Amerika: The History of the Amerikaners

[CatoMinor]

Amerika
Introduction

July 30, 1652
      With the power of the States General behind him, Adriaen van der Donck landed back in the city of New Amsterdam ready to usher in a new era for the Dutch settlers. Having left the new world in 1649 to make his case before the States General, Adriaen had finally returned with orders for the recall of Peter Stuyvesant to the Netherlands and with the intention of forming a more liberal government in the colony.  Deciding to invest more in the growth of a permanent Dutch presence in North America to truly rival the English and French, the States General trusted Van Der Donck to shape the New Netherlands colony into something more encouraging for growth in settlers. Taking some authority from the West India Company away, the States General abolished the office of Director-General and appointed van der Donck to the newly created role of Stadtholder of New Netherland.

August 27, 1664

   With the goal in mind of seizing control of New Amsterdam and the entire New Netherland colony for England, Richard Nicolls moved his frigates in on the city ready to demand surrender. Unbeknownst to Nicolls, Stadtholder Jeremias van Rensselaer was prepared. Having assembled reinforcements from Rensselaerswyk and Fort Orange, van Rensselaer met Nicolls’ demand with canon fire and the beginnings of another Anglo-Dutch War. This defiance against English aggression would be remembered for generations of Amerikaners who would see this as when their ancestors firmly established their dominance over the region.

[Kingpoleon]

Will this be a Dutch Amerika, or will Germans come here too?

[CatoMinor]

Part 1: Birth of a Republic

The 12 provinces of New Netherlands colony in 1809

August 14, 1809

The Council of 36, a deliberative body consisting of 3 delegates from each province, had been called into emergency session by Stadtholder Henry Kruger to discuss the future of the colony in the wake of the British occupation of the Netherlands. Half of Europe had been embroiled off and on in war for the past decade as Oliver Cromwell IV, Lord Protector of Great Britain and Ireland fought campaign after campaign to put down the typically French led coalitions. The Dutch Republic had been an early of the British after their revolution deposed the monarchy and made Parliament supreme, but as Cromwell rose to power he felt the Dutch were too much of a liability and decided to occupy low countries to create a buffer in Europe between them and their enemies.

The following excerpt has been translated from the original Amerikaans Declaration of Independence, passed by the Council of 36 on August 14, 1809.
Therefore be it resolved, that the political bonds which had tied this colony to our mother country, the Dutch Republic, be now and forever severed. From this day we commit our allegiance the Amerikaans Republic, may the Lord almighty keep up us under His protection.

The coming months would see a written constitution created for the new Republic. The Council of 36 would evolve into the Volksraad with councilors elected from districts and the Stadtholder would transition into Staatpresident. Initially suffrage was limited to males over the age of 30 who owned property. The principle challenges to the new republic were reforming the patroonships that many were beginning to complain about and asserting their independence to the British who would surely make an attempt at absorbing them without the protection of the Dutch fleet.

The 1st Volksraad elected would be the last without major parties competing. Political factions began to emerge early on however as reformists and conservatives would clash. The reformists factions would eventually be led by the younger statesman Johan van der Donck as the conservatives fell in line behind Staatpresident Kruger.

Up next: The First Boer War

[Kingpoleon]

So Dutch for now, probably mostly German immigrants in the future, alongside Flemish and maybe Wallonian.

[CatoMinor]

So Dutch for now, probably mostly German immigrants in the future, alongside Flemish and maybe Wallonian.

Yeah mainly Dutch with large amounts of English, French, and people of the low countries settling. Making New Amsterdam a fairly diverse city, and helping to further make the Amerikaners and the Amkerikaans dialect of Dutch more unique from the traditional Dutch people and language.

