Timeline 31

[mobiyuz]

History rarely unfolds the way we think it will. In the years after the Thirty Years War, with the Holy Roman Empire devastated, few could have reasonably predicted that the Electorate of Brandenburg-Prussia would someday rise to unify the greatest land power the world had ever known. Similarly, no one might have assumed that the leader of a band of nomads on the Mongolian steppe would start the process of creating the largest contiguous empire in all of human history.

And in a similar vein, anyone would be forgiven for assuming that a series of 21 Spanish Catholic missions established on the western coast of North America wouldn't have laid the foundation for one of the world's greatest economic, cultural, and political powers. A nation of such diverse cultural and historic backgrounds that some consider it the world in miniature, from the damp redwood forests of the coast to the dry, sandy badlands of the far east, from the shining metropolises hugging the coast to small towns dotting the desert interior. A country of vast agricultural output, holding less than 5% of all arable land in North America yet still creating nearly 20% of all of its produce. Holding strong as the world's 4th largest economy, its financial sectors are one of the most powerful organs of the global economy.

It is also a country that has caused hardship. Countless native inhabitants driven off their lands, slaughtered by government orders. Mexican inhabitants corralled into undesirable neighborhoods, treated like garbage and given the most menial of jobs. Asian migrants expecting a land of promise and plenty, only to be treated as aliens the moment they arrived. Partaking in bloodshed that led to the death of hundreds of thousands, all the way to creating cruel weapons of war that could end all of humanity. A nation where those who were not of the ruling class had to fight, scratch, claw, and struggle their way toward acceptance and equality, to be considered brothers in a land they too called home.

And all of this sparked from a land once considered desolate and borderline uninhabitable.

This is the story of a country called California.

A supplement thread may be found here.

---

Directory of Parts:

Part 1: Before the Beginning (17000 BCE-1821 CE)

Part 2: The Mexican Era and the Gold Rush (1821 - 1853)

Part 3: Statehood (1853 - 1860)

Part 4: The War of Dissolution (1860 - 1866)

Part 5: End of the Honeymoon (1866 - 1885)

Part 6: Rise of the Progressives (1885 - 1892)

Part 7: The Early Waterman Years (1892 - 1895)

Part 8: The Freedom War (1895 - 1896)

Part 9: An Era of Good Feelings (1896 - 1906)

Part 10: The Great San Francisco Earthquake (1906 - 1907)

Part 11: Growing Uncertainty (1908 - 1914)

Part 12: The Great War (1914-1919)

[lordroel]

Jan 19, 2019 9:33:04 GMT mobiyuz said:

History rarely unfolds the way we think it will. In the years after the Thirty Years War, with the Holy Roman Empire devastated, few could have reasonably predicted that the Electorate of Brandenburg-Prussia would someday rise to unify the greatest land power the world had ever known. Similarly, no one might have assumed that the leader of a band of nomads on the Mongolian steppe would start the process of creating the largest contiguous empire in all of human history.

And in a similar vein, anyone would be forgiven for assuming that a series of 21 Spanish Catholic missions established on the western coast of North America wouldn't have laid the foundation for one of the world's greatest economic, cultural, and political powers. A nation of such diverse cultural and historic backgrounds that some consider it the world in miniature, from the damp redwood forests of the coast to the dry, sandy badlands of the far east, from the shining metropolises hugging the coast to small towns dotting the desert interior. A country of vast agricultural output, holding less than 5% of all arable land in North America yet still creating nearly 20% of all of its produce. Holding strong as the world's 4th largest economy, its financial sectors are one of the most powerful organs of the global economy.

It is also a country that has caused hardship. Countless native inhabitants driven off their lands, slaughtered by government orders. Mexican inhabitants corralled into undesirable neighborhoods, treated like garbage and given the most menial of jobs. Asian migrants expecting a land of promise and plenty, only to be treated as aliens the moment they arrived. Partaking in bloodshed that led to the death of hundreds of thousands, all the way to creating cruel weapons of war that could end all of humanity. A nation where those who were not of the ruling class had to fight, scratch, claw, and struggle their way toward acceptance and equality, to be considered brothers in a land they too called home.

