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The Presidents: 1836-1936 - An Interactive US AAR

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King50000 said:
True, but even so, the business man would never pay the black man the same as a white man, due to the racial boundaries of this time period. So either way the business man would hire on a negro worker for less than a white worker, thus increasing unemployment of our white population. Where as if the freed slaves were to move out west, they wouldn't interfere with what is already a shaky system, and they would still be able to survive and prosper of their own accord.
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First, if the black is paying reduced wages there's a good chance they can be hired without laying off whites, and it's not like there is going to be a sudden flood of blacks, Second, we could counteract this by adding a new amendment giving the same amount of land an animals as a black moving west to any whites fired for cheaper black labour. Or forcing owners to pay equal amounts, but Hensdale's hotheads would burn down Capital Hill.
 
Cameron (2nd Term): On the Wings of Victory​

The Presidential Election of 1845 was won with a war. It was Cameron’s greatest weapon. He was the man who had put America on the road to victory. Khur also had the same weapon, but lacked the political weight, or physical presence in the campaign [1], to use it. Hensdale alone simply could not compete with Cameron. Archibald Cartwright on the other hand, was still in the race, but his health became a major problem, so critical in fact that, for the last month of campaigning, he refused to move out of Georgia for fear of dying outside his state [2].
The election went to Cameron, and his victory was a landslide. He took all the territories, including the disputed Oklahoma and Colorado. Colorado was a true electoral battle, as the reputations of Khur and Cameron could swing the territory either way. In the end, Cameron’s reputation as the man who stood up for Colorado and anti-slavery stance beat Khur’s reputation as protector of the territory.
Oklahoma was an international dispute, as the people in the area who were American citizens were allowed to vote [3], despite the fact that Britain had not yet recognized Oklahoma as American. Oklahoma’s position as a pro-slavery territory also made the state volatile, but Cameron’s reputation and presence won the day. The Whigs were thus victorious, and President Cameron became the first Whig to serve two terms.

uselectionchart1845.jpg

1. Results for the Presidential of 1845.​

The Mexican-American War itself entered a lull during the election. This period, lasting until February of 1845 and known as the Sit-Down, saw Santa Anna maneuver his troops as if to attack, and Khur maneuvering US forces to meet him. The Mexican force would then withdraw, and leave the American force tired from marching too fast, too long. Khur refrained from moving further into the Rio Grande to occupy territories for fear of Santa Anna attacking with a much larger force.
When Cameron won his second term, and thus no longer had to worry about showing a low-intensity, low-cost war and avoiding any possible Flagstaffs, however improbable, he ordered Khur to take action. It was lucky for Khur that Santa Anna had moved the Mexican Army South in order to fight the UPCA forces closing in on Mexico City. The campaign was a success for Khur, as by the time Santa Anna’s forces returned to the north in August, the US Army had occupied all territory north of the Rio Grande, with the exception of the area around Phoenix, which would soon surrender itself to US Forces.
For Cameron, it was also a necessary victory; as he had been hit by severe criticisms form all sides for the forced removal of the Cherokee population in Arkansas to Oklahoma in April 1845. He saved himself by promoting Khur’s progress and giving the Cherokee population the same voting rights as the whites [4]. Cameron had stumbled, but the next two years would see him handle much larger crises.
On September 28th, Khur ordered Joshua Young’s 1st Army, stationed in Phoenix, to move against Santa Anna, who had stationed himself around Tucson. The battle was joined on October 5th, when Young’s 3rd Division came into contact with the forces of Vicente Salas, who had commanded the Mexican Force at Eureka, and needed to clear his name. The battle expanded as more and more troops arrived from both sides, with the small American-founded village of Rock Springs becoming the center point of the two massive battle lines, which numbered some 30,000 Americans and 15,000 Mexicans. The lines essentially wheeled around Rock Springs, and the village was reduced to a smoldering husk by US artillery.
The battle eventually cost 3,604 American lives and 4,869 Mexican lives before Santa Anna decided to retreat. Young was once again hailed as a national hero, and he decided to stay on the front, even when Khur offered him a position as second in command.

