Greetings all. I’m volksmarschall. Some may know me, others not, for those that don’t, hopefully we’ll be able to better acquaint ourselves in this AAR.
This project, an endeavor of vanity really, concerns itself with the country I live in, and study in—the United States. The Victoria series is a gem for me—personally—in part because this timeframe is the formative era of American history, culture, and mythology. The colonial era was important. The modern era after World War I also important. But no era, the nineteenth century, is as important to understanding the development of American culture, politics, and scope of historical development.
For those familiar with my AAR style, I prefer history book. Text driven, with intersplicing pictures—generally historical paintings or engravings, occasional a screenshot to keep us all familiar with the game developments—but deeply wedded to historicity. I have a terrible conscience of not being able to divorce historical reality, even in an AAR project. As such, this will be no different. While the history is driven by in-game developments, the manner in explaining such developments will retain a strong resemblance of historicity. I’ve always believed that when I undertake an AAR project, that one can simultaneously impart the in-game developments and pair them with a strong historical reality to paint a full picture of what’s going on.
The goals of this AAR are threefold:
1) Win the game for the sake of it being a game, but do so with some resemblance of historical flavoring. As such, I’m not going for World Conquest or even an American North American Union. We might take Quebec, and some extra Mexican states, etc., but I don’t want to deviate entirely from the picturesque reality of the nineteenth century on the whole.
2) Although an AAR, the choice of playing as America is not because I’m a flag waving jingoistic patriot who loves to dominate the AI with the United States, but because of my AAR project style. I find American history, culture, and politics, to be wildly misunderstood, misappropriated, and subject to terrible mythologizing. As such, this AAR will present a picture of American culture and history embedded behind all of the in-game developments. As mentioned, I hope we can take away both the game as it progressed, as well as a deeper infatuation and knowledge of American history and culture in this transformative century.
3) Actually complete this AAR since I have a terrible habit of engaging in impossibly long projects that I eventually grow tired of. (Sorry for everyone who was eagerly waiting for, and reading, The Presidents and The Presidents: Redux, the first taking 4 years to complete and the spiritual successor being cast aside because of boredom.) For those who have been slowly slugging with me in EUIV with The Decline and Fall of Roman Civilization, it is with great delight I can say it is now completed.
This project, an endeavor of vanity really, concerns itself with the country I live in, and study in—the United States. The Victoria series is a gem for me—personally—in part because this timeframe is the formative era of American history, culture, and mythology. The colonial era was important. The modern era after World War I also important. But no era, the nineteenth century, is as important to understanding the development of American culture, politics, and scope of historical development.
For those familiar with my AAR style, I prefer history book. Text driven, with intersplicing pictures—generally historical paintings or engravings, occasional a screenshot to keep us all familiar with the game developments—but deeply wedded to historicity. I have a terrible conscience of not being able to divorce historical reality, even in an AAR project. As such, this will be no different. While the history is driven by in-game developments, the manner in explaining such developments will retain a strong resemblance of historicity. I’ve always believed that when I undertake an AAR project, that one can simultaneously impart the in-game developments and pair them with a strong historical reality to paint a full picture of what’s going on.
The goals of this AAR are threefold:
1) Win the game for the sake of it being a game, but do so with some resemblance of historical flavoring. As such, I’m not going for World Conquest or even an American North American Union. We might take Quebec, and some extra Mexican states, etc., but I don’t want to deviate entirely from the picturesque reality of the nineteenth century on the whole.
2) Although an AAR, the choice of playing as America is not because I’m a flag waving jingoistic patriot who loves to dominate the AI with the United States, but because of my AAR project style. I find American history, culture, and politics, to be wildly misunderstood, misappropriated, and subject to terrible mythologizing. As such, this AAR will present a picture of American culture and history embedded behind all of the in-game developments. As mentioned, I hope we can take away both the game as it progressed, as well as a deeper infatuation and knowledge of American history and culture in this transformative century.
3) Actually complete this AAR since I have a terrible habit of engaging in impossibly long projects that I eventually grow tired of. (Sorry for everyone who was eagerly waiting for, and reading, The Presidents and The Presidents: Redux, the first taking 4 years to complete and the spiritual successor being cast aside because of boredom.) For those who have been slowly slugging with me in EUIV with The Decline and Fall of Roman Civilization, it is with great delight I can say it is now completed.
As such, I hope all readers will enjoy this ride. And so without further ado, I present to you my last AAR endeavor:
EMPIRE FOR LIBERTY, AMERICA IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
List of Presidents (1789-1885)
PART I: THE END OF GOOD FEELINGS
I: FACTIONALISM FROM MONROE TO JACKSON
Antecedent Rivalries: Jefferson, Hamilton & Randolph
Rivalries: Monroe, Adams, and Clay vs. Jackson
Adams and the Forging of American Destiny
II: ANDREW JACKSON AND THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC NATIONALISM
Lion in the White House
Fighting the Bank or Fighting for Democracy?