And all of this sparked from a land once considered desolate and borderline uninhabitable.

This is the story of a country called California.

Nice, intro mobiyuz

[stevep]

   Definitely looks interesting and the mentions of the darker side of the republic suggests its not going to be just a wank. Looking forward to seeing how far you take this and in what directions mobiyuz.

[mobiyuz]

Part 1: Before the Beginning (17000 BCE - 1821 CE)

The earliest inhabitants of California arrived in the future country at least 19,000 years ago, likely through one of two means: overland, as descended from those who crossed the Bering land bridge during the last ice age, or by boats, much as the Polynesians had spread across the Pacific or hugging the coast in canoes. Prior to the European arrival, California was already a diverse place: while tribes were fairly small compared to other North American groups, the temperate climate and ease of access to food meant that nearly 1/3rd of all Native Americans north of Mexico lived in California. However, this ease of access to food made agriculture a non-necessity to many groups, and as a result permanent, complex societies like those of the Aztecs or Inca never arose. In the interior, in lands now called the Great Basin, hunter-gatherers did settle in societies later called "pueblos" by the Spaniards, but these did not evolve into grand, temple-building societies either. Not to say that they were not vibrant, intricate cultures, merely that they did not operate as nations much as the Native Americans of Central and South America did.

A map showing pre-Columbian Native language groups primarily north of Mexico; note the diversity of groups
in the region that is now western California.

Skipping ahead several thousand years to the 1500s, the name of "California" predates even the region itself. In the opening days of European exploration of the Americas, theories about the geography and locations of lands on the continent ran wild. In the year 1510, the romance novel Las sergas de Esplandián was published in Spain, making mention of the "Island of California", an island in the west populated by black Amazon women who lived in or very near the Garden of Eden. The island was ruled over by Queen Calafia, and commanded an army of gryphons who tore apart any man who approached the island. In an interesting bit of accidental prophecy, the island was said to be laden with gold. Explorations by Cortes of the Baja California Peninsula only seemed to confirm this theory, and even as explorers like Sir Francis Drake claimed what would later be named San Francisco Bay as "New Albion" and explorations of the Colorado River and the coast of western North America clearly indicated that California was attached to the mainland, the myth that California was an island continued to survive into the 18th century, before finally being laid to rest by government fiat; King Ferdinand VI of Spain commanded the removal of the Island of California from maps in 1747.

A map from the mid-1600s showing a relatively accurate geography of the Americas, barring the northwestern
portions of North America with the entirely fictional Island of California clearly visible off its coast.

Despite California being subject to claims by multiple nations, the region would ultimately fall into the hands of the Spanish, who claimed it as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Even then, California would remain largely neglected until 1683, when a series of Catholic missions were established along the Baja California Peninsula, followed by a further series of missions established in Alta California from 1769 onward. Far more missions were established in Baja California, with a total of 31, as opposed to the 21 missions established in Alta California. In both cases, however, the missions would serve as the crux of local settlements that would grow into some of California's most prominent cities, such as Mission La Paz near what is today La Paz, Mission San Francisco de Asís on the modern-day site of San Francisco, and Mission San Diego de Alcalá in present-day San Diego. These missions worked to evangelize the local natives, but have been widely criticized for abuses visited on the natives and suppression of their culture, along with the founder of many of these missions, Father Junípero Serra.

A fanciful modern-day map of the 21 missions established in Alta California, along with dates
of each mission's founding and their brand mark.

Other than the missions and some contact with natives of the interior, however, California remained a far-flung province of the Spanish Empire for many years. California lacked easily navigable rivers, a string of low mountains made travel from the coast difficult, and much higher mountains further back made travel to the deeper interior nigh-on impossible, although the arid climate made such travel undesirable. It lacked a readily available source of gold or silver to enrich the Spanish treasure fleets, and was simply just very far away from the Spanish homeland. It is thus understandable why the history of California for so very long is one of neglect. Even as Mexico broke away from Spain and established itself as an independent nation, California was still a sparsely-populated land with very few settlers, the only events of note being tensions arising as a result of the Russian Empire establishing Fort Ross near modern-day Healdsburg, Sonoma. Under the Mexicans, however, events would begin to accelerate rapidly.