[msnmllr]

Given the multinational nature of the state, will we see political parties coming from nationalities in addition to political beliefs, like the Swedish party in Finland? Great set up so far, really looking forwards with expansion and the such

[PMHub]

This is going to be really interesting! Can't wait to see more of it

[DKrol]

I like this.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This is going to be really interesting! Can't wait to see more of it

[CatoMinor]

Part 2: The First Boer War

Prelude to War

April 1718,
Eager to prove himself and to redeem the family name, Peter Stuyvesant, grandson of the last Director-General whom he was named after, looked to expand the colony. Newly appointed as Stadtholder, gave the order to seize control of Maryland. Then on April 15, 1718 a handful of frigates with a ship of the line sailed up the Chesapeake and into port at Annapolis demanding the city surrender. Thus began the 4th Anglo-Dutch War. Bitterly fought over the the course of the next 3 years, the war ended with the decisive defeat of the British fleet at the Battle of the Thames.

Following the British formal surrender of all claims to Maryland, Stuyvesant issued what would become his most infamous act while in power, the "Orde de Verdrijving" which began the process of removing most of the English settlers from Maryland. Many Marylanders either moved to Virginia or returned to Great Britain, however close to a third of them banded together and decided to venture farther inland and resettle in Sylvania. Sylvania had been founded years prior by William Penn who had led an exodus of Quakers from England and other religious minorities from Europe to the New World where they could exercise their faiths freely and experiment with Penn's vision of republicanism. In the years to come Sylvania would change to Pennsylvania in honor of it's founder and would be a near constant thorn in the side of New Netherlands as Pennsylvanian farmers would settle in land disputed by both sides leading to border skirmishes. By the end of the century Maryland would be largely resettled with large amounts of Flemish, Frisian, and German immigrants.

May, 1812
After 3 years of an interim government organizing the early Amerikaans Republic it was finally time for the first election. The current Staatpresident Henry Kruger, a decedent of German immigrants a century prior, was determined to continue his presidency with a popular mandate behind him. His appeal to the public was of western expansion, annexing Pennsylvania, and belief that it was the manifest destiny of the Amerikaners to do so. Opposing Kruger, as always, was the young Johan van der Donck, leader of the opposition in the Volksraad. Van Der Donck ran on a promise to expand suffrage to all men above the age of 20, abolishing slavery, and establishing a peaceful relationship with the Pennsylvanians. The writings of William Penn being a large influence in Johan's worldview, he had no desire for war with Penn's legacy.

The Election of Staatpresident, May 20, 1812

Kruger (VP) - 56%
Van Der Donck (DP) - 44%

Kruger and his Volks Partij won a decisive first test of the nation's democracy. Though defeated, Van Der Donck vowed to continue his efforts from inside the Volksraad as a voice for reform through his Demokratiese Partij. With the popular vote of his people behind him, Kruger set his eyes to Pennsylvania.

To be continued.

[CatoMinor]

The First Boer War Continued

August, 1812
In a excerpt from a statement issued to the public shortly after his first full elected term in office began, Henry Kruger wrote:
For far too long have the Pennsylvanians encroached on our land. Financially struggling and lacking in central authority in Pennsylvania, I believe it to be the will of the Lord almighty that we Amerikaners take our place in destiny and establish order in Pennsylvania. Knowing that our Heavenly Father is with us then, I shall sign into effect the Pennsylvania Act passed by the Volksraad, establishing the annexation of Pennsylania into our republic. Any resistance shall be dealt with swiftly and met with even greater force. 

Initially expecting only light resistance, the Amerikaner soldiers entering Pennsylvania were surprised to be met with hundreds of farmers banding together in militias that ambushed them at the battle of Derry on the border forcing the Amerikaners back. In a counter attack over the coming weeks however the Pennsylvanians were driven out of the east and fell back towards their capital Bellefonte. Amerikaner newspapers immediately began calling this The Boer War, dismissing the Pennsylvanian soldiers as merely "boeren" or farmers. The Amerikaners achieved their greatest victory of the war in March 1813 under General Klaas Visser's Lake Campaign where he smashed through Pennsylvanian defenses and routed them, leaving the Boeren landlocked.

