The Twelfth HoS Challenge

[Walpurgisnacht]

New Year, new challenges!

The rules are simple; I give a prompt, and you have until 3:00pm on the 26th to post a list related to the prompt. As for what constitutes a list? If you'd personally post it in Lists of Heads of Government and Heads of State rather than another thread, I think that's a good enough criterion. Writeups are preferred, please don't post a blank list, and I'd also appreciate it if you titled your list for polling purposes. Once the deadline hits, we will open up a multiple choice poll, and whoever receives the most votes after a week gets the entirely immaterial prize.

As my opening statement suggested, we're in a new year now, an exciting* time of new possibilities* and hope for the future*. As such, the theme for this month's challenge is The New World. If that means the very literal new worlds of America, Australia, space, or an ISOT, or the very metaphorical new worlds of ideology and poetry, or a mixture of the two, is up to you to decide.

Good luck!

 

[Lilitou]

My Fellow Americans

The Career of Al Fawcett

1991-1994: Solicitor at Dewey & LeBoeuf
1994-1999: Partner at Dewey & LeBoeuf
1996: Democratic Candidate for the New York State Senate's 24th District
defeated by John J. Marchi (Republican)
1997: Candidate in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary
defeated by Ruth Messinger (Democratic)
1999-2009: Democratic Member of the House of Representatives for New York's 9th District
1998 def: Louis Telano (Republican), Melinda Katz (Liberal), Arthur J. Smith (Conservative)
2000 def: Noach Dear (Republican)
2002 def: Alfred F. Donohue (Republican)
2004 def: Gerard J. Cronin (Republican)
2006 def: Alfred F. Donohue (Republican), Patricia Eddington (Working Families)
2008 def: Bob Turner (Republican), Patricia Eddington (Working Families), Alfred F. Donohue (Conservative)
2003-2005: Co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition
2009-2021: Democratic Senator from New York
2010 (special) def: Joe DioGuardi (Republican/Conservative), Letitia James (Working Families), Cecile A. Lawrence (Green), John Clifton (Libertarian)
2012 def: Wendy Long (Republican/Conservative), Kirsten Gillibrand (Working Families), Colia Clark (Green), Chris Edes (Libertarian)
2018 def: Chele Chiavacci Farley (Republican/Conservative/Reform), Kirsten Gillibrand (Working Families/Green/Women's Equality)
2021-present: 71st Secretary of State of the United States

"Fawcett? That insufferably affable liberal prima donna?" - Prime Minister Michael Gove​

The heir to intelligentsia, and the great grandson of a Turkish reformer, many say that Alexander "Al" Boris Fawcett was destined to embrace liberalism. An American by circumstance, not birthright; raised by an immigrated single mother, under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty herself; born in the capital of the Free World. Fawcett certainly ticks all the boxes of a bona fide liberal Democrat.

Things could have, perhaps, been different; his birth father, British politician and author Stanley Johnson, was after all a member of the Conservative Party. If his parents had not seperated soon after his birth, Fawcett may instead have been a cabinet minister in the Gove government. Instead, he relinquished his father's legacy by taking his mother's maiden name. As a bright, though work-shy, student at a New York private school, it was only natural that he should go on to study law at the prestigious Harvard University, graduating with a BA and then earning Juris Doctor in 1990. He was swiftly admitted to the bar in 1991, and was employed as a solicitor at New York law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf, speciailising in corporate law. He later made partner, in 1994, and alongside practicing law found the time to begin his prolific writing career, publishing On Law (1998). His later works - My Fellow Americans (2002), Ode to the Anglosphere (2004), Founding Fathers (2006), The Roosevelt Miracle (2014) - became best-sellers.

It was in 1996 that Fawcett launched his political career, securing the Democratic nomination for the 24th district of the New York State Senate ahead of the 1996 state elections. Fawcett's campaign against Marchi was well-fought, but ultimately unsuccessful, and despite a noticeable swing toward Fawcett, Staten Island did not elect a Democrat. Springboarding off this, however, Fawcett went on to contest the 1997 Democratic primary for the New York City mayorality, which was coming up for election in 1998; in the end, he lost the nomination to Messinger, in a close third. His campaign did succeed in putting him on the political map, however, and in 1998 he managed to get himself selected as the Democratic candidate for New York's 9th congressional district, to replace the outgoing-member Chuck Schumer. He was elected - it was a fairly safe seat for the Democrats - and made some local headlines for his meteoric rise to national politics.