[lordroel]

Jan 20, 2019 6:20:38 GMT mobiyuz said:

Part 1: Before the Beginning (17000 BCE - 1821 CE)

The earliest inhabitants of California arrived in the future country at least 19,000 years ago, likely through one of two means: overland, as descended from those who crossed the Bering land bridge during the last ice age, or by boats, much as the Polynesians had spread across the Pacific or hugging the coast in canoes. Prior to the European arrival, California was already a diverse place: while tribes were fairly small compared to other North American groups, the temperate climate and ease of access to food meant that California had nearly 1/3rd of all Native Americans north of Mexico lived in California. However, this ease of access to food made agriculture a non-necessity to many groups, and as a result permanent, complex societies like those of the Aztecs or Inca never arose. In the interior, in lands now called the Great Basin, hunter-gatherers did settle in societies later called "pueblos" by the Spaniards, but these did not evolve into grand, temple-building societies either. Not to say that they were not vibrant, intricate cultures, merely that they did not operate as nations much as the Native Americans of Central and South America did.

A map showing pre-Columbian Native language groups primarily north of Mexico; note the diversity of groups
in the region that is now western California.

Skipping ahead several thousand years to the 1500s, the name of "California" predates even the region itself. In the opening days of European exploration of the Americas, theories about the geography and locations of lands on the continent ran wild. In the year 1510, the romance novel Las sergas de Esplandián was published in Spain, making mention of the "Island of California", an island in the west populated by black Amazon women who lived in or very near the Garden of Eden. The island was ruled over by Queen Calafia, and commanded an army of gryphons who tore apart any man who approached the island. In an interesting bit of accidental prophecy, the island was said to be laden with gold. Explorations by Cortes of the Baja California Peninsula only seemed to confirm this theory, and even as explorers like Sir Francis Drake claimed what would later be named San Francisco Bay as "New Albion" and explorations of the Colorado River and the coast of western North America clearly indicated that California was attached to the mainland, the myth that California was an island continued to survive into the 18th century, before finally being laid to rest by government fiat; King Ferdinand VI of Spain commanded the removal of the Island of California from maps in 1747.

A map from the mid-1600s showing a relatively accurate geography of the Americas, barring the northwestern
portions of North America with the entirely fictional Island of California clearly visible off its coast.

Despite California being subject to claims by multiple nations, the region would ultimately fall into the hands of the Spanish, who claimed it as part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Even then, California would remain largely neglected until 1683, when a series of Catholic missions were established along the Baja California Peninsula, followed by a further series of missions established in Alta California from 1769 onward. Far more missions were established in Baja California, with a total of 31, as opposed to the 21 missions established in Alta California. In both cases, however, the missions would serve as the crux of local settlements that would grow into some of California's most prominent cities, such as Mission La Paz near what is today La Paz, Mission San Francisco de Asís on the modern-day site of San Francisco, and Mission San Diego de Alcalá in present-day San Diego. These missions worked to evangelize the local natives, but have been widely criticized for abuses visited on the natives and suppression of their culture, along with the founder of many of these missions, Father Junípero Serra.

A fanciful modern-day map of the 21 missions established in Alta California, along with dates
of each mission's founding and their brand mark.

Other than the missions and some contact with natives of the interior, however, California remained a far-flung province of the Spanish Empire for many years. California lacked easily navigable rivers, a string of low mountains made travel from the coast difficult, and much higher mountains further back made travel to the deeper interior nigh-on impossible, although the arid climate made such travel undesirable. It lacked a readily available source of gold or silver to enrich the Spanish treasure fleets, and was simply just very far away from the Spanish homeland. It is thus understandable why the history of California for so very long is one of neglect. Even as Mexico broke away from Spain and established itself as an independent nation, California was still a sparsely-populated land with very few settlers, the only events of note being tensions arising as a result of the Russian Empire establishing Fort Ross near modern-day Healdsburg, Sonoma. Under the Mexicans, however, events would begin to accelerate rapidly.

Looking good so far mobiyuz, keep it up.

