The American Monarchy

[Robespierre's Jaw]

The wait is killing me...

I know how you feel buddy. Lief bring on the next update!

[Lief 🗽]

Tomorrow, probably. I spent the entirety of today getting my December 1st college apps in.

[Colin]

Tomorrow, probably. I spent the entirety of today getting my December 1st college apps in.

Oh where did you apply?

[Lief 🗽]

The American Monarchy: 1902 - 1906

The Social Democratic Party held its convention first, in El Paso, Hamilton¹. There was no question that Eugene V. Debs would be re-nominated: he was the SDP. Debs committed his party to compete across the country, seriously contesting in the West and South, as well as the Northeast and Midwest. Thomas E. Watson was easily re-nominated at the Populist convention in Atlanta. While Watson attempted to stop them, many of the delegates gave virulent speeches against American internationalism. They decried the conquests of Hawaii, the invasion of China, and the meddling in Spanish affairs. The press (usually fairly biased towards the Liberal Party already) defined the Populists as a group of mad isolationists following the convention’s conclusion. Finally, Mark Hanna had organized a parade through the streets of St. Louis bringing him to the convention hall. He was re-nominated unanimously and promised a continuation of his government’s policies. The election that November was the first in which voters elected both a Senator and a Royal Councilor on the same day, and the Liberal party saw solid gains in both chambers.

The Senate after the Election of 1902:
Liberal Party: 233 Seats (+48)
Populist Party: 96 Seats (-14)
Social Democratic Party: 73 Seats (+4)
Prohibition Party: 0 Seats (-1)
Total 402 Seats



The Royal Council after the Election of 1902:
Liberal Party: 27 Seats (+3)
Populist Party: 13 Seats (-2)
Social Democratic Party: 4 Seats (+0)
Independent: 0 Seats (-1)
Total: 44 Seats



Prime Minister: Mark Hanna (L-OH)
Deputy Prime Minister: William McKinley (L-OH)
Majority Whip: James R. Garfield (L-OH)
Secretary of State: William McKinley (L-OH)
Secretary of the Treasury: Elihu Root (L-NY)
Secretary of War: Theodore Roosevelt (L-NY)
Attorney General: Joseph McKenna (L-CA)

Mark Hanna overhauled nearly his entire cabinet, as many cabinet members had died or resigned. He made the immensely popular William McKinley Secretary of State and Deputy Prime Minister, and promoted New York Senator Theodore Roosevelt from Whip to Secretary of War. Prime Minister Hanna now enjoyed a solid majority, enough to govern on both foreign/military issues and the domestic issues he was chiefly concerned with. In 1903, his government easily passed the Gold Standard Act of 1902, establishing gold as the only standard for redeeming money and completely outlawing bimetallism.  Later in the year, the Prime Minister pushed for a third time for a constitutional amendment granting women suffrage. Finally, the 19th amendment passed by a vote of 321 to 73, and was sent to the states. It was ratified by ¾ of the states by 1905. The year 1905 also saw the admission of 3 new states: Arizona, Oklahoma and Lincoln (the re-named territory of Lower California). The Populists and SDP had pushed for Arizona and Lower California to each be divided into two states, but the Liberals controlling the Royal Council ensured that two more SDP-Populist swing states would not be added to the Union.

In 1904, the political situation in Cuba again broke down. Political gridlock and a domineering Spanish presence had rendered the Cuban government useless, and it was disbanded in late 1903. By 1904 the island was once again embroiled in war. Prime Minister Hanna contacted the Spanish government in Madrid in May and demanded full independence for Cuba, as it had become apparent to his government that Spanish and Cuban cohabitation was not possible. King Alfonso XIII refused, and the Prime Minister asked King Robert II to order the Atlantic fleet to Cuba. The Pacific fleet, under Admiral Dewey, was also put on alert. King Robert II personally contacted Alfonso XIII in early June, threatening that if Cuba wasn’t granted full independence, the United States would go to war. In the Senate, Prime Minister Hanna pushed through the War Readiness Act, calling for a large increase in army troops and putting 64-year-old George Custer in command of the Army. When Alfonso again refused to grant Cuba full independence, the Royal Council, by a vote of 30 to 12, declared war on Spain.

