YOU MONSTER!!!!
All good things have to come to an end unfortunately! :glare: Free Soil Party all the way!
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
All good things have to come to an end unfortunately! :glare: Free Soil Party all the way!
Excellent stuff, and fine graphics as always. The final paragraph does suggest ominous tidings for MVB. Plus it probably wont help the abolitionist cause any if fraud is discovered.
Aww poor Martin Van Buren, I've always had a soft spot for the old guy and now it looks like his victory is going to be ripped away by some upstart congressman from Illinois...
I had a plan for a set of updates that included this one, but as often happens in life, "sh** happens." I may have mentioned in a previous update that I work in the court system. A new judge is taking office next week, so as you can imagine, things are pretty hectic at work right now. I've got an outline for the next update, so my next steps are to create the art and write the story, which usually takes a few days for each. I'll commit to having something out by this weekend.
I was hoping to start writing about the civil war this weekend, but that is still at least a couple of weeks away. Stay tuned!!
Vol. V, Chapter 1: The Free Soil Party's Election Fraud
Impeachment of Martin Van Buren and His Cabinet
July 22, 1853
"On this the twenty-first day of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, comes House of Representative Members, George W. Chase, Henry M. Shaw, John Robbins, William Boyce, Peter H. Bell, and George W. Kitteridge, by committee, Senate Members, James M. Mason and James Cooper, by committee, and Special Prosecutor Abraham Lincoln, by resolution, to commence impeachment of President Martin Van Buren and his cabinet, Vice President John P. Hale, Secretary of State George W. Julian, and Attorney General Leander F. Frisby, for presentment of the Articles of Impeachment to the United States House of Representatives on April sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. Those named in this notice are hereby COMMANDED by the authority granted by Article I of Constitution of these United States to appear before the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. for a presentment of said Articles and a vote on this matter. This order shall serve as notice to all named herein."
Pictured: Lincoln presenting the Articles of Impeachment to the House.
Impeachment of Martin Van Buren and His Cabinet
July 22, 1853
"On this the twenty-first day of March, eighteen hundred and fifty-three, comes House of Representative Members, George W. Chase, Henry M. Shaw, John Robbins, William Boyce, Peter H. Bell, and George W. Kitteridge, by committee, Senate Members, James M. Mason and James Cooper, by committee, and Special Prosecutor Abraham Lincoln, by resolution, to commence impeachment of President Martin Van Buren and his cabinet, Vice President John P. Hale, Secretary of State George W. Julian, and Attorney General Leander F. Frisby, for presentment of the Articles of Impeachment to the United States House of Representatives on April sixteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-three. Those named in this notice are hereby COMMANDED by the authority granted by Article I of Constitution of these United States to appear before the House of Representatives in Washington D.C. for a presentment of said Articles and a vote on this matter. This order shall serve as notice to all named herein."
Pictured: Lincoln presenting the Articles of Impeachment to the House.
On March 30, 1853, official impeachment proceedings began against President Martin Van Buren and several of his cabinet members. Special Prosecutor Abraham Lincoln, who led the investigation into crimes of election fraud during the 1852 election, dutifully and unwaveringly presented his findings to the U.S. House, along with special committee members from both the House and Senate. Van Buren and his cabinet members were charged with over 100 counts of voter and election fraud, including (1) concocting schemes to purposely and corruptly register voters who did not exist and those ineligible to vote, (2) carrying out schemes to cast, record, and fraudulently tabulate presidential votes, and (3) bribing voters.
Young Lincoln was an experienced lawyer and an artful and persuasive public speaker. Though he came from humble beginnings, he now carried the fate of the world on his shoulders. Most viewed him as a man of integrity, which Lincoln unabashedly used in his favor. This initial presentment of the Articles of Impeachment to the House was not a full hearing to determine the guilt or innocence of Van Buren and his cabinet. No, this was only a presentment of the conclusions of Lincoln's investigation to the House so that the congressional representatives may vote to proceed the impeachment to a full senatorial hearing. A full week was reserved to debate the Articles of Impeachment, but it only took a single day for Lincoln to persuade House members of the Free Soil Party's (FSP) fraud. Not only was the evidence overwhelming, but the FSP had attempted to boggle a system already controlled by two parties. That day, on April 16, the House reached a near-unanimous vote to continue the impeachment process and present the Articles to the U.S. Senate.