[mobiyuz]

18 September 1809
Mission San Francisco de Asis

The weather was, as it always was, cold. For once, the air was clear of fog in the morning, and Diego Aguayo could see all the way from the Presidio at the mouth of the bay to the pueblo near the northeastern edge of the peninsula, the former of which shared the name of "San Francisco" and the latter of which had taken the name "Yerba Buena". Already, he could see the flags of nations whose merchants sailed the length and breadth of the world. Most of them these days were Protestants from either the United States or the United Kingdom, their red, white, and blue flags fluttering from the masts of the ships. None of them cared much for Catholic evangelism, but that wasn't his job. Instead, it was his duty to go down into the town each day to learn what was happening in the wider world.

The town square of Yerba Buena was never terribly busy, given that there were never terribly many people. Only a few dozen families made their lives here, on this godforsaken corner of the Earth that was either too cold or too sunny or too rocky. There were too many hills to grow many crops, so people herded sheep. There were never many ships, and there was never much to trade. The Spanish flag overhead was sometimes the only thing that really reminded people that Spain still governed this part of the world, even if they were many weeks of travel from Mexico City alone and months by ship from Madrid. The sounds of American merchants, however, was always welcome. It was one of the few times that the town felt a bit more alive.

Diego stopped by a group of American merchants, jabbering back and forth in their stacatto English accent much as the British men did, the only thing telling them apart being their flags and the angry glances they shared. He reached into his pocket and pulled out several pieces of silver. With his best English, he asked. "Excuse me, what do you have to sell?"

"Shipment of clothes, made in Massachusetts with Virginia cotton." He smiled proudly. Americans were always proud of their country's products. "Got some nice shirts here, camisetas, one silver piece per shirt."

"That's expensive!"

"Not my fault, it costs money to send things out here and there's no one to send to. No demand, no supply, prices go up. Ever read Adam Smith?" Diego had absolutely no idea who he was talking about, but he seemed entirely assured of himself. Still, he did know that Father Reyes would appreciate a nice, warm cotton shirt. Begrudgingly, he handed over a silver coin and bundled the shirt up on his arm. It was very warm, and in the breeze blowing through the town, he was half tempted to put it on himself. Still, he exercised restraint, and walked over to the British men. "What are you men selling today?"

"Ah, you're gonna like this. Nice, fresh tea straight from India." He could tell it was tea. The boxes were stamped with a logo reading "E.I.C.", he didn't need them to explain that the East India Company sold tea all over the place. "Just one block for 5 silver."

"Five?!" He looked down at the pile of silver. There were seven coins in his hand, and Father Reyes would kill him if he spent more than half of the money on something as frivolous as tea. And yet...no. He shook his head, and instead asked "Do you know what is happening in Europe?"

The British men grimaced. Napoleon was as much a menace to them as anyone. "Ah, you're not gonna like this. Napoleon's gone and invaded Spain."

"Invaded...Spain?!"

"Yeah, the ol' git marched his armies over the Pyrenees back in May of 1808. I don't know how they're doing, though, but based on what they told me, I don't think the Spaniards are doing that good. No one's doing good. Spain's supposed to have the biggest empire in the world, and they can't stand their own against the short bastard." They shook their heads and handed a block of tea to a woman who trade them a set of woven blankets. "Anyways, King George's doin' his best to fight him, God bless and keep him, and we're gonna keep fighting him until his head's on a pike!" That line prompted a cheer from the other British men, while the Americans scoffed at them.

"As long as Britannia's occupied with the Frenchies, all the better for us!"

"You think our navy couldn't take yours on? Go right down the harbor, we'll head out to the open ocean and see who can stand against who!"

"This from the men who couldn't even keep General Washington from making off with their colonies!"

The two groups of men continued their argument, escalating increasingly, but Diego had already started walking away toward the mission again. His head was buzzing. Spain itself was being invaded. And the colonies answered to Spain. If Napoleon conquered Spain like he had conquered almost everyone else, then who would the colonies answer to? The King was supposed to be in charge, but whatever king Napoleon put on the throne wouldn't be legitimate. Who would they obey, then?