rocksprings.jpg

2. A contemporary painting of the combat in Rock Springs.​

Young sent Davis’ 1st Cavalry Division out to harass Salas as he retreated, and Davis 9,000 cavalrymen managed to kill as many as 4,533 extra troops by the time Davis decided he had lost too many cavalrymen. The cavalry had chased Salas as far as Hermosillo, bringing the fight to “Mexico Proper”. The great victories of Rock Springs and “Davis’ Devils” however, were only the first part of a general offensive aimed at taking enough of Mexico Proper to force Santa Anna’s surrender.
At the same time as Young had set out toward Tucson, Eugene Washington’s reorganized Army of Observation moved to attack Tomas Fagoaga’s 2nd Army. Fagoaga retreated from his positions in Paso Del Norte, and forced the Army of Observation to chase him all the way to Chihuahua. At Chihuahua, Washington attempted the same strategy as at Flagstaff, albeit with much more success, the six-day battle of Encinillas claimed 7,843 American lives, mostly Southern [5], and 6,600 Mexican lives. Fagoaga’s remaining 9,800 men retreated to join up with Santa Anna at Guyamas. Washington followed.
The Army of Observation met the combined Mexican Force, totaling 18,000 men, at Coyotes. Washington used his tried and tested strategy against the slightly more militarily talented Santa Anna. The two most unsuccessful generals of the war met; with Santa Anna ordering his force to cave in as Hannibal had done at Cannae. The result was a slaughter worse in overall casualties than Flagstaff.
At first, the 22,000 US troops were bewildered and almost routed, but the skill and leadership abilities of the officers below Washington held them together. At the end of the first day, 3,985 Americans lay dead in return for less than 1,000 Mexicans. Washington’s subordinates pleaded him to try another strategy, or retreat. He refused, and the attack continued the next day, with US forces smashing through the Mexican center at an appalling cost. Santa Anna and his army fled the field, having suffered 2,292 casualties. The Army of Observation was once again hammered to the point of uselessness by its 8,963 casualties.

encinillas.jpg

3. A painting of the charge on the second day of the battle.​

Washington gained the reputation of a butcher, and Cameron and Khur jointly decided to relieve him from command as soon as possible. On June 22nd 1846, Isaac McCook took control of the remnants of the Army of Observation. The reputation of the battle of Coyotes however, hides the fact that Washington’s campaign had finished the complete decimation of Mexico’s professional army. After Coyotes, Santa Anna was forced to use badly trained conscripts who deserted chronically.
In March, as US troops continued to move into Mexico Proper, Santa Anna attempted to attack the small American force occupying Chihuahua. The 6,000 troops, one regiment from the North, the other from the South, however, managed to hold the city of Chihuahua long enough against Santa Anna’s 22,000 men for Young to arrive with 1st Army. Santa Anna retreated after he was attacked in the rear, having lost 6,313 men in return for 7,305 Americans. After the battle for Chihuahua, the Mexican Army would attempt no more attacks before the war ended.
On March 30th, with the war in its third year, Cameron urged Khur to make a bold move. The result was Eugene Wilson’s 10th Corps’ “March to Mexico”. Wilson would send his force straight through unsecured territory, and capture Mexico City, forcing the government to surrender and accept US terms. Wilson set out on March 30th. When he reached Mexico City in May, 10th Corps settled in for a siege.
While the Mexican Government sat in the capital, waiting for Wilson to break into the city, Santa Anna dithered around Mexico Proper. He smashed the UPCA forces again in July, and moved to Monterey, hoping to incite another Sit-Down period. Unfortunately for Santa Anna, Khur and his subordinate Young had no intention of doing so.
When the Mexican force arrived in Monterey, Young’s force immediately moved out of its positions in occupied Reynosa. Santa Anna only had 9,000 men left, against 22,000 US troops. The battle of Monterey was a slaughter, with only 1,145 American dead in return for 7,703 Mexican dead. Santa Anna was beaten, and only the Mexican Government remained. Wilson broke into Mexico City on April 9th; two days after the battered UPCA signed a peace treaty with Mexico.

mexicocity.jpg

4. A contemporary artwork depicting the 10th Corps storming the walls of Mexico City.​

On April 11th, negotiations between Khur, who had arrived the previous day, and Mexican President Santa Anna’s representative ended. The Rio Grande, and Tucson, would be ceded to the United States. Mexico would receive nothing in return. The Mexican-American War was over, and Cameron had gained the political weight to carry through on policies he had advocated since his re-election, namely women’s suffrage [6].
First, he had to deal with the votes in the new territories, which would decide whether these areas would become Slave or Free states. California voted first, and it was generally known that California would take the rest of the Rio Grande with it. The eyes of the nation focused on its new Pacific Coastline.
Pro-Slavery groups campaigned, as did anti-Slavery groups, but the very nature of the Americans who had moved to California spoke against slavery. The population was, after all, made of people from the North and those Texans who had fled the reinstitution of slavery. The vote went overwhelmingly free. The South went through a momentary panic, until General Davis made a speech in Atlanta on August 12th 1847. He assured the South that the Free States’ new majority would not mean abolition, and indeed it would not, as President Cameron signed an act in November banning any bill that proposed such a thing.
This however, did not ban slavery legislation outright, and so he was able to bring to the table the Freedom Act. While it sat being argued in the Senate, Cameron also managed to gain women a right to vote, sort of. They would have to be at least 21 years of age, and have a letter of consent from a spouse or father. The law was also only enacted by Washington DC and New York before the end of his term. Women still hailed Cameron as a hero.
As the next election loomed, the Freedom Act went to a vote, and President Cameron began tending to any last minute business in office. He was going to follow Washington’s example, and not run for a third time. He was one of the most liked presidents in the North and was not hated in the South.

[1] – Khur spent the entire campaigning season directing the movements of US Forces in the Sit-Down period.

[2] – Cartwright’s son wrote a memoir, “Campaigning with my Father”, of his experiences at the time, and it was later adapted into a play and film. Archibald Cartwright died on June 28th 1845.

