To Save this Country

[Jerseyrules]

United States presidential election, 1856:

Millard Fillmore / Sam Houston (American): 27.2% PV; 85 EV
Franklin Pierce / James Buchanan (Democrat): 38.2%; 86 EV
General John C. Fremont / Hannibal Hamlin (Republican): 33.7% PV; 125 EV

After numerous ballots in the house, the Compromise of 1856 is crafted. Former President Millard Fillmore will be returned to the White House, Stephen Douglas will become President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and John Bell will become Speaker of the House.  Also, there will be a large package of bills as a Compromise bill to avert Civil War.  Much of the legislation will be crafted by Speaker Bell and Senator John Crittenden.  In a show of national unity, the president will appoint high-profile politicians to his cabinet from across the political spectrum.  For example, he will return James Buchanan to the helm of the State Department, appoint William Seward as Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Johnson as Secretary of the Interior, and promises an evenly balanced Supreme Court in the future.

Millard Fillmore, the Eleventh and Thirteenth President of the United States

[Jerseyrules]

Cabinet of President Millard Fillmore:

President: Millard Fillmore (American)
Vice President: Sam Houston (American)
Secretary of State: James Buchanan (Democrat)
Secretary of War: Winfield Scott (Whig)
Secretary of the Treasury: William Seward (Democrat)
Secretary of the Interior: Andrew Johnson (Democrat)
Attorney General: Abraham Lincoln (Republican)

Senator Crittenden: "The Compromise shall include lower tariffs to appease the south, civil liberties laws to appease the North, and we shall admit all new states by popular sovereignty so that the people may decide their state's status regarding the slave issue.  We will remove the federal government from slavery and allow the very gradual reduction in slavery."
[screams of disapproval from the southern delegations and radical abolitionists].
Vice President Houston: "WE SHALL HAVE ORDER!"
Senator Crittenden: If you disagree with the proposal then vote against it, but do not obstruct discussion.  If you have a better proposal then I suggest you propose it!"

The final vote on the Crittenden Compromise is 37-31, enough to ram it through the Senate.  The house will pass the bill largely unchanged, and is accepted as a decent compromise, pleasing moderates, though the fringe on both sides, including Senator John Breckinridge and General John C. Fremont reject it as "an abolitionist-appeasing disgrace" and "trying to shove slavery down the mouth of the Free-Soiler," respectively.  It will stave off sectional conflict, for now.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

You can use green on the maps.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Also, Ten Cent Jimmy's area of expertise was in foreign affairs (SoS, Ambassador to Russia and GB), so I'd just keep him there. And VA was one of the most Democratic states back then.

[Jerseyrules]

Also, Ten Cent Jimmy's area of expertise was in foreign affairs (SoS, Ambassador to Russia and GB), so I'd just keep him there. And VA was one of the most Democratic states back then.

Thanks; I'll do a reshuffle.  .  Btw, Fillmore only lost Virginia by 5% or so IOTL, and this is leaving a damaged, unpopular incumbent president as the Democratic nominee.

[Jerseyrules]

So is the cabinet balanced decently, or should I try to even it out a bit more?

[Jerseyrules]

"I stand before you as your president, delivering to you the greatest and most sacred of duties which has been tradition since the dawn of our young Republic, the State of the Union.  And the State of the Union is good!  [Thunderous applause echoes through the Senate chamber].  We have preserved the Union, we have prevented Civil War, and we have paid off the national debt in its entirety!  We have a booming economy at home, and we have seen that the people of our great nation can still vote to restore their former leadership, including an old lawyer from the state of New York who thought his political career was behind them!  We shall persevere, and we shall keep on galloping!  [appplause].  For that is the American way!"

In his State of the Union address, the President also calls for a military buildup, and hints at a close relationship with Germany, which has made great strides toward unification, after much struggle by Otto Von Bismarck.  President Fillmore is increasingly popular with the people, and by now many have forgotten that he came in third place in last year's election.  He hints at emancipation by a target date, and privately contemplates gradual emancipation by 1880 or sooner...

POTUS: "I greatly appreciate your gallant efforts on the Compromise, Senator."
Crittenden: "It was my pleasure to salvage our union, Mr. President."
POTUS: "I have been pondering a bill that would help if it had your signature..."
Crittenden: "Consider it done Mr. President."

Crittenden would propose legislation which would grant states federal funds for eliminating slavery, and would compensate all slave-owners for each slave freed, with complete emancipation by 1880.  It is widely accepted by the bloc of former Whigs and Northern Democrats, even Lincoln offers his support of the act.  However, the fringe groups on each side, including Senators Breckinridge and Salmon P. Chase, fight bitterly against it.  However, Senators Douglas and Crittenden whip party regulars into line, passing the bill by 39-27, with several angry abstentions.  It passes the House rather easily, with Speaker Bell's outspoken support.  The Gradual Emancipation Act of 1857 passes, where it is gladly signed by the President.  However, the President has already begun to make enemies....