The long walk back gave him a lot to think about. The American men were right, a great general had been able to separate 13 of Britain's colonies from the Empire to form an independent republic that now sent its traders across the world, and who had effectively become empire-sized with the purchase of Louisiana. And all of this achievement in less than 40 years. Meanwhile, Spain had been languishing and neglecting its colonies, and now the French had sent their unstoppable armies into Spain. Now the United States could stand against Britain, and were themselves a force to be reckoned with.

Maybe... he thought to himself as he approached the doors of the mission, the shirt from the United States in hand. Maybe...we could do it, too.

[stevep]

   Mobiyuz

   Interesting background development. Sounds like by 'we' Diego is thinking of an independent Mexico as California is too small in population to be viable at the moment?

   It flatters Washington somewhat as equally as important as the determination of the rebels were the men, gold, weapons and ships of France and Spain but it is already a potential great power by 1809. Too late for it to really seize Canada as Trafalgar has already occurred so Britain can spare forces to protect it but other areas are more vulnerable as Mexico was to find OTL. 

  Of course the big problem for Mexico OTL, other than its northern neighbour, was that the state, as well as often being very badly governed, always had much tension between the centre and the provinces.  Which TTL may be the key for a California that becomes independent rather than a territory of the US but see how things develop.

  Steve

[mobiyuz]

Jan 20, 2019 12:08:47 GMT stevep said:

   Mobiyuz

   Interesting background development. Sounds like by 'we' Diego is thinking of an independent Mexico as California is too small in population to be viable at the moment?

   It flatters Washington somewhat as equally as important as the determination of the rebels were the men, gold, weapons and ships of France and Spain but it is already a potential great power by 1809. Too late for it to really seize Canada as Trafalgar has already occurred so Britain can spare forces to protect it but other areas are more vulnerable as Mexico was to find OTL. 

  Of course the big problem for Mexico OTL, other than its northern neighbour, was that the state, as well as often being very badly governed, always had much tension between the centre and the provinces.  Which TTL may be the key for a California that becomes independent rather than a territory of the US but see how things develop.

  Steve

Basically. At this point, things are more or less going OTL.

[mobiyuz]

Part 2: The Mexican Era and the Gold Rush (1821-1853)

Even after Mexico declared its independence from Spain, California remained a frontier province of a sparsely-populated region. This did not, however, mean that California was entirely out of the area of focus for anyone. By now, there was considerable interest from a new force: the United States of America, which had recently purchased the Louisiana Territory from France and was now following a new concept, that of "Manifest Destiny". Like many things, this would be a driving force behind their dissolution, but as of 1830, this was still in the future. The first major brush that California had with the United States was through Captain Isaac Graham supporting the first Californian revolt in 1836, a brief effort by Juan Bautista Alvarado to raise a rebellion against the governor of Alta California. The only truly notable contribution of this rebellion was the creation of the "Californian Lone Star Flag", a single red star on a white background meant to show solidarity with the contemporary Texan Revolution, and forever securing the place of a red star on the Californian flag.

Graham (left), Alvarado (right), and the flag that became a precursor to all modern Californian flags.

While this revolt was put down swiftly, it did herald a new shift: the migration of American settlers to California, in a similar manner to how Americans had migrated to Texas before the revolt. A large part of this was driven by John Marsh, an early settler and one of the wealthiest landowners in Alta California. After failing to receive justice through the Mexican courts in regard to squatters on his land, he resolved to make California part of the United States, and began to write back east, espousing the region's fertile soil, hospitable climate, and wealth of resources, though at the time this was embellished considerably. Regardless, it had the intended effect, and a thin trickle of Americans began to migrate westward, taking trails such as the aptly-named California Trail overland as a branch of the Oregon Trail, while others braved the journey around Cape Horn and docked in the coastal settlements. Despite this interest, only a few thousand arrived before the outbreak of war in 1846, when the US annexation of Texas sparked war between the United States and Mexico.

