1792: The Fourth Year
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Lumine
LumineVonReuental
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« on: August 05, 2018, 02:29:56 PM »

1792: The Fourth Year
January 1st to December 31st, 1792

A New Temporary Capital

In the News!

Government completes first half of term
Madison defies skeptics by holding coalition together

Revenue trouble back on the horizon
Assumption of Pennsylvania debt, new capital construction, Indian War substantially raise the deficit

War in Europe! France against Austro-Prussian Coalition!
Will America be dragged into war soon?

Indicators:

Economic Prosperity:

Very Low (High debt, rising deficit after new spending)

Faction Popularity:
(meant to reflect areas in which the faction exists)

Western: Highly Popular
Hamiltonian: Popular
Whig: Moderate
Patriot: Moderate
Democratic Republican: Unpopular
Radical: Unpopular
Tory: Very Unpopular

1.- Turn: This turn lasts across the whole year or 1792, following the same model as the previous turn. As always, you're free to publish in the press, fight in the National Assembly, pursue intrigue and try and influence the course of events, with the added difference that this turn will feature political parties.

New Capital, New Problems
Government temporarily settles on Baltimore, new issues up for debate


BALTIMORE - By late December the last of the National Assembly deputies left the city of Philadelphia, where they had resided for the past few years as the first post-Constitution capital of the United States of America. The Westsylvania Rebellion had taken its toll on the city as residents had become increasingly angry at deputies for what they percieved was a disgraceful betrayal of their state against Western seccessionism, resulting in protests and even riots. And while the crisis appeared defused after the referendum and the controversial deal between First Secretary Madison and the Radicals, it was clear to many retaining the capital in Philadelphia was a mistake.

While much smaller than the previous city (and boasting at best some 15,000 residents), Baltimore became filled with activity in the first days of 1792 as the National Assembly, the First Secretary and the President took residence in the city and resumed their work, the local population steadily starting to increase as hotels were quickly filled and houses began to be built. The city itself warmly recieved the incoming government and deputies, and prepared for that they envisioned to be at least a decade of economic gain thanks to the new relevance of the city and its harbor. Not far from there and at Havre de Grace, the Maryland State Government had granted the necessary land to start building the new District of Columbia, an expensive project which is expected to yield results by 1801 or 1802.

Already the new capital is expected to see new and controversial debates not only on economic issues, but on matters of increased relevance such as the increased cost of mail and newspapers - and the subsequent trouble to political factions and parties to ensure a higher share of readers -.

The Age of Partisanship!
Harsh debates across North and South, factions start evolving into political parties


UNITED STATES - While it was believed by many that politics without political parties - a dream once promoted by the late Gen. Washington - could be possible in America's new democracy, events such as the extremely harsh 1789 campaign, the Westsylvania Rebellion and the ongoing debate on the size of government have made it impossible for political debate to remain focused on personalities rather than more organized groups. Originally loose political factions begun to expand and cement their hold on given regions and individuals as defections within the originally fluid National Assembly became less common, and with several leaders having put hard work into organizing their supporters it is expected that the factions will begin describing themselves as fully formed political parties at the onset of 1792.

This formation is also helped by the latest set of harsh political debates across North and South, which have begun to draw new political battle lines. At the North and particularly in New England, the Whigs and the Hamiltonians have gained prominence as the strongest factions defending radically different points of view: the Whigs standing up for the "Republican" vision of the government while constantly - and controversially - subjecting their political opponents to accussations of wanting a monarchy - led by the popular Gen. Hamilton -; and the Hamiltonians defending controversial (but popular in the North) policies such as the National Bank, along with a general point of view regarding a larger government. And while Democratic-Republicans, Tories and Radicals all have their own strongholds (particularly the now seemingly unassailable Radical Pennsylvania), the main battle between Morris and Adams is set.

Across the South the situation is also highly controversial, as both Patriots and Democratic-Republicans fight for supremacy in a battle which has seen First Secretary Madison's faction steadily lose ground. Much of it has been related to a sentiment extensively exploited by the Patriots, which is to say that Madison's percieved pragmatism and moderation (which has won plaudits by many moderates and swing voters) has led to his abandonment of ideas popular across much of the South which the Patriots appear to be championing. Particularly machiavellian Radical propaganda portraying the First Secretary as the "hero" of Pennsylvania Radicals and the assumption of Pennsylvanian debt have inflicted large blows on the main government party, but the Patriots themselves have suffered an enormous blow after the Blount disaster in Cumberland which others have also skillfully exploited. Against this background of division the Hamiltonians still retain some bastions of support, and the Western faction continues a steady rise as their support begins to take extra strenght in the South - at the cost of losing support in states such as Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York -.