In the House of Representatives, Fawcett aligned himself with the Blue Dog Coalition, eventually rising to chair that caucus from 2003 to 2005, and made a name for himself as a relatively conservative Democrat. In 2006, however, he also joined the New Democrat Coalition, and moved to a more centrist, liberal conservative and libertarian position. He became known for his varied policy positions. In 2010, he called on President Obama to go further with Obamacare and became known as an advocate for Medicare for All, and then in 2015 he celebrated the outcome of Obergefell v. Hodges that enshrined same-sex marriage in all 50 states. Conversely, however, he has maintained a high rating with the National Rifle Association for his continued opposition to gun control, has opposed calls to raise the minimum wage, and has been skeptical of many Democratic positions on immigration. When Hillary Clinton was made Secretary of State in 2009, Governor Paterson chose Fawcett to succeed her as New York Senator. He resigned his seat in the House of Representatives, won a special election in 2010 to confirm his new position as Senator, and was reelected twice.

Fawcett was seen as a moderate Senator during the Obama period, but was broadly supportive of the presidency and its agenda. He supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, but when Donald Trump was sworn in as president he was seen as friendly to the president and his parts of his agenda. Fawcett was noted to have formed a small bloc with fellow moderate Senator Joe Manchin which offerred the president conditional support in the Senate. He supported Trump's repeal of NAFTA, his reform of United States immigration law, and confirmed the majority of his presidential appointments. By the midterms, however, Fawcett distanced himself from both Manchin and Trump, opposing the presidential administration on the grounds that its behaviour had become unconstitutional. His criticism reached a fever pitch in early 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, with Fawcett publically shaming the president's handling of the crisis and pushing for a stronger federal response.

In the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, Fawcett was initially tipped to be pursuing his own candidacy, but his campaign never seemed to materialise, and he instead came out in support of the candidacy of Joe Biden, believing that he was the only "credible candidate" to beat Bernie Sanders. After Biden's election, Fawcett was one of many congressional figures caught up in the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. Following this, he was appointed as Secretary of State by Biden. As Secretary of State, Fawcett has been seen as overseeing a new era in American foreign policy; organising the withdrawal from Afghanistan, America's rejoining of the Paris Agreement, and a "renewal" of the Special Relationship with Britain.

 

[Time Enough]

Two By Two: The Beginnings of a New World

Heads of the United Kingdom:
1837-1862: Queen Victoria (Hanover)†
1862-1901: Edward VII (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)†
1901-1912: Albert I (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
1912: Albert I abdicates the throne and flees to Switzerland, throne splits between his sons Alexander and Edward who establish there Empires in different places.

Heads of the Commonwealth of Christ:
1912-: William Irvine (‘The Way’)
1913 def: Edwin Scrymgeour (People’s)