Many in America protested what they dubbed a deterioration of the democratic principles America was founded on. Some thought the Whigs and the Democrats were punishing Van Buren and his party, either for branching out of the two major party system dominating politics, or for standing ground against slavery. Yet, most Americans did not care what sort of game was being played in Washington - they wished only to have a good harvest and health for their families. Three weeks after the House voted to impeach the President, the matter was presented to the Senate.
Pictured: The U.S. Senate moments before finding Van Buren guilty.
Van Buren's counsel, a man by the name of Stephen McRae, attempted to parry Lincoln's impassioned speech. He painted Van Buren and the FSP as those who would bring America to a level of prosperity only matched by the British. He cited the economic boom in cities along the east coast as proof that Americans legitimately wanted and elected Van Buren. But it was not enough. In a room full of Whigs and Democrats, Mr. McRae realized it would be impossible to sway this audience.
The trial itself dragged on for weeks, uncovering scandal after scandal. Not only did it appear Van Buren and other FSP members were behind the allegations laid out in the Articles of Impeachment, but several wealthy capitalists, known Whigs and Democrats, were said to have financed this fraudulent scheme. One man, Bernard Penchant, editor of the premiere FSP newspaper, explained the most shocking and revealing details on the matter: the FSP had paid off a number of officials tasked with either carrying the ballot boxes to state capitols or officials tasked with tallying the votes themselves. It was learned that in two states, two such officials had disappeared, and in one, another was found murdered. Van Buren and his counsel were unable to put up a fight. All they could offer was evidence of his good character and a lackluster argument that he knew nothing of these schemes.
On May 26th, after both sides had closed their cases, the Senate reached a decision. Van Buren and his cabinet were found guilty of ninety-two counts of election fraud, and thirteen counts of voter fraud. Van Buren was automatically removed from office upon this decision, and arrested to be tried as a criminal, though in his frail state, he would die in jail before that trial ever took place. Linn Boyd, a congressman from Kentucky and Speaker of the House, succeeded the presidency, but agreed to hold a special election for the American people to choose a new president since they were robbed of that right a year before. With the head of the FSP cut off and several financiers of the Democrat and Whig parties implicated in Van Buren's election fraud, the election of 1853 would be an interesting one indeed...
Last edited:
Great! The one time the Free Soil Party wins an election they get thrown out!
Ah well, I do suppose this will spell the demise of the party, but its interesting since Lincoln is slotted as the next President, and he was a Whig before being a Republican. And since its 1853 (1 year before the historic GOP forms), will the Whigs be sticking around any longer?
Ah well, I do suppose this will spell the demise of the party, but its interesting since Lincoln is slotted as the next President, and he was a Whig before being a Republican. And since its 1853 (1 year before the historic GOP forms), will the Whigs be sticking around any longer?
I thought up this story when I got the idea from an "election fraud" event to combat the fact that more than half the southern states voted for the FSP in-game - something that makes no sense at all given the context of politics during the time and in the AAR. I also edited the game files to have the Republican Party unlock in 1854, but did not edit the file regarding the FSP and Whigs. I assume people will vote Republican, but I don't know what I'm going to do if people vote in the Whigs or the FSP again.
I'm sure there are some constitutional issues regarding holding a new election, but it wouldn't be the first time the constitution isn't followed to suit the desires of the two-party monopoly xD
Last edited:
It's their own fault. They should've nominated Ross Perot instead. :ninja:
rorlegion said:
One of the reasons in my Vicky 1 AAR and now in Presidents Redux I take "discretion" in deciding who wins which states (taking a more historical approach to historic voting trends with certain revisions like totaling being accepting of a Socialist Party winning in the Mountain West since that region of the USA from 1880s-1910s was the most radical political region of the nation - even the Christian clergy in states like Colorado and Utah were promoting socialism and communism!