(and the Big Block of Cheese Incident)
Westward Expansion and the Road to Texas
The Texas Revolution and the Rise of Pan-American Nationalism
PART II: THE IMPENDING CRISIS
III: THE ORIGINS OF SECTIONALISM
Albion's Seeds: The Legacy of the Puritans and Cavaliers in America
The Quaker Capitulation and Restless Scotch-Irish
War! The First Mexican War
IMAGE INTERLUDE
Texas Joins the Union and the Election of 1844
The Second Mexican War, I
The Second Mexican War, II
IV: MANIFEST DESTINY AND ITS DISCONTENTS
Manifest Destiny by any Other Name
Westward Flight or Westward Expansion?
The Great Triumvirate, I
The Great Triumvirate, II
V: THE COLLAPSE OF THE SECOND PARTY SYSTEM
Reformism, the Once and Future Ideology, I
Reformism, the Once and Future Ideology, II
Reformism, the Once and Future Ideology, III
The Election of 1856
The Rise of Abolitionism
IMAGE INTERLUDE
VI: MARCHING TOWARD THE CIVIL WAR
Cultural Division and Animosity
The Myth of States' Rights
The Birth of the Confederacy
PART III: WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN
VII: THE RED SPRING
The Civil War Begins
The Union Army Forms
The End of the Old South
VIII: THE POLITICS OF THE CIVIL WAR
The Election of 1860
The Rise and Fall of the Copperheads
The Refugee Crisis in the South and the Rise of Southern "Tories"
The Republican Ascendancy
Politics in the Army of the Potomac & Emancipation
Rise and Triumph of the Radical Republicans
IX: ACROSS FOUR APRILS
The Tale of the Smith Family
The Tale of the Kane Family
IMAGE INTERLUDE
The Tale of the Mather Family
The Tale of The Meyer Family
X: GONE WITH THE WIND
The End of the Old South and the Battle of Wilmington
The Fall and Burning of Charleston
Sherman Captures Savannah and the End of the War
XI: THE CIVIL WAR AND THE GROWTH OF INTERNATIONALISM
Foreign Volunteers During the War and the Mexican Crisis
The Alabama Affair and the Place of the UK in the Civil War
The Civil War and the Transformation of America
PART IV: THE AGRARIAN REVOLT
XII: THE WAR FOR RECONSTRUCTION
The Beginning of Reconstruction
Passing the Thirteenth Amendment
Sherman's Holy War: The War for Reconstruction
The Southern Reaction
XIII: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE HOUSE OF LABOR
Jefferson vs. Hamilton, Round 2
America's Long History of Labor Radicalism
The Christian Roots of Middle West Populism
Organizing the Labor Unions
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Labor Blues
Nativism and the Fall of Labor
IMAGE INTERLUDE
XIV: EAST OF EDEN
The Expulsion of the Chosen People
The Farming Strikes of 1879
The Cost of the Civil War
XV: THE NEW REPUBLIC
The Idea of American History as Episodic
The Origins of American Progressivism and Urbanism
The Populist Revolt as a Revolt Against the Constitution
The Progressive Historians and Historiography
The Third Mexican War (the Baja War)
XVI: ENFORCING THE NEW REPUBLIC
The Homestead Strike
Industry and Science, I
Industry and Science, II
XVII: TAMING THE WEST
The Indian Wars
IMAGE INTERLUDE
Of Outlaws and Lawmen
The Little House on the Prairie
PART V: THE AGE OF REFORM
XVIII: THE AGE OF BRYAN
A Cross of Gold
Running For President
The Election of 1896
An Administration for the Forgotten Half
The Venezuelan Crisis
The 18th Amendment: Women's Suffrage
Bryan and the Populist Legacy in Tatters
XIX: THE RISE OF THE LION
Theodore Roosevelt and Understanding Progressivism
The Making of a Legend
The Accidental President
The Causes of "Progressivism"
The International President
Domestic Reform and the Election of 1908
IMAGE INTERLUDE
XX: THE END OF CONTINENTALISM
American Foreign Policy in Perspective
Moving Toward World War
The Guns of April
XXI: THE GREAT WAR
The Great War Begins, American Isolationism, and the Election of 1912
False Peace, False Hopes
America Goes to War
"Over There"
Retreat and Return, the German Spring Offensive in 1915
On to Paris, the American Counter Offensive
The Liberation of Paris
The German Revolution and the Armistice
The Peace of Paris and the Election of 1916 (I)
The Peace of Paris and the Election of 1916 (II)
XXII: PEACE IN OUR TIME
The New York Naval Conference
The League of Nations
EMPIRE FOR LIBERTY, AMERICA IN THE LONG NINETEENTH CENTURY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
List of Presidents (1789-1885)
PART I: THE END OF GOOD FEELINGS
I: FACTIONALISM FROM MONROE TO JACKSON
Antecedent Rivalries: Jefferson, Hamilton & Randolph
Rivalries: Monroe, Adams, and Clay vs. Jackson
Adams and the Forging of American Destiny
II: ANDREW JACKSON AND THE RISE OF DEMOCRATIC NATIONALISM
Lion in the White House
Fighting the Bank or Fighting for Democracy?
