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Mandrake: Call of the West

The election of 1873 was decided the moment Maximilian Mandrake announced his candidacy. Mandrake was a national hero in the north and west, where most votes were. The Libertarians crashed and burned as spectacularly as the Republicans had only four years earlier, grabbing a few states on the coast, including Massachusetts. The New Democrats once again secured the Southern vote with the animosity much of the South held toward Mandrake.
However, animosity was not enough to stop the landslide victory of the Republican Party. The former general-in-chief of the US Army was catapulted straight into the White House with the largest amount of votes ever recorded for a candidate. For the first time since Washington, a general-in-chief held the Presidency.

election1873.jpg

1. Results for the Election of 1873.​

Mandrake’s first move was to lower tariffs from the previous 10% to 5%, which caused a dip in federal earnings, that it took an entire year to make up for. Nevertheless, trade to the United States continued to expand at an ever-increasing rate, although scholars continue to debate whether the slight drop in tariffs had anything to do with it.
In accordance with his promises, Mandrake also raised the pay for soldiers, and initiated the Mandrake Plan, which would expand the United States navy by almost 100 ships. There was much criticism over the reduction of the army by 15,000 men however, as a mere month later; the Confederate Call to Arms became the largest since 1864.
The army was sent in, and more than 520 soldiers died quelling the rebellion. It seemed as though Northern units would stay in the South forever, until Mandrake approved the Landerman plan. The plan, created by Congressman Samuel Landerman of Minnesota as a solution to the problem of policing the South, would remove the United States Army from the Southern states permanently. The Southern states, in return, would each create a trained force of 3,000 men to deter answering to the calls of the Cuban Confederates.
Mandrake, eager to clean his reputation in the South, approved the plan without hesitation. He did this with the approval of the Republican Party, because the 3,000 man units would not be paid for by the federal government. Reconstruction had seemed to finally come to an end.
Yet for Mandrake, the great question was not the South, or even the Anarchists, who had stepped up their campaign of terror after regaining their numbers since the “Little Anarchy”. For the 1870’s, and much of the 1880’s, were defined by the “Wild” West. The lawlessness and adventure of the areas west of Texas that have become ingrained in the American consciousness were reaching their height when Mandrake came into office. When he left, the West would have created some of the most enduring icons of Americanism.

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2. American “Cowboys” and Native Americans, c. 1875.​

The nation’s attention first turned decisively Westward in the Mexican-American War, but since then, the center of attention had become the East again, thanks to the slavery debate. When the Civil War ended, the eastern states had been devastated by the war, and the state governments had been forced to exert more authority in order to wage it. The allure of the wide open prairie and the Rocky Mountains became irresistible to many.
The first tales of traditional Western derring-do arose in the late 1860’s with the hunt for the one Jesse James, an outlaw and veteran of the Civil War. James operated all through Colorado and Nebraska, eluding the recently founded FBI at every turn, until on February 3rd 1870. On that day, in Cold Springs, Colorado, agents Thomas Anderson and Jeremiah Pitt found James in his sleep at an inn they had stopped at. Pitt and Anderson shot James 12 times, and the first Western icon was born.
As settlers further took advantage of the promise the Homestead Act gave them, they came increasingly into contact with the Native American tribes. The friction between the locals and the Sioux tribe came to a head in 1874, when Colonel George Armstrong Custer led his unit deep into Sioux territory. The local chiefs decided that Custer, who had long been testing the patience of the Native Americans and the federal government with his wild forays into Sioux land, had gone too far.
Custer was ambushed near Little Bighorn, and his entire force was wiped out. An American settlement of 200 people then met Custer’s fate a week later. The President was now forced to decide whether revenge was necessary, or to uphold the uneasy truce that the Native American Citizenship Bill had created. Eventually, Mandrake ruled that, despite denouncing Custer’s actions [1], the federal government would not stand violence against it. The Sioux War of 1874 cost the lives of some 1,000 US troops and 6,000 Sioux before the Native American surrender and acceptance of the loss of their lands.