). Since liberalism is the prevailing ideology of the nineteenth century, over time, without even having to promote liberal loyalty, I notice the South slowly become more and more Republican till they all begin voting GOP. As you mentioned, that doesn't seem right. Well, if the FSP or Whigs still do well, you might as well just keep them going. It may make for a strong and interesting dynamic in the game, although I think the Whigs and Republicans (due to their historical pietism and economic nationalism are somewhat redundant to one another. But I could see the FSP remaining (perhaps with a name change) and be the more radical of the liberal parties with regards to social policy since both the Whigs and Republicans, despite their abolitionist wings, also had factions that either supported slavery - the "Cotton Whigs" or were willing to compromise with slavery to keep the Union together - the GOP).
Cheers!
Nathan Madien said:
"Just like at my pretty graphs!"
Vol. V, Chapter 2: The 1853-4 Election
Rise of the Republican Party
March 8, 1854
Rise of the Republican Party
March 8, 1854
After the debacle in 1853, the American people largely lost faith in the Whigs as the premiere liberal party. This fact coupled with the dissolution of the Free Soil Party opened political opportunity, proving the maxim that power cannot exist in a vacuum - something will always come along and fill the void. Most Whig party members and former FSP members formed one of two parties, who would garner most of the vote in 1854: the Republican Party and the American ("Populist") Party. The Whig party, however, was not yet dead. James F. Cooper, one of the Senators who initially called for an investigation into the election fraud scandal of 1853, ran on a platform the Whigs always had: liberal economic and war policies, but not taking a position either way on the slavery issue. The Democrats, on the other hand, finally made a stand and supported the institution of slavery, obviously making it the definitive pick for the southern states. This was likely due to the two newcomer parties campaigning to abolish slavery - something only the Free Soilers had campaigned on in the past. Truly, there was little difference between the American and Republican parties. The Republicans were expected to win the executive office only due to Lincoln's popularity.
On March 4, 1854, Lincoln was inaugurated as the 11th President of the United States in front of a new Capitol building still under construction.
Those who nominated and elected me did so with full knowledge that I had made this and many similar declarations and had never recanted them. In regards to the National Fugitive Slave laws, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced so that a free man be not in any case surrendered as a slave? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that "the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States"? I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Congress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed than to violate any of them trusting to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional.
One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute. Physically speaking, we can not separate. We can not remove our respective sections from each other nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our country can not do this. This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I can not be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the National Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it.
To our southern brethren, I say we are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Current Party: Republican (Liberal) with a strong liberal coalition in the House and Senate.
Estimated Population: 28.24m, ~7.06m males of working age
Average Literacy: 44.5%
Standing Army: 261,000 Troops
Navy: 83 Warships, 12 Transports
Current Diplomatic Missions:
Chile [Sphered]
Ecuador [Sphered]
Venezuela [Sphered]
Liberia [Sphered] [Tensions]
Paraguay [Sphered]
Uruguay [Sphered]
Colombia [Ongoing]
USCA [Allied]
France [Allied]
Budget for 1846:
Domestic Plans and Policy:
Encourage comprehensive education programs. [Ongoing]
Discourage slavery. [Ongoing]
Encourage immigration to U.S. territories. [Ongoing]
Encourage railroad development from East Coast to West Coast. [Ongoing]
Foreign Policy:
Avoid entangling European alliances. [Failed]
Increase relations with UK and Russia. [Ongoing]
Assert the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas. [Ongoing]
Encourage foreign investment of rail and industry. [Ongoing]
Edit: The chart should read "Top Economic Powers in 1854."
Last edited:
Things are going to snap soon... On the outside America appears fine, but there's no way the south is going to sit idly by, the same with Northern abolitionists, all that's left is a spark.
What a way to be swept into power for Lincoln and the Republicans. On that picture however, there's another one reversed, with the bear riding Abe as he shoots lasers from his eyes!
Florida and Michigan are not states? Neither any of the western territories handed over from Mexico, or are you going strictly by the game mechanics of which "territories" have been granted statehood?
Florida and Michigan are not states? Neither any of the western territories handed over from Mexico, or are you going strictly by the game mechanics of which "territories" have been granted statehood?