((Maxwell500))
Supporters:
I. Jonathon Charles Peter Pierson ((TJDS))

Griswold-Lehr Militia
Leader: John Griswold ((Dadarian))

California Associates Militia
Leader: José Antonio de Guzmán ((XVG))
Supporters:
I. Don Anicio de la Vega ((Mathrim))

Southern Patriotic Milita
Leader: John McEbin ((Shynka))

Government Supporters

Republican Army of California
Leader: Colton Burpo ((Andre Massena))
Supporters:
I. Jack Marshall ((Gen. Marshall))
II. Lewis Owings ((baboush))

The San José Legion
Leader: Nikolay Gagarin ((Mikkel Galdher))

Neutral

Sacramento Militia
Leader: George P. Gowen ((LatinKaiser))

The Militia for the Protection of Innocents
Leader: Juan Manuel Campo ((naxhi24))

Years of the Badger, 1845-49

Suddenly thrust into a respectable role of responsibility, Badger Billy O'Dea did his best with the limited resources he had to work with. He saw to the commissioning of the three revenue cutters, expansion of naval yards in Monterey and naval supply depots in San Francisco and San Diego. He hired men like himself, rough, ambitious, and experienced sailors. The Navy department became known as one of the coarser branches of the government, though nobody accused it of being ineffective.

Borrowing against his interest in the Truelove, Badger bought extensive waterfront lands from fellow cabinet member William Reed's San Francisco Bay holdings. He built a new warehouse on the docks, renting space to ships coming into the harbor. Along with beginning work on his own house, he partnered with several other business men, must notably on importing raw timber and pilings from the Oregon Territory to supply the expected building boom. He platted out the land he bought from Reed into smaller parcels, selling it to new arrivals at a cheap rate in exchange for stakes in their businesses. He wound up minority owner of the first brickworks in the San Francisco area, along with a grocer, dry goods store, tailor's shop and cooper. He also opened a boarding house selling bunks and warm meals to new arrivals.

Badger had always predicted that San Francisco Bay would become the main port on the West Coast. He didn't expect it to happen quite so rapidly. His businesses boomed in the Gold Rush, and he covered what land he hadn't sold with cheap ramshackle housing to rent out to newcomers. Between his business interests and his authority over the Navy, Badger Billy became a rather influential figure in San Francisco.

Though he constantly griped about not having the resources to do his job properly, he worked in the Jarvis administration until the attempted confiscation of Sutter's gold fields. Badger Billy has only one really unbreakable political principal: that a man has the right to keep what's his. He's resigned his post as Secretary of the Navy, though having appointed most of the employees there he still retains some influence. He returned to San Francisco, largely staying out of the militia movements but not opposing it either.

William Samuel Haley was born on November 23rd, 1816, in Charleston, South Carolina, to a moderately wealthy merchant family who immigrated to San Francisco only two years after his birth. The middle son of the family, William was neither as intelligent as his older brother, John, nor as good-looking and charismatic as his younger brother, Francis. He was a quiet boy, uncommonly serious with few friends, and as a result he was often picked on by other children – that is, until he grew. What William lacked in outstanding intelligence or appearance he more than compensated for in size and strength; a fact that became all-too evident to William’s former bullies when he soon dwarfed them in height. By age fourteen, William was six foot four inches tall, and stronger than some adults.

In 1833, when William was seventeen, the Haley family was left almost penniless as a result of several bad business ventures made by Nathaniel Haley, William’s father. The family company, Haley Trust, was lost to bankruptcy and corruption charges, and the resulting financial fallout meant that there would not be money to send either William or his brother Francis to college. As a result, on his eighteenth birthday William departed South Carolina for the west coast of North America: California, to be precise, where he became a ranch hand on the farm of fellow Anglo George Smith, a modest landowner outside of San Francisco. The farming lifestyle was a hard adjustment at first for a merchant’s son, but the pay was good and in no time William was George Smith’s most valuable employee and a trusted, respected friend.