The war was decided at the Battle of the West Branch on September 3, 1813. Not wanting General Visser to have all of the glory, General Francois van Dijk decided to launch one final assault from the north and capture Bellefonte. Seeing himself as a potential successor to Staatpresident Kruger someday, Van Dijk believed that crushing the Boeren in one final victory in their capital would cement him as an Amerikaner hero. However Van Dijk's decision to set camp on the south shore of the West Branch Susquehanna River would prove a fatal mistake. At 4:00am on the morning of Sept 3 a little over 800 Boer soldiers attacked the sleeping camp of over 15,000. Within an hour over 1000 Amerikaners were slain, including Van Dijk, with twice as many injured and the rest captured. After what Pennsylvanians hailed as "The Miracle on the West Branch" agreed to negotiate a peace.

Campaigns of the First Boer War 

* - Battle
--> - Amerikaners
--> - Boers

Following the setback of West Branch, the Amerikaans Republic and Pennsylvania agreed to a peace  so long as the Amerikaners recognized Pennsylvania's sovereignty and that Pennsylvania ceded its western territory along with it's access to Lake Erie. While Kruger declared the war a success with territorial gains, no one could deny that the public opinion of him had taken a serious hit. This was an opportunity that Van Der Donck's Democrats would not let slip in the next elections.

Up Next: The Rise of the Democrats

[CatoMinor]

Part 3: Rise of the Democrats

1814-18

The remainder of Kruger's term would be focused on what historians consider his most significant achievement, the purchase of Ohio Country from France. By the early 18th century a series of wars with Comwellian Britain had taken a large toll on France's finances. Determined to keep pushing westward, Kruger authorized the ambassador to France to make an offer of 100,000 guilders for a large strip of land along the southern shore of lake Erie and down to the Ohio River. French Prime Minister, Charles-Maurice de Tallyrand, with the permission of King Louis XVII, made a counter offer of all Ohio Country for 2 million guilders. Eagerly accepting the deal, the Amerikaans Republic was more than doubled overnight with the purchase that would give them all the land between the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and south of the Great Lakes. The Volksraag divided the territory into smaller subdivisions and created the framework for how future territory would be organized and eventually made into provinces under the Ohio Act of 1815.

The Volksraag, consisting of 150 delegates representing districts in each province, was elected to 4 year terms with the next election to be held in May, 1816. The previous election saw a decisive win for the Volks Partij, winning 101 out of 150 seats. Opposing the VP were the 43 members of the Demokratiese Party and a handful of independent delegates. Going into the election of 1816, the VP faced a steep challenge of trying to win back public opinion after failing to decisively defeat Pennsylvania. They had hoped with Kruger's purchase of the Ohio Country the people would be won back over, however opinion was mixed as some were concerned it would be a waste of money and inviting more conflict with the natives.

Campaigning hard on a platform of expanding suffrage and ending slavery, the DP surged past the VP on election day to win control of the Volksraag.
The final results were:
Demokratiese Partij: 94
Volks Partij: 52
Independent: 4

Taking control of the Volksraag as the new Chancellor, Johan van der Donck was ready to begin a new era in Amerikaner politics and continue the work of his ancestor. Representing a small district on the Hudson River just a few miles north of New Amsterdam since the Volksraag was founded in 1809, Van Der Donck was viewed by many in the area as a giant among statesmen and among the greatest debaters of his time. The coming years would set the stage for a clash of giants when Van Der Donck and Kruger would face off once more for the office of Staatpresident in 1818.

The Amerikaans Republic in 1817

Pennsylvania has been split between The Pennsylvanian Republic and The Allegheny Free State.

To be Continued

[msnmllr]

2 Questions:
At what point will we see Amerika make a push for potentially the lower portion of Ontario?
Will the agreement with Pennsylvania be broken, given that Amerika almost completely surrounds it?