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3. The Battle of Little Bighorn.​

The Native Americans continued to fight a slow losing battle against the settlers until the mid-1880s, creating the indelible image of the cavalry arriving to save the surrounded convoy. However, no single confrontation would kill as many people as the Sioux War. The Native Americans did gain some propaganda victories in the form of support from certain parts of the True American movement [2], who saw the struggle as reflecting their struggle against an oppressive government.
The facet of the West that the 1870s had that 1880s did not, was the number of politicians who chose to reinvent themselves out west after the creation of an equilibrium of sorts in Washington left little room for change. Ex-Colonel Vandrove of the Marxist-Vinogradists was one of the first to go west. Vandrove was eager to bring the working class of the West to socialism. Between 1874 and 1878, Vandrove visited every major city on the West Coast, and even spent time as a cowboy.
However, only one politician became a Western icon during his stay. In June 1875 James Harrison, formerly ambassador to Japan, was forced to step down from his position as Senator for Pennsylvania when accusations arose of unfaithfulness being the reason for his recent divorce. To get away from his shame, Harrison joined on a cattle run from Ohio to Washington. In Montana, he left the group and headed south. He spent the next year meandering his way through the West and numerous jobs, including a stint in the 7th Cavalry in Nevada.
After another year on his trek back east from Los Angeles, Harrison wrote the book “Call of the West”. It became the first book to surpass sales of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the US. With it, he cemented his reputation as a Western hero and further strengthened the allure of the West. Outlaws, cowboys, cattle, sheriffs and roaming heroes had come to the fore of the national consciousness.

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4. Two “Cowboy Politicians”, Eric Vandrove (left) and James Harrison (right).​

Outside of the West, industry continued to grow at the exponential rate of previous administrations, although the end of government subsidies to less vital industries resulted in mass unemployment in Nebraska. The President was forced to remedy this with the Nebraska Aid Act of 1876, which provided the first real unemployment benefits in American history. The great event in Washington, which reflected the influence the West was having, was the fall of the Libertarian Party, and the rise in its place of the Federal Party.
The Libertarians fell decisively apart after the electoral disaster of 1873. Bryan announced the party’s official disbandment on August 12th 1874. The most successful socialist party of its time was gone. No other party of its kind had come so close to holding top office in any nation on earth. The New Democrats and Republicans however, could not breathe any easier, as the Federal Party stepped into the Libertarians’ shoes.
The Federal Party, or the Federals as they were sometimes known, was created by politicians from California, Oregon and Washington who felt that the Federal Government had too long been an Eastern institution. They were an odd bird. The Federals wanted to extend the powers of the FBI, but curb the powers of the federal government in general, enact further welfare, but delegate it more and more to the state governments. In 1876, they were finally ready to attempt to get the presidency.

[1] – The official stance on Custer has shifted with the times. Lately, the pendulum of opinion has swung back in favor of the Sioux, after staying with Custer for much of the 20th Century.

[2] – The True American movement was a branch of the Republican Party that believed in the rolling back of the welfare state and minimal government intervention.

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Exceptional Situation(s):

I admit it. I stole Teddy. I pray for your forgiveness.

In other news, Anti-monopoly bill goes to vote, so does the patriot act. Primary sign-up is open. Parties are: Republican, New Democrat and Federal.

In case you need to know, the Federals are between the ND and Reps in isolationism/expansionism. They believe that once everything’s good in the US, anything’s possible.

Also, ACAs are back. [thread=562822]Here.[/thread]
 
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(I cant believe you stole Teddy.

I CANT BELIEVE you stole Teddy

There goes my strategy OUT the window!)

;-), just kidding.

I vote NAY to Anti-Monopoly Bill and Nay to the Patriot Act

I am also not really that sure what the Federals are?
 
Nay to the Anti-Monopoly Bill, Yay to the Patriot Act

((I'm still unclear about who the Federals are supposed to be. Are they just everything and anything, and intervention/isolation is whatever the nominees care about? And will we never learn if the Army took Jamous' weapon?))
 
I am also not really that sure what the Federals are?

I'm having a little trouble defining them too. They're a spiritual successor to the Libertarians, but more like the Republicans than the New Democrats. They're also that agrarian party people have been talking about, being from the part of the country that's into cattle and the wide open prairie. Does that help at all?

King: Not exactly. Isolationism is open, but federal power is more complex. States' rights, but states have certain responsibilities defined by the federal government.
 
So, Federales= Wester/Cowboy/ Republinesque government?

And you as Roosevelt will run in that party?
 
So, Federales= Wester/Cowboy/ Republinesque government?

And you as Roosevelt will run in that party?

Yes.

No. The federals are for former Libertarians and anyone who likes them.
 
((I love Theodore :blush: and as I am doing American Studies he comes up a lot at university. Actually, last year we had a sports tournament, just for having fun, and we called our team "The Rough Riders" in Teddy's honor :) ))

I, Archimedes Cartwright, Representative for Georgia, hereby cast my votes on the proposals now in consideration by Congress;

-NAY on the proposed Anti-Monopoly bill
-NAY on the proposed Patriot Act

Ever since The War, the military has seen an increase in expenditures all around, because the nation has come to the conclusion that it cannot rely solely on a militia force, but has the need for a standing army. That said, I do not feel that there is any need for even more expenditure towards the army or navy for that matter, as we have no real enemies to speak of. I know I am but a youngster here among you, but I see no immediate danger to our country, and we should not bolster ourselves unnecessary! And what is not to say about other people in this nation, to claim the same benefits for whatever reasons they warrant? Just because these men work for the government, and have chosen to do work that is dangerous, makes them, how small an amount even, exempt from paying the same amount of tax? Do not have the miners have an equally or even more dangerous job than our soldiers in peace-time? Do not the workers in the factories have an equally or even more dangerous job than our soldiers in peace-time? Do not our brothers and sisters travelling west, through native country, have a more dangerous time than soldiers residing in the east of our nation? All of us have the same opportunities within the United States, and all of us should be treated as such. Not with federal presents.