The war did not last long, as the Spanish were wholly unprepared. Secretary of War Theodore Roosevelt²  had continued to build the navy, believing that a strong navy was essential to the United States’ continued presence on the world stage. The Spanish navy, on the other hand, was obsolete and ancient, and the Spanish fleet in the Caribbean was quickly routed. American troops landed in Cuba and Puerto Rico, easily defeating the Spanish garrisons. General Custer met with Cuban leaders and took Havana in August, 1904. In the Pacific, Admiral Dewey silently and easily annexed the Philippines. By the fall, the Spanish had been defeated, and Alfonso XIII sued for peace. In the Treaty of Paris, Spain relinquished control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines. The treaty was ratified in the Senate, but an amendment guaranteeing Cuba its independence was defeated. Hanna and the liberal government pushed for the annexation of the island, and the Platt Act, supported by the government in 1905, made Cuba a royal dependency. Looking to Deseret as an example (which functioned with much greater autonomy than the other states), most Cuban leaders were satisfied, especially as the Platt Act also called for millions of dollars in investments in Cuban infrastructure.

Prime Minister Hanna contemplated calling elections, as he and his Liberal Party had become incredibly popular and the economy was booming. Throughout 1905, he was able to repeal many of the regulations passed by Watson’s government, and Attorney General Joseph McKenna was instructed to use the Coxey Competition Act to break up some of the larger unions, as the act technically covered unions. The SDP and Populists called foul, but the Supreme Court upheld Hanna’s reading of the act. In 1905, the German government invited Prime Minister Hanna to send a diplomatic delegation to Berlin. The Kaiser had been impressed by the industrial and military build-up of the United States during Hanna’s administration, and had felt particularly isolated after the Morocco Crisis of 1905. Kaiser Wilhelm II thought that the United States would make a powerful ally and a counter to France’s new ally in Great Britain.

Secretary of State William McKinley and Princes George and Charles³ left for Germany in 1906, where they met with Kaiser Wilhelm II, his wife Augusta Viktoria, and their children. Charles became enamored with Princess Viktoria Luise (who was 2 years younger than him and the Kaiser’s youngest child), but had to devote most of his time, along with his brother, to representing his father and the United States to the German people. The two princes toured much of the country, meeting with German officials and generals. Crown Prince George was particularly impressed with the German General Staff and the heavy militarization of German society in comparison to his own. Meanwhile, Secretary of State McKinley signed a non-aggression pact with Germany and invited German diplomats to come to America for further negotiations. The Princes and McKinley were greeted triumphantly on their return to the United States. Later in 1906, King Robert II, Prime Minister Hanna, German Crown Prince William and Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow signed the German-American Pact of Alliance in Washington. The signing of the pact (and it’s ratification in the Senate) coincided with elections in the Royal Council, where the Liberals and SDP made slight gains.

The Royal Council after the Election of 1906:
Liberal Party: 29 Seats (+2)
Populist Party: 13 Seats (+0)
Social Democratic Party: 6 Seats (+2)
Total: 48 Seats



¹A young Doroteo Arango Arambula would attend the convention. He was born to a Mexican soldier and his wife, who had been stationed in the state of Hamilton during the War of Succession. The young man would later change his name to Francis Villa (after his grandfather) when he entered local politics in Hamilton.
²Senator Roosevelt initially attempted to resign as Secretary of War and join the fight in Cuba, but the Prime Minister and his wife advised him against it. For the rest of his life, Theodore Roosevelt would call his decision to not fight in Cuba his greatest regret.
³Prince Charles Alexander Robert Lee was King Robert II’s second son and fourth child, born in 1890. King Robert II also had two daughters, Princess Paulina and Princess Martha, born in 1885 and 1888.

[Lief 🗽]

Tomorrow, probably. I spent the entirety of today getting my December 1st college apps in.

Oh where did you apply?

University of Texas at Austin yesterday.

Here's a list of Prime Ministers, Opposition Leaders, and Kings and their heirs:

List of American Prime Ministers:
Alexander Hamilton (R-NY): 1791-1803
James Madison (WR-VA): 1803-1811
Aaron Burr (WR-NY): 1811-1815
John Q. Adams (R-MA): 1815-1820
William H. Crawford (R-GA): 1820
James Monroe (WR-VA): 1820-1825
Daniel D. Tompkins (WR-NY): 1825-1826
Aaron Burr (WR-NY): 1826-1829
Henry Clay (N-KY): 1829-1836
Andrew Jackson (J-TN): 1836-1842
Henry Clay (N-KY): 1842-1850
Daniel Webster (N-MA): 1850-1851
James K. Polk (C-TN): 1851-1855
Abraham Lincoln (W-IL): 1855-1866
Charles Winthrop (W-MA): 1866-1869
Clement Vallandigham (N-OH): 1869-1872
John C. Breckenridge (C-KY): 1872- 1875
Jefferson Davis (C-AL): 1875-1879
Thomas F. Bayard (N-DE): 1879
Vacant: 1879-1881
John Bingham (L-OH): 1881-1886
James Garfield (L-OH): 1886-1889
Robert T. Lincoln (L-IL): 1889
Thomas E. Watson (P-GA): 1889-1898
Mark Hanna (L-OH): 1898- ??