Upon the death of Chief Justice Robert Taney, the President elevates Justice Benjamin Robbins Curtis, filling the now-vacant Justiceship with Stephen Johnson Field, a moderate Democrat from California.

[Jerseyrules]

Dred Scott v. Sanford

Dred Scott was a slave from Virginia for several years.  In 1820, he followed his owner, Peter Blow, to Missouri.  Several years later, Blow died and he was purchased by an army doctor, John Emerson, who took him to Fort Armstrong in Illinois, a free state.  Scott remained there for several years, until he was taken to the Wisconsin Territory, where slavery was prohibited by the Missouri Compromise.  Before he even entered the Wisconsin Territory, the Wisconin Enabling Act was passed, making slavery "forever prohibited" on three counts, thus Emerson was breaking the law on three counts by bringing and keeping Scott there.  Scott was also legally married there with Emerson's consent, thus providing further basis for Scott's claim to freedom, as slaves could not enter into binding contracts, and marriage was a contract.  However, Scott did not make any attempt at freedom.  Emerson died in 1843, passing Scott and his wife on to Mrs. Emerson, who refused Scott's attempts to purchase his freedom in 1846.  Scott then took the decision to court, failing twice, first on a technicality, then because the Supreme Court of Missouri reversed the jury's decision.

The decision is a close one, 5-4.  Chief Justice Curtis writes the majority opinion, declaring "The Negro race is deserving of the same rights, same liberties, same justice as the white race.  The court is the great equalizer, can make every pauper equal to a prince, every fool equal to a genius, every Negro equal to a white man.  Every indicator shows that Mr. Scott was freed according to law, including the Northwest Ordinance, the Missouri Compromise, and the Wisconsin Enabling Act."

His words will be widely quoted in future generations, and President Fillmore praises Curtis' moderate and eloquently-written opinion.  Once again, many on the fringe are angered while the average American is pleased with the outcome.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Great tl!

[Jerseyrules]

Nathaniel P. Banks (A-MA), former Speaker of the House, proposes the Naval Expansion Act of 1858, which will add seven hundred new ships, and increase the size of the army by 20,000 men.  This is part of President Fillmore's strategy; he and War Secretary Winfield Scott (who is also the General-in-Chief of the United States) have lined out battle plans for wars with many different nations, including Mexico, Canada, Spain, Britain, Germany, and more.  Some of these will be see and used by future Presidents in wars never imagined; others will never be used.  Some will even be used during Fillmore's time in the White House.  However, all are kept safely hidden in the drawers of the Oval Office desk.  Banks doesn't know that his act greatly contributed to America's rise to power on the world's stage, and it's advanced technology, with funding attached to new types of submarines, ships, and liorns, or land ironclads, which have been developed because of their unique ability: to make trench wardfare useless.

[Jerseyrules]

Great tl!

Why thank you

[Jerseyrules]

A Presidential Wedding

On February 10, 1858, the President married Caroline C. McIntosh, a wealthy widow thirteen years his junior.  They are a happy couple, and she formally adopts Millard's two children, Millard Jr. and Mary [1].  While she is 55 years old, and therefore biologically incapable of bearing children, Caroline is energetic, and is influential in the couple's decision to adopt several young orphans from New York City.  Meanwhile, Millard Jr. takes advantage of the wedding, using it as a place to propose to Anne Brown Clay, formalizing a long-term courtship between the two.  Just weeks later, Mary's wedding to Robert E. Lee will take place in the same room at the White House.

Meanwhile, on April 14, 1858, Minnesota is admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state.  It will be a free state, as mandated by the Northwest Ordinance, and will send two Republican senators and two Republican representatives to Congress.  Abraham Lincoln resigns as Attorney General in May in order to lay the groundwork for his senate campaign against Stephen Douglas, which he hopes to use as a stepping stone to the presidency in 1860 or 1864.  Privately, he is unsure of victory, so he challenges Douglas to ten debates.  Douglas refuses, so Lincoln proceeds to crisscross the state, and whenever Douglas makes an appearance or speech, "Abe" is there to refute him within two hours.  Finally, Douglas relents to debate Lincoln, and the seven remaining scheduled debates proceed.  Lincoln becomes an abolitionist superstar overnight, and both men gain publicity going into the 1860 presidential race.  The most famous political debates (and some argue the most famous debates in general), the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, are published nationwide, and both men will become household names...

"Mr. President, I have come here to ask for your blessing in my crusade against slave power."
"Well, Abraham, I really don't like to get involved in that stuff, and the country has been so united..."
"Mr. President, I will make sure to keep the Radical Republicans in line if I am elected, and the party superiors have been mumbling about 1860 already.  If you select a moderate Republican as your running mate, you need not fear Republican opposition in the next election-"
"To be honest, Abraham, I haven't even thought about 1860 yet.  But I shall most likely run for re-election, but I do not wish to become Republican nor Democrat to do so..."
"We shall establish a temporary "National Union Party", with a "one-term pledge", you and a Republican teaming up for one term in the name of national unity and to solve our nation's problems-"
"Would you want to be my number two man, Abraham?"
"...I would be honored sir."
"You have my blessing, and I shall be sure to make a visit or two."