Great TL so far!

[CatoMinor]

2 Questions:
At what point will we see Amerika make a push for potentially the lower portion of Ontario?
Will the agreement with Pennsylvania be broken, given that Amerika almost completely surrounds it?

Great TL so far!

Well for the points in time covered thus far the French and Amerikaners have decent relationships so a move on Ontario wouldn't be too likely in the near future. As for Pennsylvania it is very likely that they will be the source of future conflict.

[CatoMinor]

Rise of the Democrats Continued

By 1818 the Volks Partij was a mere shadow of what it had been only a handful of years prior. Since the DP had taken control of the Volksraag in the previous election, the VP which still clung on to power at the provincial level held what became known as the infamous Schenectady Convention. At this convention party representatives discussed future of their party and country in the face of what seemed a guaranteed victory in the coming weeks of Van Der Donck in the election for Staatpresident. At one point in the convention a bloc of delegates, mainly those opposed to the emancipation of slaves, began to seriously push for a plan that would have the military seize control of the Volksraag, and declare Staatpresident Kruger as the King of a new Amerikaner Kingdom with power divided between the King and the provincial Governors. While this plan never gained much traction, once news of it being discussed was leaked the VP suffered the final blow to their chances of recovering lost ground. In May 1818 Johan van der Donck would go on to defeat Kruger 60%-34% with minor independent candidates gaining a few points.

Van Der Donck's terms as Staatpresident would see the near total domination of the Demokratiese Partij at every level of government. By 1824 he would win re-election without any major party opposition, winning over 87% of the vote. During his two terms the gradual abolition of slavery would be set in motion with the any person born to slaves would be born a free citizen of the Amerikaans Republic. In 1825 the Volksraag voted to allow any male citizen over the age of 20 the right to vote. Another significant achievement was the Shawnee Compromise, avoiding a war with the natives organized under Tecumseh. The compromise was an agreement that in return for a Shawnee province being created where their language and culture would be majority, Tecumseh and his confederacy would lay down their arms, swear an oath of loyalty to the Amerikaans Republic and allow settlers to pass through peacefully as the population began to move westward into the Ohio Country. The Amerikaners had hoped that the Shawnee and other Algonquin people in the region would eventually become like the Iroquois who had similarly carved out their own province in the northern parts of the New Netherlands colony and had by now mostly melded into Amerikaner culture. The influence of the Iroquois is seen by many as one of the subtle differences in the Amerikaans language from original early modern Dutch.

Without the theater of major parties clashing, or even much actual warfare for that matter, many would look back and label Van Der Donck's terms as "The Era of Good Feelings" in Amerikaner politics. The good feelings would be put to the test however in the coming years when an Amerikaner preacher of English decent, Jozef Smit, began organizing a radical new sect of Christianity and challenging the established Reform Church's hold on society.

Up Next, Part 4: Deus Vult!

[CatoMinor]

Europe around 1820, following the Cromwellian Wars

[MAINEiac4434]

Is Switzerland part of the Holy Roman Empire?

[CatoMinor]

Is Switzerland part of the Holy Roman Empire?

The successor, the German Confederation. Formed following the Cromwellian Wars more a loose alliance of predominantly German kingdoms and principalities that are essentially autonomous. It is the beginning of what will eventually lead to a unified German state. The HRE was shattered during the wars and at some point the Swiss got dragged into it, so the confederation was established for mutual protection. I may need to do a longer aside over the conflict later on in the timeline.

Some other things to note:
Sweden had won the Great Northern War.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is still hanging on.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Great job!

[CatoMinor]

Part 4: Deus Vault!