In 1843, however, the quiet and satisfying life William had enjoyed would be interrupted by the announcement of California independence, controlled by the strong Anglo minority in California (to which he himself belonged). When the provisional government’s recruiters arrived at the farm and offered William a commission in the Californian Army, he was intrigued. He’d dreamed of being a soldier as a small child – the idea of risking one’s life for honor, glory, and those who couldn’t protect themselves had always appealed to him. In the decade since he’d arrived in California, he had grown to love it and the people who lived there. As a result, he gladly took the opportunity to defend it from the Mexican oppressors.

Over the course of the conflict, Haley’s physical as well as mental capabilities were noted by his superiors, and the confidence and leadership he exhibited in the numerous engagements with the Mexicans caused him to be rapidly promoted from the lower commissioned ranks to the rank of Captain. By the time the Mexican army surrendered to the Californians in late 1844, William Haley had risen from fresh recruit to hardened and respected officer.

As of now, he serves under Major Henry McAlistor in the elite California Rangers.

When I vetoed the National Army Act, I did so when the nation was at peace – the Indians were peaceful, and the Mexicans (perhaps reluctantly) seemed willing to accept peace between our two nations; however, the emergence of rebellious forces within the Republic, and the re-emergence of hostilities between the our Republic and the Mexican States, amongst others, I do hereby request that the Congress of this Republic set aside funds and the necessary federal power to levy an army of 2,000 men in the defence of this nation, for a maximum period of three years, to be renewed should these conflicts continue. Furthermore, as Commander in Chief of the Republic of California, all militias are hereby directed to accede to the orders of the President, for the defence of the nation from rebels and invaders, alike.

I would ask Mr Sinclair, unless he is truly desirous of being the first traitor to Californian democracy, to accept the presidential authority vested in my the people of California, and instead turn your belligerent energies towards the enemies of this Republic, lest you truly desire to forever shamed as a Cassius or a Sulla. Should he do so now, I will grant him and those who follow him a pardon, as I believe that the other threats this young nation faces are more pressing. However, if Mr Sinclair has no love of democracy, of republicanism, or of that most noble franchise of voting, and instead wishes to govern as these... caudillos, as a petty Caesar or Napoleon, let it be Sinclair who fires the first shot and overthrows the lawfully established and legitimately elected government of this Republic.

If Mr Sinclair truly loves this Republic, he will stand down and, for the good of the nation, work with me to fend off these threats; these rebels in the east, or the Indians slaughtering our people, or the Mexicans invading our lands.

These ludicrous accusations of tyranny are just that, beyond belief and without any ounce of merit; I have taken no action out of line regarding executive power, unless Mr Sinclair and others believe that the Executive (which they themselves championed to be so powerful) has not the power to veto legislation.

~ H.J. Jarvis, President of the Republic of California

"Damnable fools, the lot of them," sighed Matthew. "They're just asking the country to be invaded by Mexico." He looked out his window, a platoon of San Francisco City Guardsmen marching in the streets outside of the offices of the Democrat. The whole mess was Jarvis's own fault; had he actually built an army instead of relying upon the ineffectual California Rangers, all the trouble might have been avoided. Matthew didn't like the idea of fighting a war over Jarvis's incompetence, considering the sorry state of the Republic's armed forces, but doing nothing would simply be inviting the Mexicans in. With Texas rapidly turning against California and only the treacherous Yankees still seeking to pursue friendship with California, the situation was intense. In such times of crisis, a stand had to be made, and as such he sat down with his notepad to prepare his next editorial.

((I and my associated interests support the San Francisco City Guard))

--​

On Page 2 of the newspaper is an announcement that Matthew would be running for the National Assembly as a candidate of the National Democratic Party.​

((Naxhi, feel free to add the Mormon Battalion as Neutral to your list of militia's.))

In the hope to prevent a civil war that will only leave us divided and weak against foreign aggressors such as Mexico and the indians, I propose we resolve the current situation through a compromise that resolves the issues currently tearing our nation apart. President Jarvis agrees to allow the standing army outlined in the Bill he did not sign, and establish a national bank as outlined in the Bill he also did not sign. Then there would be a convention to debate and establish constitutional amendments. I believe this is the last best chance for peace considering the positions of the respective factions. If this is rejected, then I will have no part in this short-sighted conflict over political power, and pray that what's left standing of our nation by the end still has the strength to exist as an independent nation. I won't support either side considering their stubborn, rash, and blind actions.

-William Clark
Head of the Expansionist Party, Assembly Member