Heads of the British Union of Syndicates:
1912-: Tom Mann (United Syndicalists)
1913 def: S. M. Holden (National Labour)

~~~

Prime Ministers of Great Britian and Northern Ireland:
1868-1876:Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative)
1868 (Majority) def: William Gladstone (Liberal)
1872 (Majority) def: William Galdstone (Liberal), Isaac Butt (Home Rule)
1876-1881:Spencer Cavendish (Liberal)
1876 (Majority) def: Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative), Isaac Butt (Home Rule)
1881-1885: John Gorst (Conservative)
1881 (Majority) def: Spencer Cavendish (Liberal), Charles Stewart Parnell (Home Rule)
1885-1894: Randolph Churchill (Conservative)
1885 (Majority) def: Spencer Cavendish (Liberal), Charles Stewart Parnell† (Home Rule)
1889 (Majority) def: Hugh Childers (Liberal), John Redmond (Home Rule)
1894-1900: Henry Chaplin (Liberal)
1894 (Majority) def: Randolph Churchill (Conservative)
1899 (Majority) def: Arthur Balfour (Conservative), William Irvine (Crofters)
1900-1908: Archibald Primrose (Liberal)
1904 (Majority) def: Arthur Balfour (Conservative), William Irvine (CommonWealth), Keir Hardie (Socialist Labour)
1908-1909: Herbert Gladstone (Liberal)†

War of the Three Emperors: (1870-1872) The Entente; British Empire | Empire of France | Austria-Hungry versus The Concord; The German Confederation | The Russian Empire | Kingdom of Italy

1872 Entente Victory, Treaty of Constantinople, creation of the Independent State of Bavaria, Russian and Italian Concessions, lead up to German and Russian Reformations of the 1890s.


War of the Five Empires: 1905-1909; The Entente; British Empire | Empire of France | Austria-Hungry | Empire of Japan | Kingdom of Bulgaria versus The Grand Alliance; The Federation of German | Russian Empire | Empire of China | Kingdom of Greece | Kingdom of Italy

Grand Alliance Victory, Treaty of Geneva, British Revolution and the Creation of Third Republic, formation of the New Europa System.

1909-1912: Herbert Kitchener leading ‘Crisis Government’ vs 1910-1912: William Irvine leading ‘The Commonwealth of Christ’ vs 1910-1912: Tom Mann leading ‘The British Union of Syndicates’
1912: Commonwealth of Christ Truce with British Union of Syndicates over the Treaty of Nottingham, Combined Commonwealth-Syndicalists forces destroy Kitchener Government

“We’re Marching Towards a New World, Created In God’s Glorious Image!”
-The Way Motto during the Crisis Years

“A discussion about the foundation of the Commonwealth of Christ often misses out how William Irvine built up his cult of followers to which he created an army. William Irvine had founded his religion (described under many different names given that it doesn’t have one, we’ll be using The Way for convince sakes) around 1897, on the principles that the main churches had become apostate and that they no longer kept true to the original virtues of preaching; that of two men wandering the land with just there clothes and a belief in the lord.

Rapidly The Way become remarkable popular with many Young Labourers and Craftsmen who grafted themselves to this religious revival and would become the major tenants of the religion. In the long years brought about by the Economic recession brought about by Randolph’s Policies during his tenure and Henry Chaplin’s quixotic attempt to bring about Protectionist Bimetalism to the Liberal cause, many of the movements like The Crofters gravitated towards this religious cause who abused there sudden success by infiltrating much of Ulster-Scottish society.

The converts within the Crofters Movement saw a way to spread Irvine’s message further than expected. Touring across Scotland, Ireland and the North, the Crofter’s movement became the voice of the Protestants and Workers who thought that the Edwardian period was leading to a decline. Edward’s death and the raise of the Independent Labour Party did briefly pause the raise of The Way, who had pretty much infiltrated and controlled the The Crofters Movement.

William Irvine’s movement did find more popularity by the beginning of the War of Five Empires, the drastic dive in living standards and the incompetence of the Primrose Premiership was obvious to many. Irvine’s barnstorming rabble rousing and apocalyptic rants about the failure of the King and Primrose would eventually get him arrested in 1907, which would only make his ideals more extreme and his follower more militant.