List of Opposition Leaders:
Thomas Jefferson (WR-VA): 1791-1799
Aaron Burr (WR-NY): 1799-1803
George Clinton (R-NY): 1803-1805
John Q. Adams (R-MA): 1805-1811
DeWitt Clinton (R-NY): 1811-1812
Rufus King (R-NY): 1812-1815
James Monroe (WR-VA): 1815-1820
Henry Clay (N-KY): 1820-1829
Andrew Jackson (J-TN): 1829-1836
Henry Clay (N-KY): 1836-1842
Martin Van Buren (W-NY): 1842-1846
Abraham Lincoln (W-IL): 1846-1855
James K. Polk (C-TN): 1855-1862
Sam Houston (C-TN): 1862-1864
Clement Vallandigham (N-OH): 1864-1869
Charles Sumner (L-MA):1869-1874
Vacant: 1874- 1881
Augustus Garland (N-AR): 1881-1886
Thomas F. Bayard (N-DE): 1886-1894
Mark Hanna (L-OH): 1894-1898
Thomas E. Watson (P-GA): 1898- ??

List of American Monarchs:
King George I: 1791-1799
    Prince George: 1791-1799
King George II: 1799-1853
    No heir: 1799-1831
    Prince Robert: 1831-1853
King Robert I: 1853-1873
    Prince William: 1853- 1873
King William I: 1873-1879
    No heir: 1873-1879
    Prince William: 1879
King Robert II: 1879- ??
    No heir: 1879-1883
    Prince George: 1883 - ??

[Reignman]

Cool.

[Josh/Devilman88]

good update.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

One minor quibble.  Why was New Mexico renamed Arizona?

[Verily]

One minor quibble.  Why was New Mexico renamed Arizona?

I'd figure it would be renamed; perhaps it could be named Washington, similar to Hamilton? *evil grin*

[Person Man]

One minor quibble.  Why was New Mexico renamed Arizona?

I'd figure it would be renamed; perhaps it could be named Washington, similar to Hamilton? *evil grin*

Will we have the state of Goa Tse?

[True Democrat]

Probably the best timeline I've seen on the atlas, but I do have two questions:

1. What is the current state of race relations in America?

2. Is there any lesser nobility of any sort?  Or is the royal family it?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I'd imagine that the Society of the Cincinnati has in this timeline acquired some additional characteristics of nobiliity, but Lief has been largely silent on that point.  Certainly nothing with status much beyond that of today's European nobles.

[Person Man]

Bump. I guess the nobility is really fat and slovenly.

[Lief 🗽]

1) Regarding Arizona: I assumed that the territory of New Mexico wouldn't have been named New Mexico had it not been bordering the country of Mexico, which it isn't in this timeline.

2) Race relations are at about at the same level they were in our timeline. The rise of the Populists and the economic panic in the 80s and 90s silently ended southern Reconstruction. The Supreme Court has been somewhat more pro-civil rights, as they are appointed by the King, but Jim Crow laws exist nonetheless in the South.

3) There's something of a lesser nobility. The Virginia plantation owners originally formed a de facto noble class in the 1800s, as the royal family was largely based in Virginia, but this ended during and after the civil war. The rich, upper class is still engaged in the excesses of the Gilded Age, but with the King and his royal family as a sort of figurehead for rich. While Arlington Palace in Virginia is still the royal family's official home, they enjoy most of their time with the upper class of New York, which in large part prompted the marriage of the Vanderbilt's into the royal family.

EDIT: As an addendum to #2, voting rights for blacks aren't as restricted in the South as they were in our timeline, though the elections can still hardly be called fair.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

1) Regarding Arizona: I assumed that the territory of New Mexico wouldn't have been named New Mexico had it not been bordering the country of Mexico, which it isn't in this timeline.

New Mexico or more precisely, Nuevo Mexico got that name because it was the name given to it in 1598 while it was still under Spanish control.  Santa Fe was established as the capital of Nuevo Mexico in 1610, making it the State capital of the United States that has the longest continuous history as a capital.  Since the name predates the existence of an independent Mexico by over two centuries, I can't see it being lightly tossed aside.

[Lief 🗽]

Ah, I wasn't aware of that. New Mexico it is then.

[Person Man]

When is the next update and how far will this thing go?

[Verily]

Bump.

[Reignman]

Bump.

[Bacon King]

Bump.

[Lief 🗽]

I'll update soon, don't worry. Just very busy.

[Person Man]

Are you on strike?

[Hatman 🍁]

Are you on strike?

He's run out of episodes, and his writers are on strike.

[Хahar 🤔]

Are you on strike?

He's run out of episodes, and his writers are on strike.

But he supports his writers, so he's going to wait as long as it takes.

[Person Man]

ZING! Can't we just take over?