By September, 1829 the Amerikaans Republic had seen a decade of growth and relative peace. Much of the Ohio Country had been organized and populated enough to establish new provinces. In the years prior the Volks Partij had disbanded leaving Van Der Donck's Democrats with near total power, an arrangement that couldn't last forever. Nearing the end of his second term, Staatpresident Van Der Donck surprised many with his announcement that he would not seek re-election, believing that for a healthy democracy power couldn't stay with one man for too long. The race to succeed him would prove eventful as the DP began to fracture into factions, setting the stage for 4 candidates running all under the DP label.

Meanwhile in the Province of Iroquois, in Palmyra a young man by the name of Jozef Smit had begun preaching a message of a restored Church of Christ, that all other denominations had lost their way from the gospel and that God had given him access to another Testament of Jesus Christ in the New World. After years of visions and translating, Smit began to publish his Book of Mormon, translated into Amerikaans from "reformed Egyptian." While gaining some followers, the idea that the indigenous peoples were those who fell away from the chosen people and killed off the faithful tribes was needless to say taken with extreme offense by the Iroquois. Facing more and more hostility, Jozef and his followers moved to other cities. The Mormons, as they were soon to be called, grew in number but faced harsher resistance with every move being labeled as heretics by the established Reformed Church communities. Sensing the growing threat to their safety, Smit decided to move his followers into Pennsylvania. Luckily for Jozef he was fluent in English his family was of English ancestry and had only changed their family name to fit in. Being founded as refuge for religious minorities by William Penn, the Pennsylvanians welcomed the Mormons into their country and allowed them to practice their faith freely.

May 1830
The election for Staatpresident saw four formidable opponents seek the office. Representing the historic reformist core of the DP and seen as a protege of Van Der Donck was the young Volksraag Delegate Herman Jansen from the Province of Rensselaer. Representing many former Volks Partij  members who had assimilated into the Democrats was Hans van Hudson, Governor New Amsterdam Province. The loudest voice of western expansion and Delegate from Ohio Province was Fritz Bakker. Finally was the candidate seen by many as the favorite was General Erik Béliveau from the province of New Holland.


Bakker - 31.6%
Béliveau - 31.4%
Jansen - 24%
Van Hudson - 13%

Following this close race many of Béliveau's supports cried foul as Van Hudson had publicly stated that his supporters should vote for Bakker to stop Béliveau and Jansen in the week preceding the election. Friedrich "Fritz" Bakker swore into office the following month and Béliveau vowed he would be back. He would use the coming years to organize his support and create a political movement all his own, the Justitie Partij, devoted to being a voice for the common people.

Meanwhile during the Bakker administration the Mormons would continue to thrive in Pennsylvania. Now going by Joseph Smith as he began reaching a more English audience, and restoring his old family name, Smith established Mormon Temples across the Pennsylvanian Republic and the Allegheny Free State, converting thousands. By 1835 it was estimated that nearly half of the Pennsylvanian Republic and close to 60% of the Allegheny Free State had converted, adding tens of thousands into the fold. This caught the attention of the Amerikaners who became concerned that the heretics they thought they had driven away were now seemingly growing exponentially. While Joseph was preaching of establishing a New Zion that would change the world, leaders in New Amsterdam began planning how to deal with him once and for all.

Up next, Part 5: The Second Boer War  

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

This is pretty awesome. What type of immigration is the new nation seeing? And are Canada and the South still in British hands then?

[CatoMinor]

Originally mainly Flemish, Frisians, people from the Dutch Republic, etc. This current era has a large amount of German and French immigration following the Cromwellian Wars. Canada, along with Upper and Lower Louisiana are still French colonies. Spain is still holding onto New Spain, but barely as republicanism continues to spread. Following the defeat of Oliver Cromwell IV, New England became the Republic of Plymouth and Virginia and South Carolina moved towards independence as well. South Carolina moved forward as the Carolina Republic and Virginia as The Commonwealth of Virginia. Florida is divided between Carolina, Spain, and a couple small unrecognized states that are havens for piracy.