[3] – What is meant by American Citizens is people who had moved from the US to Oklahoma before the territory became internationally recognized on February 26th 1845, and all its inhabitants were granted Citizenship.

[4] – For these two actions, negative and positive, Cameron is interpreted by the Cherokee as either a monster or hero.

[5] – The Army of Observation’s losses had been replaced with troops raised from the areas that originally formed the force at Flagstaff. This meant that the force had a Southern majority, despite its reinforcement by forces from other formations.

[6] – It is generally accepted that Cameron’s own wife drove him to these policies.

-----------------------------

Exceptional Situation(s):

It’s Sign-Up Primary time again (SNP, Democrat, Whig)! Also, the Freedom Act goes to a yes/no/abstain vote.

PS. I apologize if Cameron seems like too much of a winner, but after winning the war, I couldn't see how he could fail.

PPS. You might see a discrepancy in the number of voters in the popular vote, but that's because it's now based the adult male population instead of the whole population. I've changed the election pics in the others too, to reflect this.
 
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((Chimina's dead! Did he tell you that or did you just work it into the story?))
 
I, personally thought Khur had potential. Seems he didn't have the means to use that Potential to full extent.
But it seems the people of this fair country have voted on a man they find suitable (once again). So I, Samuel L. Bute, congratulate our President, John F. Cameron for being the man Americans find best.
 
WelshDude said:
((Chimina's dead! Did he tell you that or did you just work it into the story?))
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He PMed me, and asked me to kill off Cartwright. He gave me an outline for the death, and I put it in. :)
 
((Can we see the Cameron Report go to the vote now too?))

Freedom Act: Yes
 
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Primary: John Hensdale, SNP
Freedom Act: No
 
Mikeboy said:
((Can we see the Cameron Report go to the vote now too?))
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It's already passed in the story, but I decided to let it wait until the December-January update. :)
 
A Little Something Extra

Dear Mr. Samuel J. Linare,

It is with great regret that I have to inform you that your son, Corporal John R. Linare, has died in defense of liberty and freedom abroad. Your son was serving under, now former, General Eugene Washington in the Army of Observation at the Battle of Coyotes and died in the second day of the battle in Washington's charge against the Mexican center. In a report from his CO, it is said that John fought on even after being shot and planted our flag in the center to rally his comrades when the attack began to falter. He died a hero protecting the ideals of America, freedom and justice for all. It was a shame that such a talented and superb soldier died in a waste of an attack and I feel his, and so many others, death on my soul for not removing Washington from command sooner. My prayers go to your son in the life after.

-General Nicolas Khur

*Khur would hand wright thousands of letters like these to the families and loved ones of those who died under the failed command of Washington, their deaths heavy on his heart and mind*
 
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Freedom Act: Yes

I wish to announce that I, Eldud Walsh, and will be running for the Democratic nomination for president, on a platform of building factories to buy American produced raw materials. Any queries on this policy are greatly appreciated.
 
Excerpt from the Bestselling book; "Soldiers in an Unnamed War" By: Senator Samuel L. Bute.

"~And so, in a blatant act of heroism, He lifted the American flag over El Paso. The Flag of the South, not the Union[1], flew proudly in the wind. The Texans laughed and celebrated in the streets. Having been free from the tyranny of Washington, people from all over the South came to The dusty town for the largest celebration in known history. But he was not content. The North still marched on Virginia[2]; for America was in pain, and only the men of the South could save her..."


The Book was released, three days after the Freedom Act was announced.


[1] The Fictional accounts of this book were accounted to a large separatist movement in the South.
[2] Original name of the State/Territory he chose for the book's finally is disputed. As many versions account a fictional, Dixie-City as the setting, or even going as far as the Florida Peninsula.
 
Shouldn't we have been given a chance to vote for the status of California? Also, arnt there any new territories to become states in which the question of slavery should surface?

Freedom Act: No, we must protect this union.

After years of watching this great nation slowly crumble in half from this "question" of slavery, I have decided that we need action. I hereby nominate myself, John Fender of the Whig Party, for presidency on the platform of keeping the question of slavery to a minimum with a strategy of expanding free and slave states at a one to one ratio, of expanding the national economy, and of limiting conflicts with our fellow American nations in this hemisphere.
 
Aliasing said:
Excerpt from the Bestselling book; "Soldiers in an Unnamed War" By: Senator Samuel L. Bute.

"~And so, in a blatant act of heroism, He lifted the American flag over El Paso. The Flag of the South, not the Union[1], flew proudly in the wind. The Texans laughed and celebrated in the streets. Having been free from the tyranny of Washington, people from all over the South came to The dusty town for the largest celebration in known history. But he was not content. The North still marched on Virginia[2]; for America was in pain, and only the men of the South could save her..."


The Book was released, three days after the Freedom Act was announced.


[1] The Fictional accounts of this book were accounted to a large separatist movement in the South.
[2] Original name of the State/Territory he chose for the book's finally is disputed. As many versions account a fictional, Dixie-City as the setting, or even going as far as the Florida Peninsula.
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((Is that a real book?))
 
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