John Marsh, 1852

Another event was taking place during this time. Facing hostile opposition from almost any town or region they settled in, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints began a trek west in 1846 under the leadership of Brigham Young, the successor of the religion's founder, Joseph Smith. Branching off from the Oregon Trail sooner than the California Trail, they moved into the basin of the Great Salt Lake, and there established Salt Lake City, which soon became the unofficial "holy city" of the religion. Their trek into what was then Mexican territory had been in an effort to escape the United States; just a few years later the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo saw their new settlement once again within the US' borders.

A monument to the Mormon Pioneers in Temple Square, Salt Lake City

In 1846, yet another significant stepping stone to California took place when William Ide and a handful of rebels seized the military garrison in Sonoma, north of San Francisco Bay, and raised the first official "Bear Flag" in declaration of the new "California Republic". This republic, however, had no civilian structures of government and only controlled a small area of territory in and around Sonoma. There was only one battle during this brief revolt, the Battle of Olúmpali, which resulted in a victory for the "Bears" who were leading the revolt. Despite their aspirations to become a republic, their lack of any serious territorial control left their status as a nation as almost entirely illegitimate, and a mere 25 days after their revolt began, the US Army moved in and lowered the flag, effectively ending the revolt. The idea of this Bear Flag Revolt still holds a prominent place in the minds of many Californians, with some even going so far as to say that this was the "First California Republic", and the modern incarnation is merely the second.

An 1880 photograph of the original Bear Flag, which was later destroyed
in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Outside of the Bear Flag Revolt, the Mexican-American War had almost no real effect on California until the very end, when American landowner John Sutter discovered gold at his mill on the south fork of the California River (then known as the American River), and news spread back east almost immediately after the war ended, followed shortly by it spreading to the rest of the world. All at once, California sprang into the public consciousness as a place where a man could win his fortune simply by picking up a shovel and a pan and heading to California, surging the region's population dramatically through both overland journeys and ocean journeys. The pueblo of Yerba Buena, now reorganized as the city of San Francisco, grew its population by 2400% in a single year, immediately becoming the largest city on the west coast of North America. Travel to the "Motherlode" was supplied largely by steamships that would travel to the new inland city of Sacramento, then followed by either walking to or taking a carriage to the gold country in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Within three years, California went from a frontier province to a fully-fledged society almost overnight.

An advertisement for clipper ships sailing to California, ca. 1850

By 1850, California had surpassed the necessary population to form a state of the United States, and was all ready to join as the 31st state. However, external factors blocked this. The United States' rapid expansion had left them in a massive debate over almost every aspect of their government, from the authority of the federal government over territories to whether new states admitted from the territories would be "Slave States" or "Free States". This debate carried over to California, which had petitioned Congress for admission as a free state, thus immediately drawing the ire of the slave-holding states. For three years afterward, a fierce debate raged of which California was only a small part. They organized a government and laid down the plans for a new planned city named Eureka on the northern coast of the San Pablo Bay to become the capital, and even drafted a state constitution, but it wouldn't be until 1853 that Congress, after a great deal of compromise and agreement that had left no one happy, admitted California as the 31st state of the United States. No one knew it at the time, but California would be the last state to join the United States.

An 1856 map of slave states and free states, marking California as a free state. This marked the final time that
the United States would admit a state into the union.

The fallout of this whole ordeal had left Californians feeling deeply disaffected and alienated toward Washington, D.C. They felt that they had been used as merely a pawn in the game that the eastern states had played, and that they would never be seen as anything more than a bargaining chip. Indeed, as California began to attempt to assert itself in the republic, its representatives were constantly overridden and ignored in favor of the concerns of eastern states, further engendering resentment and harsh feelings within California. Some even began to whisper that becoming part of the United States had been a mistake, that they should instead put the Bear Flag back up and secede from the Union. But that is a story for next time.

The 31-star flag of the United States of America, the last such flag to be used by the United States after California's admission.

[mobiyuz]

7 October 1849
Near Angel's Camp, Sierra Nevada Mountains

Huslu was good at running through the trees. But there were fewer and fewer places to run these days. Someone would shoot at him from near the creek, someone shot at him from behind the trees, and he felt trapped. And today, he was doing his best to just run anywhere, anyplace that he could use to get away from the men chasing him, the white demons that had moved into his ancestral lands.