[CatoMinor]

Part 5: The Second Boer War

The term of Staatpresident Fritz Bakker was seen by many as generally successful, however noted for his failed attempt at purchasing Upper Louisiana from France in the hopes of fulfilling his dream of expanding to the Pacific Ocean one day. By this time steam powered locomotives were beginning to connect the western frontier provinces back to the east, improving communication and commerce. Meanwhile from his home in New Holland, still resentful for being cheated out of power, had been spending his time organizing his Justitie Partij and salivating for his chance to deny Bakker a second term in office. In the Volksraag election of 1832 the VP managed to carve out a solid presence. Adjusting for population growth and the new provinces from the Ohio Purchase, the Volksraag was now at 180 delegates.

By 1835 the composition of the Volksraag was:
Demokratiese Partij - 94
Justitie Partij - 63
Antimormon Partij - 15
Native Alliance - 8


A growing concern for religious leaders among the Amerikaners was the rise of Mormonism in the neighboring Pennsylvanian countries. Spreading like wild fire through the predominantly English communities, Joseph Smith was seen by his followers as a living prophet who gave hope to the struggling Pennsylvanians and a new sense of purpose. By early 1836 both Bakker and Béliveau had began stating their intentions of pushing anti-Mormon legislation. Béliveau, being Roman Catholic, had a built in disadvantage, so in an attempt to build in-roads into the the Reformed Church community he declared "If Jozef Smit ever sets foot in Amerikaans land again, I will hang him from the highest tree!" Wanting to be prepared for the worst, Smith began organizing militias in the chance that his followers would be threatened.

Staatpresidential Election of 1836:
Friedrich 'Fritz' Bakker  - 48.2%
Erik Béliveau - 48.7%
Others - 3.1%

Upon taking office Staatpresident Béliveau and his new Justitie majority in the Volksraag passed legislation effectively banning the practice of Mormonsim within the country and declaring Smith a criminal, demanding that the Pennsylvanian Republic extradite Smith to face trial. Refusing to accept the Amerikaner's ultimatum, the Amerikaans Republic issued a declaration of war, prompting the Pennsylvanian Republic and Allegheny Free State to do likewise. Not wanting a repeat of the previous conflict the Pennsylvanian and Alleghenian forces went on the offensive early, seizing several cities near the border and then digging in in preparation to hold them. Amerikaner newspapers were quick to label this the Second Boer War as Smith and his followers would call it the Great Holy War.

To be continued...

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Would you care to map out the socioeconomic makeup of the major parties and their rough "ideologies"?

[CatoMinor]

Demographic info as of 1836.

Population: 10.6 million

Ethnic Backgrounds:
Dutch - 68%
German - 16%
French - 6%
Native - 5%
English - 3%
Other - <2%

Religious Demographics:
Amerikaans Reformed Church: 64%
Roman Catholic: 20%
Lutheran: 9%
Anglican: 2%
Other Christian Denominations: <2%
Native Religions: 3%



The Antimormon Partij is largely irrelevant with all major parties adopting anti-Mormon stances, but when it was more active in the previous election cycle it was largely made up of Reformed Church followers in the North East where Mormonism got it's start.

While in the First Party System the Volks Partij won the lion's share of ancestrally Dutch voters, most of them were eventually folded into the Demokratiese Partij. Erik Béliveau's creation is initially  a vehicle for challenging Bakker, and evolves into a sort of populist movement. Many people of French and Catholic background form the core of his support along with poor average citizens who seen him as an Amerikaner hero. That both French and Dutch Amerikaners can claim him as one of their own is a sign of the growing separation between Amerikaners and their Dutch ancestors.

The Native Alliance is for the most part located in the the provinces of Iroquois and Shawnee, winning a bloc of native voters.

The Demokratiese Partij is in a bit of an weird soul searching phase as they are historically the inclusive party who fought for the "common man", however the Justitie Partij is moving into that slot and whats left of their party has a growing elitist faction of mainly Dutch and German ancestry Amerikaners.