The final piece to the Revolution occurring was the 1909 General Strike and Irvine’s escape. Whilst the formulators of the strike were Radical Syndicalists in Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham, Irvine’s break out from Prison and his support for the strike caused an alliance of Christian Crofters and Workers to march in Glasgow, signalling the first clash of the British Crisis and the beginning of the New World of the Way being born...”

 

[Time Enough]

The list above was inspired by comments @Turquoise Blue said about if Prince Edward was on the throne during the Franco-Prussian war, finding out more about the odd Two By Two religion that my fiancé’s Dad’s family are members of and remembering the Crofters movement.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Red Sun, Black Earth
​

De facto leaders of Adelsverien Settlements:
1842-1845: Carl von Solms-Braunfels (Mainz Adelsverein)
subordinate to, 1842-1845: Sam Houston (President of Texas; "Houstonite")
1845-1847: John O. Meusebach (Braunfels Adelsverein)
subordinate to, 1845-1846: Sam Houston (President of Texas; "Houstonite")
subordinate to, 1846-1847: Mirabeau Lamar (President of Texas; "Independence")
1847-1851: Friedrich Strubberg (Fredericksburger Adelsverein)
subordinate to, 1847-1849: Mirabeau Lamar (President of Texas; "Independence", then "Emergency")
subordinate to, 1849-1851: David Burnet (President of Texas; "Emergency")
1851-1860: John O. Meusebach (Braunfels Adelsverein)
subordinate to, 1851-1860: Buffalo Hump (Grand Warchief of Comancheria)
1860-1868: Gustav Schleicher (Braunfels Adelsverein)
subordinate to, 1860-1861: Buffalo Hump (Grand Warchief of Comancheria)
subordinate to, 1861-1863: Yellow Wolf (Grand Warchief of Comancheria)
subordinate to, 1863-1865: Peta Nocona (Grand Warchief of Comancheria)
subordinate to, 1865-1866: Peta Nocona (President of Comancheria)
1866-1868: Jacob Kuechler (New National)
subordinate to, 1866-1868: Peta Nocona (President of Comancheria)
1868-xxxx: Friedrich Oswald (Communist Workingman's Party of Texas)
subordinate to: n/a

The Montagnard of Texas is a 1991 off-Walnut-Street musical by Ralph Kirshbaum and Harry Prince, dramatising the life of Friedrich Oswald, founder of the People's Republic of Texas, from his affluent beginnings in Barmen as an heir to the Ermen and Engels manufacturing concern, to the Treaty of Bettina that established Texan independence from Comancheria. Due to his Adelvereiner heritage, the musical was something of a passion project for Kirshbaum. While poorly received at first, with criticism directed at its historically inaccurate portrayals of Quanah Parker as a grey eminence manipulating his father and Mirabeau Lamar as a cynical opportunist, a later revival in 2003 garnered critical acclaim and was a narrow contender for a Thalia.

Due to its praise for Hegelian Socialism, the musical is officially banned in the following states: the French Empire and associated members of the Pan-Continental System, Carolina, Plymouth, and the Shogunate of Japan. Playbill is not legally liable for any prosecutions that may result from accessing this musical from these countries.

Notable performances:
Magarac Theatre, Philadelphia, Federated Union of America, 1991 (first production)
Old Vat Stage, Washington, Chesapeake, 2003 (critically acclaimed, revived interest in the musical)
Donovan Hall, Manchester, United Kingdom, 2006 (won a Fitzwilliam Award for Best Foreign Musical)
Wintergarten Theatre, Prussia, 2011 (first foreign-language production, using Kirshbaum's notes on a hypothetical Texo-German version)
Tom Paine Playhouse, New Braunfels, Texas, 2018 (performed as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations for the Texan Revolution)

Track Listing:
Act 1:
The Saga of Texas, Part 1--Balladeer, Spanish Chorus, Native Chorus
Beautiful Barmen City--Friedrich Engels Sr., Friedrich Oswald, Barmen Magnates Chorus
Guillotine Cavatina--Friedrich Oswald, Karl Marx, Young Hegelian Chorus
Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis--Bruno Bauer, Georg Hegel, Young Hegelian Chorus
Beautiful Barmen City (reprise)/The Manchester Machine--Friedrich Engels Sr., Barmen Magnates Chorus
Red Dawn!--Friedrich Oswald, Moses Hess
The Manchester Machine (reprise)--Friedrich Oswald, Friedrich Engels Sr., Barmen Magnates Chorus
America--John Meusebach, Friedrich Oswald, Adelsverein Chorus

Act 2:
The Saga of Texas, Part 2--Balladeer, Spanish Chorus, Native Chorus, Yankee Chorus
Fresh Off The Boat--John Meusebach, Friedrich Oswald, Adelsverein Chorus, Yankee Chorus