(and the Big Block of Cheese Incident)
Westward Expansion and the Road to Texas
The Texas Revolution and the Rise of Pan-American Nationalism
PART II: THE IMPENDING CRISIS
III: THE ORIGINS OF SECTIONALISM
Albion's Seeds: The Legacy of the Puritans and Cavaliers in America
The Quaker Capitulation and Restless Scotch-Irish
War! The First Mexican War
IMAGE INTERLUDE
Texas Joins the Union and the Election of 1844
The Second Mexican War, I
The Second Mexican War, II
IV: MANIFEST DESTINY AND ITS DISCONTENTS
Manifest Destiny by any Other Name
Westward Flight or Westward Expansion?
The Great Triumvirate, I
The Great Triumvirate, II
V: THE COLLAPSE OF THE SECOND PARTY SYSTEM
Reformism, the Once and Future Ideology, I
Reformism, the Once and Future Ideology, II
Reformism, the Once and Future Ideology, III
The Election of 1856
The Rise of Abolitionism
IMAGE INTERLUDE
VI: MARCHING TOWARD THE CIVIL WAR
Cultural Division and Animosity
The Myth of States' Rights
The Birth of the Confederacy
PART III: WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME AGAIN
VII: THE RED SPRING
The Civil War Begins
The Union Army Forms
The End of the Old South
VIII: THE POLITICS OF THE CIVIL WAR
The Election of 1860
The Rise and Fall of the Copperheads
The Refugee Crisis in the South and the Rise of Southern "Tories"
The Republican Ascendancy
Politics in the Army of the Potomac & Emancipation
Rise and Triumph of the Radical Republicans
IX: ACROSS FOUR APRILS
The Tale of the Smith Family
The Tale of the Kane Family
IMAGE INTERLUDE
The Tale of the Mather Family
The Tale of The Meyer Family
X: GONE WITH THE WIND
The End of the Old South and the Battle of Wilmington
The Fall and Burning of Charleston
Sherman Captures Savannah and the End of the War
XI: THE CIVIL WAR AND THE GROWTH OF INTERNATIONALISM
Foreign Volunteers During the War and the Mexican Crisis
The Alabama Affair and the Place of the UK in the Civil War
The Civil War and the Transformation of America
PART IV: THE AGRARIAN REVOLT
XII: THE WAR FOR RECONSTRUCTION
The Beginning of Reconstruction
Passing the Thirteenth Amendment
Sherman's Holy War: The War for Reconstruction
The Southern Reaction
XIII: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE HOUSE OF LABOR
Jefferson vs. Hamilton, Round 2
America's Long History of Labor Radicalism
The Christian Roots of Middle West Populism
Organizing the Labor Unions
The Great Railroad Strike of 1877
The Labor Blues
Nativism and the Fall of Labor
IMAGE INTERLUDE
XIV: EAST OF EDEN
The Expulsion of the Chosen People
The Farming Strikes of 1879
The Cost of the Civil War
XV: THE NEW REPUBLIC
The Idea of American History as Episodic
The Origins of American Progressivism and Urbanism
The Populist Revolt as a Revolt Against the Constitution
The Progressive Historians and Historiography
The Third Mexican War (the Baja War)
XVI: ENFORCING THE NEW REPUBLIC
The Homestead Strike
Industry and Science, I
Industry and Science, II
XVII: TAMING THE WEST
The Indian Wars
IMAGE INTERLUDE
Of Outlaws and Lawmen
The Little House on the Prairie
PART V: THE AGE OF REFORM
XVIII: THE AGE OF BRYAN
A Cross of Gold
Running For President
The Election of 1896
An Administration for the Forgotten Half
The Venezuelan Crisis
The 18th Amendment: Women's Suffrage
Bryan and the Populist Legacy in Tatters
XIX: THE RISE OF THE LION
Theodore Roosevelt and Understanding Progressivism
The Making of a Legend
The Accidental President
The Causes of "Progressivism"
The International President
Domestic Reform and the Election of 1908
IMAGE INTERLUDE
XX: THE END OF CONTINENTALISM
American Foreign Policy in Perspective
Moving Toward World War
The Guns of April
XXI: THE GREAT WAR
The Great War Begins, American Isolationism, and the Election of 1912
False Peace, False Hopes
America Goes to War
"Over There"
Retreat and Return, the German Spring Offensive in 1915
On to Paris, the American Counter Offensive
The Liberation of Paris
The German Revolution and the Armistice
The Peace of Paris and the Election of 1916 (I)
The Peace of Paris and the Election of 1916 (II)
XXII: PEACE IN OUR TIME
The New York Naval Conference
The League of Nations
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