And to no avail. Another gunshot reached his ears shortly before a crippling pain left his right leg useless, forcing him to stumble to the ground and clutch at it in agony. It was done. He was done for. And now, the white men had caught up with him. They stood over him and looked at him like some kind of fallen animal. In all likelihood they saw him as nothing more than an animal. And now they spoke in that harsh language that he couldn't make sense of.

"Probably the last Miwok for miles around here, 'least from the ones who aren't trying their hand at panning. Look at those arrows he's got," Here he poked at the quiver of arrows that Huslu had slung over his back. "Those could fetch a pretty penny."

"Do what you want with the arrows, keep 'em for all I care." The taller one among them knelt down with a knife. "All I care about is his scalp, that's what they're paying us for." He grabbed his hair and jerked it around, getting a look at his head. "Yep, this will do nicely. What do you say, live or dead?"

Huslu knew exactly two words of their language. His brother had told him to say those words if they ever caught him. It would make it less painful. He struggled to shape the words, but he eventually managed to get them out. "Shoot me."

"What was that, redskin?"

"Shoot me." He'd seen what those words meant. He'd been watching from a tree when they took his brother. "Shoot me."

"Whaddya know, he speaks English." The tall man pulled his gun. "Guess I got enough Christian charity in me to grant him his last request. So long as I get that scalp, doesn't matter much either way." The man put the end of it right up to his temple. "Nothing personal, redskin. Just business."

The very last thing that Huslu felt was gratitude. Then a blast. Searing pain, just for a split second. And then nothing at all.

[lordroel]

Great to see a new update mobiyuz

[mobiyuz]

Jun 10, 2019 12:24:35 GMT lordroel said:

Great to see a new update mobiyuz

Yes, I'm going to try and be active more regularly now.

[lordroel]

Jun 10, 2019 12:26:36 GMT mobiyuz said:

Jun 10, 2019 12:24:35 GMT lordroel said:

Great to see a new update mobiyuz

Yes, I'm going to try and be active more regularly now.

Nice to hear that.

Looking at you part 2 update i wonder if California does not to a Calexit.

[stevep]

Jun 10, 2019 12:26:36 GMT mobiyuz said:

Jun 10, 2019 12:24:35 GMT lordroel said:

Great to see a new update mobiyuz

Yes, I'm going to try and be active more regularly now.

  Excellent news  and sounds like a most promising TL.  The big tell on the future is the mention on California becoming a US state that "No one knew it at the time, but California would be the last state to join the United States."

  Sounds rather like a very bad civil war is coming for the US although it ceasing to exist does sound somewhat unlikely.  Unless that means that the rump US/union/north simply changes its name.  Have a TL that follows a similar path and be interesting to see how this compares.  [Like all my TLs they exits primarily in my head or sometimes a few scattered notes as I'm too lazy to actually write something on-line. ]  Anyway looking forward to seeing what happens.

  The short last section shows how nasty life often was, especially for non-Anglos in north America at the time.   Hopefully something will happen to moderate this, although it seems unlikely at this point.

  Steve

[mobiyuz]

Part 3: Statehood (1853-1860)

Allow us a moment to backtrack and briefly discuss the United States of America before the year 1853. Formed from a union of 13 British colonies in the American War of Independence, the country would be continuously plagued by several existential questions of government and society. The first of these problems was the nature of their government: should the national government have supremacy over the states, or should the states have supremacy over the national government? This was later joined by another question that started as an outgrowth of the first but later took on a life of its own: the debate over whether or not slavery should be legal within the country. Initially confined to the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, its western expansion only further inflamed these tensions and debates within its government. The only means that kept it together by the time that California was admitted as a state was various compromises and partial solutions that effectively kicked the problem down the road for the next generation.

A map inset from an 8th grade history textbook showing the westward expansion of the United States up to its final expansion in 1853. 