His Most Exalted Highness--Carl von Solms-Braunfels, Adelsverein Chorus
The Great Debate/Divided Houses--Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, Yankee Chorus
The Montagnard of Texas--Friedrich Oswald, Adolph Douai, Adelsverein Chorus
War Drums--Buffalo Hump, Yellow Wolf, Katemcy, Native Chorus
Pax Vobiscum/Red Sun Rising--John Meusebach, Katemcy, Adelsverein Chorus, Native Chorus
Guillotine Cavatina (reprise)--Friedrich Oswald, Carl von Solms-Braunfels, John Meusebach, Friedrich Strubberg, Adelsverein Chorus

Act 3:
The Saga of Texas, Part 3--Balladeer, Yankee Chorus, Native Chorus, Adeslverein Chorus
War Drums (reprise)--Buffalo Hump, Peta Nocona, Mirabeau Lamar, Native Chorus
Fredricksburg Forever--Friedrich Stubberg, Adolph Douai, John Meusebach, Friedrich Oswald
A Second Alamo/Our Land--Mirabeau Lamar, Yankee Chorus, Buffalo Hump, Native Chorus
Red Sun Rising (reprise)--Friedrich Stubberg, John Meusebach, Friedrich Oswald, Katemcy, Adelsverein Chorus
America (reprise)--John Meusebach, Gustav Schleicher, Friedrich Oswald, Jacob Kuechler, Adelsverein Chorus, Yankee Chorus
Burial March of the Conqueror--Buffalo Hump, Yellow Wolf, Peta Nocona, Native Chorus
Coyote Survives--Peta Nocona, Yellow Wolf, Native Chorus

Act 4:
The Saga of Texas, Part 4--Balladeer, Native Chorus, Adelsverein Chorus
The Old New Braunfels--Jacob Kuechler, Friedrich Oswald, Adolph Douai, Adelsverein Chorus
Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis (reprise)--Friedrich Oswald, Georg Hegel, Moses Hess, Spanish Chorus, Yankee Chorus, Young Hegelian Chorus
Raising The Banner--Friedrich Oswald, Adolph Douai, Jacob Kuechler, Adelsverein Chorus
Coyote Survives (reprise)--Quanah Parker, Peta Nocota
The Montagnard of Texas (reprise)--Friedrich Oswald, Adolph Douai, Yankee Chorus, Adelsverein Chorus
Pax Vobiscum (reprise)/Dotting the Line--Qannah Parker, Friedrich Oswald, Native Chorus, Yankee Chorus, Adelsverein Chorus
To Begin The World Anew--Balladeer, Friedrich Oswald, Bruno Bauer, Moses Hess, John Meusebach, Mirabeau Lamar, Buffalo Hump, Peta Nocona, Adolph Douai, Karl Marx, Native Chorus, Spanish Chorus, Yankee Chorus, Barmen Magnates Chorus, Young Hegelian Chorus, Adelsverein Chorus

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Six days left to get your entry in!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Four more days left!

 

[Charles EP M.]

The Golden Age Of The Ministry of Space


Ministers of Space

Philip Noel-Barker (1946-50)
James Callaghan (1950-1953)
Arthur Champion (1953-54)
John Boyd-Carpenter (1954-57)
Harold Macmillan (1957-59)
John Profumo (1959-61)
Michael Noble (1961)

Secretaries of State for Space

Harold Wilson (1961-66)
Jeremy Thorpe (1966-69)
Emlyn Hooson (1969-70)
Tony Benn (1970-74)

The Ministry of Space was tasked to find a "new adventure" for a post-war Britain that, starting with the Megaroc programme from 1946 and experimental satellite launches. While Britain briefly led the world in rocket tech, it was clear the Megaroc was running behind schedule and not making its goals. The young Callaghan, then parliamentary secretary for Noel-Barker, was promoted in 1950 to get it done in time for the Festival of Britain. He achieved it: the first man in space was a Battle of Britain veteran.

While Callaghan had plans and launched the second Megaroc, Coronation, to mark the Queen's coronation, by now the budget wasn't there. (He would depart the role to avoid being pinned down to its delays. The incoming Butler government decided to kickstart it by reaching out to the 'European community' and the Canadians (Australia already a junior partner as a launch site) to get involved in joint space missions. A secondary site was built in French Guyana and the Royal Rocketry Group became part of a new International Rocketry and Space Alliance (IRSA) - the controlling part, at first. Thanks to espionage, the Soviet Union was quickly catching up and an irritated Eisenhower was throwing many at the new NASA group to get America into the game.

The prominence of the Ministry of Space in British life and imaginations meant that the Profumo Affair toppled the government and led to a damaging purge of both the RRG and IRSA. Callaghan, barnstorming as the 'British Kennedy' on part due to his MoS experience, threw his defeated leadership rival Wilson a bone and made him a Secretary of State for Space, to bring the "white heat" to it. And Wilson did. Britain stayed at the forefront, the MoS became a Wilson power block, and Labour became divided between the Jimmies and the Harry's - a conflict arguably responsible for helping the Tory/Liberal coalition in, and the Thorpe Affair cratered yet another government even as Thorpe oversaw the famous moonshot.