[1] IOTL, Mary died of cholera at age 22.  ITTL, she survived, comforting her father after the death of Abigail, the President's first wife.  Mary was de facto First Lady in both of her father's terms in office until now, when Caroline took over.  Mary was also influential in the President's campaign in 1856, when she stumped for him across the nation, encouraged him to focus on the south, and now served on several diplomatic missions since her father's return to the White House.

[Jerseyrules]

Scott: "Mr. President, Mexico has been in conflict for some time now-"
"So you've been telling me, General."
"Our country has been rather divided as well, General.  Actually...."
"Sir?"
"Order an invasion."
"Why, sir?"
"This county needs a war, a crisis, something to unify them after that uneasy slavery solution.  The south is industrializing, we're getting stronger; do we have the numbers?"
"Yes, sir.  We can have an invasion planned by noon tomorrow.  Shall we used the strategy we mapped out?"
"Yes, General.  Can you inspect the troops?"
Though Scott had been losing weight, he still maintained a healthy husky build.  He could clearly mount his horse, however; this would be Scott's last war.  He was clearly a fighter, and Filmore would maintain him in an advisory position.  Their rivalry from 1852 was strictly political, and their relationship had largely healed in the years since.
"I can do it now."
The president offers his onetime rival a crisp salute as Scott exits the Oval Office.  He speaks with Vice President Houston, who will rally support behind the scenes for a Declaration of War on Mexico.

The main commanders of the United States in the Second Mexican-American War:

James Garfield and Robert E. Lee were wildly popular with the people during the war.  The United States had drummed up support for the war effort, and on July 3, 1858, President Fillmore obtained a formal Declaration of War from the Congress against Mexico.  Fillmore campaigned hard for the War at home, and the American populace was overwhelmingly in favor of war.  The aging General Scott led the American troops into Mexico, proudly riding atop a horse with his four stars gleaming in the hot sunlight.  This was territory Scott knew well.  He had been here not fifteen years earlier, commanding the assault personally.  The strategy was going according to plan, until Scott was shot by Mexican rebels in Chihuahua.  Scott soon recovered, but it was clear he was not able to ride anymore.  He needed a replacement to lead the assault, and General Ulysses S. Grant was chosen.  As he had agreed with President Fillmore, the army would create skirmishes in the north, while the main army would be commanded by General Grant.  The main contingent of American troops would arrive just north of Mexico City aboard ironclads, storming Mexico City by night.  And so it would be.  However, Spain would not look kindly upon America flexing its military muscles....

"On to Mexico City"

[Jerseyrules]

[angryItalianMother]Nothing?  I spend my spring break slaving over a hot stove and THIS is the thanks I get?![/angryItalianMother]

[Jerseyrules]

In all seriousness, really?  Nothing?  Feedback please!  Even if you hate it!

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Why would we just start a war, even if we had the motive of "national unity"?

[Jerseyrules]

Why would we just start a war, even if we had the motive of "national unity"?

The Mexican anarchy due to the "Reform War" or Mexican civil war.

[Jerseyrules]

Bump.  Jet lag and 9:00 don't mix.  I'll update this at some point, likely before this weekend.

[Jerseyrules]

Anybody...reading?

[Jerseyrules]

Bump.

[Mechaman]

Anybody...reading?

Oh yes this TL is very interesting and well done.
A lot of authors tend to have a very special niche subject and I have to say it's fun to finally have somebody on here who explores the possibility of a sort of Whig-like coalition still existing in the late 1850's (ie, economic nationalism with a "pro-choice" position on slavery).  I'm not the biggest fan of Millard Fillmore, then again it's fun to see somebody on here who is

Makes me wonder, with Fillmore in charge, if there will even be a Civil War.

What I learned over the years (meh, mostly from my own inactivity) is that people do really read these things, they're often just too lazy to comment.

[Jerseyrules]

Anybody...reading?

Oh yes this TL is very interesting and well done.
A lot of authors tend to have a very special niche subject and I have to say it's fun to finally have somebody on here who explores the possibility of a sort of Whig-like coalition still existing in the late 1850's (ie, economic nationalism with a "pro-choice" position on slavery).  I'm not the biggest fan of Millard Fillmore, then again it's fun to see somebody on here who is

Makes me wonder, with Fillmore in charge, if there will even be a Civil War.

What I learned over the years (meh, mostly from my own inactivity) is that people do really read these things, they're often just too lazy to comment.

Haha, thanks .  And you guessed it, no Civil War, thought I would try something new.  But I shall proudly continue other traditions, like World War I, etc. passed down from the althistory gods.