This was the nation that California now formed a part of. Facing a lack of attention from Washington D.C., California instead focused largely on its own affairs, which were already alienated from the federal government. As per the Compromise of 1853 that had allowed California to join the Union as a free state, it had unofficially agreed to, between its two senators, send one anti-slavery senator and one pro-slavery senator, which was problematic owing to a lack of pro-slavery politicians in California, again engendering feelings of resentment toward the federal government that they were being made to tailor their representatives in order to appease the slave-owning states out east. This is not, however, to imply that California was automatically a land of equality and opposition to racial bigotry. Almost immediately after statehood, the Californian government began to pass laws restricting things such as interethnic marriage and enacting discriminatory housing policies, creating ethnic enclaves in California's largest cities that were given names such as Chinatown in the case of Chinese immigrants or barrios in the case of Hispanic-Californians.

A photograph of the developing San Francisco Chinatown, showing the crowded,
squalid district in its early days long before its modern, celebrated incarnation.

In 1856, the latest Presidential election would prove to be symbolic of the nation's divided nature. The pro-slavery and pro-state's rights Democratic Party was facing off against the new anti-slavery and pro-federal power Republican Party, pitting James Buchanan (D) against John C. Frémont (R), with the added complication of former president Millard Fillmore running as a third party candidate with the nativist, anti-immigration American Party (more commonly called the "Know-Nothing Party"). The results of the election were a nightmare: in a situation where a candidate needed 149 votes in the (now defunct) Electoral College to win the presidency, Fillmore gained the 8 electoral votes from Maryland and left Buchanan with 143 votes and Frémont with 145. As such, it fell to Congress to select the President, where the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and so put Buchanan in office. Vast parts of the country were left feeling cheated, and California was especially hurt as Frémont had previously been a Senator representing them. The entire country was left feeling unhappy with the result, spiraling further toward catastrophe.

A map showing the electoral results in the Election of 1856, and the way that the Electoral College resulted in no outright winner.

Inheriting a divided nation, Buchanan would proceed to continue the process of dividing the country by allying himself with the south in a desperate bid to keep the pro-slave powers on his side, wrongly assuming that it was the only thing dividing the nation. In truth, the nation as a whole had a new dividing feature: regionalism. New England felt alienated from the South, California felt alienated from the prairie territories, and the Mid-Atlantic states felt alienated from the west. Loyalties were starting to crystallize around regions, almost taking on a nationalistic fervor in scope. And in California, this was accomplished quite easily with its isolation from the rest of the country. Multiple plans were made to build a railroad to California, even to the point of annexing a small territory south of the Gila River to build a southern railroad line, but none were realized, furthering the state's isolation and continuing to drive a wedge between it and the east.

The caning of Senator Charles Sumner, emblematic of the breakdown of reasoned political debate in the days before the war.

As the administration of Buchanan dragged on, it was not immediately obvious that California would be the last state admitted to the union, as there were several efforts to admit new territories as states. The first of these was Minnesota Territory, which petitioned for admission as a free state in 1858, and was immediately blocked by the pro-slavery states that saw the admission of yet another free state as an existential threat to their institution. Concurrent was "Bleeding Kansas", a sort of civil war in miniature over whether Kansas would be admitted as a free state or a slave state, to the point that two separate state governments were formed in Topeka and Lecompton, the former being anti-slave and the latter being pro-slave. Other territories sought admission as well, such as Nevada, Nebraska, and Oregon, but all three sought admission as free states, and were again blocked by the pro-slave lobby. The log jam in Washington was building to a fever pitch.

A depiction of the "Marais des Cygnes Massacre", where 5 Free-Staters were killed and 5 more were wounded.

There was a lot riding on the Presidential Election of 1860. In the election, the Republicans chose Abraham Lincoln to run as their candidate, while the fracturing Democratic Party ran two different candidates: the northern-aligned Democrats put Stephen A. Douglas on the ballot while southern-aligned Democrats put John C. Breckinridge on their ballot, and complicating things further John Bell ran as a candidate for the Constitutional Union Party, splitting the vote 4 ways and resulting in a situation where Abraham Lincoln managed to win the Electoral College but won only 40% of the popular vote. For a brief moment, it seemed that things might be okay. And then everything went to hell shortly afterward.

The results of the 1860 US Presidential Election, where the vote was split 4 ways and effectively served as the final nail in the coffin.