Unfortunately, from Wilson's premiership on, the global economy damaged the amount of cash IRSA had available. NASA was in the same boat and the USSR was slowing down as well. Wanting Labour to get a man on the moon, Benn approached his foreign rivals and proposed a UN-backed international moon mission. The Nixon White House turned him down, so a Soviet-IRSA mission would put the first people on the moon (the cosmonaut and astronaut selected took their steps at the same time). NASA would duly follow with their own solo mission.

This was the last hurrah before decades of stagnation and falling budgets, until Kennedy's New Lib government took power in '97 and started the Silver Age.

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Just two days left!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

As the kids say, it's the "DAWN OF THE FINAL DAY".

 

[Yossarian]

The Ecstasy of Gold

Governors of the Free State of Alta California

1836 - 1838[/ 37 (disputed)]: Juan Bautista Alvarado
1836: Californio Revolt; Declaration of Independence of Alta California
1837 - 1842 (de jure): Carlos Antonio Carrillo
1837: Mexico City dismisses Alvarado, appoints Carrillo
1837 - 1838 (de facto): Juan Bautista Alvarado †
1838: Battle of San Buenaventura, death of Governor Alvarado
1838 - 1839 [/40 (disputed)]: Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
1839 presidential election: Mariano Vallejo (nonpartisan, "Independentist"; 75.3%) def. Carlos Antonio Carrillo (nonpartisan, "Anti-Independentist" or "Centralist"; 22.6%), John B. R. Cooper (nonpartisan, "Americanist" or "Annexationist"; 2.1%)
1839 - 1840: "Pastry War" between Mexico and France; de facto recognition of Californio independence by Mexico as hostilities cease

Presidents of the Free State of Upper California

1840 - 1842: Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (Independentist)
1842 - 1845: Pío de Jesús Pico (Independentist - Anglophile faction)
1842 def. José Antonio Carrillo (Centralist), Santiago Argüello (Independentist - Americophile faction)
1845 - 1848: José Antonio Castro (Anglophile)
1845 def. Juan Bandini (Americophile), José Loreto Sepúlveda (Partido Californio)
1847: Mormon Expedition
1848: Utah Conflict: dispute over settlements in the Valle del Timpanogos leads to undeclared state of insurrection against Californian government
1848: California Gold Rush begins
1848 - 1851: Pío de Jesús Pico (Independentist)
1848 def. José de los Santos Berreyesa (Americophile), Manuel Domínguez (Californio), Louis Rubidoux (Annexationist)
1849: Utah Dispute; Deseret territorial government begins petitioning United States Congress for admission as Territory
1851: Utah Bill enters U.S. Congress with support of Acting-President Buchanan; Northern Whig and Free Soil parties currently blocking passage in the House
1851 election, declared candidates: Ygnacio Palomares (Independentist), John Bisler (Annexationist), José de los Santos Berreyesa (Californio), Agustín Haraszthy (nonpartisan)

The 'independence' of Upper California started as a kind of political stunt taken too far. When Alvarado's faction in Monterey declared independence, it was a gesture intended to demonstrate the state's opposition to the centralising influence of the Seven Laws, and gain leverage against the government in Mexico City that could be used to negotiate a governing arrangement more favourable to Californio interests.

Then Santa Anna's loyalists in Los Angeles started a small-scale civil war, Governor Alvarado got shot at San Buenaventura, and Californio sentiment began turning from aloof to sour.


Vallejo, who had long agitated for Upper Californian autonomy and served as Comandante General of Alvarado's Free State, was the natural successor to the martyred Governor, and being the richest man in the young country didn't hurt.

Under his leadership, the strange twilight regime of Upper California would continue in quasi-independence, staging its own presidential election (largely boycotted by the Centralists loyal to Mexico City) and acting increasingly like a real nation. Similarly to Texas on the other side of the continent, the state was theoretically vast and land barons wasted no time in carving the blank white spaces on the map into ranchos, but the European population was outnumbered more than ten-to-one by the natives and remained clustered on the coast.