It is not to say, that I am against the military. I am also not a socialist. But, every man has his rights as proclaimed onto him in our Founding Father's Declaration of Independence. That gives him the choice to do as he wants within the boundaries of the reasonable and the law. If a soldier does not want to reserve part of his wages for the possibility of future injury, that is his choice. If a miner in northern New York decides to travel west and start a ranch, that is his choice. If a black man from Louisiana travels to Boston to open a general store, that is his choice! Leave this choice to each individual.

It is a far better idea to improve upon the availability and medical qualities of our cities and towns, train better doctors and aides, advance the field of medicine so everyone has the chance, AND the choice to get care when they need it. Until we decide to build and improve the foundation upon which the citizens of our fair nation can build and improve themselves, we should not give certain groups federal benefit just because they have chosen a particular path. Besides, is not the Medical Department of the Department of War already providing the military with any health issues they need serious help with? Five score ago, the Continental Congress set up the Army Hospital just for the need of the militia and the soldiers, and in 1818 we, that is to say Congress, already institutionalized the Medical Department. If the need for more or better health care is that great, we should expand this department and increase their funding instead of just wildly flinging about new legislation.

The third part of the Patriot Act is, in my opinion, completely redundant! Has not the Constitution been amended to implicitly say that every man, regardless of color, is free? The army should take in any man that is fit for that line of work if that man so desires to protect this nation. Of course racism is still abundant throughout, yet it is an institution like the military that should set an example for the rest of the nation. This enforcement lies not with Congress, but with the President. As Commander-in-Chief, he has the power to allow everyone to join the army if they are willing and able to defend, and he has the power to reprimand any that participate in violent racism in the open.

This is why I am voting down the Patriot Act. This government does not possess the rights to instill the first two sections, and there is no need for this legislative body to impose the third as it is in the Constitution.

- Speech given in front of the House of Representatives in 1875
 
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((Good, we need more representative from the South (except Maryland isn't really southern...)))

Nay to the Patriot Acts ((already said this, but posting again)
Nay to the Anti-Monopoly Bill
 
((Good, we need more representative from the South (except Maryland isn't really southern...)))

I'm confused as to who you are referring to. The Federals are from the West and Harrison is from PA.
 
((Talking about Chimina's character. We have lots of people from the North and some from the West, but not many Southerners at all.))
 
Ah. Should have remembered he's back.

Please, the Republicans and Federals need at least one candidate (although Mandrake will probably come up as the Republican one), and the ND could do with more than one.
 
Ah. Should have remembered he's back.

Please, the Republicans and Federals need at least one candidate (although Mandrake will probably come up as the Republican one), and the ND could do with more than one.


I am still too young to run at only 29 during the Primaries :)
 
Yay to the Anti-Monopoly Bill and Yay to the Patriot Act.

I also announce my intention to run for the Presidential nomination of the Federal party.
 
The Call for Revolution Against the State

It's time for action. No more should we hide in fear from the agents of property. No more should we fear the power of the military and the police. We should finally move out in open protest and seize the industries and the farms for the people! The hiding is over and the revolution must begin. We must liberate the people from the tyranny of the State!

The State is nothing but murderous thugs. They killed the Indians, because the Indians declined to submit to the slavery of the State. They will kill everyone who dares to question the Rule of the Establishment soon, if we don't rise up and dissolve this machinery of murder. The revolution that creates a Stateless Society of Equals will begin today! Long Live the Anarcho- Vinogradists.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flyer from 1876 printed in The last cries of the Old Left by Nathaniel Nightmore (New York 1942)
 
Nay to the Anti-Monopoly Bill and Nay to the Patriot Act.
 
Nay to Anti-Monopoly
Yes to Patriot Act


THE EXAMINER​
The time has come for America to fulfill its destiny and liberate Cuba and Puerto Rico from the Spanish Tyrants. Spain has given aid and comfort to our enemies and enabled them to plan violence against us for far too long. The time for action is now. America must no longer sit idly by while its enemies are given aid and comfort a mere 90 miles from our shores.
 
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