Also similarly to Texas, there was a decision to be made between seeking British protection and capital, or lobbying for closer ties to the United States. Unlike Texas, California was geographically and ethnically (by the reckoning of the 1840s) distinct from the U.S., and the proximity of British North America (and the colossal ambivalence of the Clay Administration) saw the Anglophiles win the day. Even when the Centralists, with their powerbase among the Mexicophile elite of Los Angeles, made an appeal to nationalism by rebranding themselves as 'Californios', they were unable to meaningfully dent the dominance of the Anglo faction. Castro won handily in 1845, and Pico was easily reelected three years later. The Moronites in the disputed territories of the east were a nuisance, yes, but a distant one. In its splendid isolation west of everywhere, the youngest part of the New World thrived.

Then someone found gold in the foothills, and the immigrants began coming. The four or five thousand arrivals in the second half of 1848 came as a massive shock to the system of the small republic - that modest number alone was half the local Californio population - but they were only a portent of what was to come in the next two years.

The forty-niners, undeterred by the theoretical, disputed and ill-guarded frontiers of California, came in by boatload and wagonful, some ninety thousands in twelve months. Unlike the first wave, who were mostly Hispanos from elsewhere in Spanish America, the succeeding waves of immigrants were mostly Anglos from the U.S., lured eastwards by promises of gold and egged on first by Clay (who was only too happy to see the frustrated Young Americans leave the voting parts of the country in the runup to an election) and then Polk (who in his short term proved only too happy to establish facts on the ground in the same manner as had been achieved in Texas). This was followed by a further hundred thousand in 1850, and there is no sign of a tapering off anytime soon.

The Californio ruling class, who had come to fancy themselves a vaquero gentry lording it over a noble frontier republic, now represent a voting population that in three years has found itself outnumbered twenty-to-one by immigrants, many of whom have no intention of leaving after they got their gold. The economic and social structures of California are being upended as the Americans bring their own languages and commercial relationships and even, in Yerba Buena and Sutterville, branches of the Bank of the United States.

This presents a problem. Technically, most of the newcomers are ineligible to vote in this year’s elections, but if the fringe Annexationist movement can count on even the tepid support of even a tenth of the migrant population, California will almost certainly vote to join the U.S., which has already digested Texas, is considering petitions from Deseret, and is eyeing the lawless borderland of New Mexico.

The would-be Canute trying to turn the American tide is Ygnacio Palomares, an independentist landowner tied to the powerful Los Angeles cliqueappeal to old-line Centralists and Anglophiles alike.

What Palomares doesn't have is John Frémont’s cavalry waiting in the wings, nor the backing of John Marsh, an American immigrant who is now one of the largest landowners in the country and could probably mobilise a distressingly large number of those Yankee miners if the vote doesn’t go the way he wants it to.

And regardless of what happens in California, there is a non-zero chance that the U.S. will find a way to surprise everyone. While Clay and Polk are both dead, sectoral tensions live on. If Acting-President Buchanan can’t overcome the resistance of the Free Soilers and Whigs who are trying to string him out until next year’s election, North and South may find themselves further divided over what to do with California - and wherever that path leads, it’s probably nowhere good…

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Entries are now closed! The poll should be up now. Vote early, vote often!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

Last full day of voting coming up!

 

[Walpurgisnacht]

With the poll now closed, @Walpurgisnacht has won with his list Red Sun, Black Earth! Congratulations to the winners, and consolations to the losers!

The next thread will be up tomorrow.