The Bloody Indian War
New leadership takes over as new armies are formed, raids are commonplace


OHIO - In the aftermath of the bloody Battle of Fort Washington and running low on men and supplies, Gen. Alexander Hamilton formally resigned his commission and requested a replacement, situation which allowed the General to retire with his reputation intact while drawing criticism among his opponents of withdrawning before it was prudent to do so. First Secretary Madison then appointed - with the support of the President - General Anthony ("Mad Anthony") Wayne to leadership of the army and the renewed Indian campaign, and Mr. Benjamin Stoddert to organize the new United States Navy.

Wayne has immediately begun the work of organizing logistical support for the new campaign as militias return home and martial law in Pennsylvania is lifted. As a result, it may take some months for Wayne to organize a large-enough force to confront the Indians in a open field, resulting in a temporary stalemate as Indian and American raids continue to take place across the region in a bloody - and expensive - war of attrition. It is believed by the public, however, that one General Wayne gets started the Indian tribes may be in for quite a surprise.

War breaks out in Europe!
Louis XVI forced to wage war against Austria, Austro-Prussian army invades!


PARIS - With Louis XVI increasingly turned into a puppet of the new National Legislative Assembly, the rise of the Republican forces meant that the push for an aggressive foreign policy only grew stronger as the days piled up with the threat of Austrian invasion continuing to grow. With the Girondin faction having taken a pre-eminent role in the Assembly, Louis XVI was soon pushed and pressured into declaring war at the danger of losing his crown should he refuse, an implicit threat that forced the King to cave in. With his support, France declared war on Austria, a dangerous move which was followed by Prussia declaring war on France in return. As a result France is now at war with two of the strongest powers in Europe, and the first signs of defections across the remnants of the professional army have forced the National Legislative Assembly into raising new volunteer forces to fight for France.

What this war may bring is yet to be seen.
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Lumine
LumineVonReuental
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« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2018, 01:19:59 AM »

A New Party System!
Several defections across National Assembly, Gov. James Gunn impeached by the Patriots,
Whig and Republicans battle each other for defectors

Through ruthless political maneuvering Mr. Adams's Whigs are now the largest government party

UNITED STATES - There was significant speculation across the United States as the leading political figures of the nation started unveiling the new - and evolved - versions of the political factions which fought their way from the end of the Constitutional Convention to the beginning of 1792, and the result led to a series of stunning developments across the first few weeks of the year. From the Government side, Madison, Adams and Wilkinson renewed their old factions into the rebranded Republican, Whig and Farmers parties, and in what seemed at the beginning a huge coup for the Government they managed the stunning combination of the Pennsylvania Radicals into the Whig Party in a move which at the beginning substantially increased the majority of the government and created a most curious alliance between Mr. Bache and those who had been his opponents.

On the side of the Opposition - with only Mr. Jay left to announce whether the Tories would rebrand themselves -, Mr. Morris led the Hamiltonians into the new Federalist Party alongside Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Muhlenberg made the surprising move of creating his own Pennsylvanian Party (which may come to benefit him given recent events), and the Patriot faction split after Gen. Jackson turned the faction into the Patriot Party, the increasingly moderate Gov. James Gunn abandoning the faction alongside a handful of his loyal supporters to create the new nationwide Centre Party. An immediate consequence followed this last development as a furious Jackson ordered the impeachment of Gunn, who was left without firm standing on the Georgia State Legislature as most of the Patriots remained in the party and their legislative majority was enough to remove the Governor. While much scandal within Georgia has followed this move - as the motives for impeachment seemed clearly political -, Gunn has found himself without an office and replaced by a Patriot loyalist.

The events in Georgia were followed by an equally sordid affair in New England, as a member of the Gilman family held talks with Republican deputies to have them join the Whig Party under the threat of a Federalist takeover in New England. And while the crafty move yielded large benefits as both deputies in New Hampshire and Massachusetts turned to the Whigs - turning both states into apparent electoral bastions -, the uncovering of the affair by the press led to huge controversy as the remaining Republican caucus denounced the Gilmans for "political treachery" within the government coalition, and the remaining Northern Republican and the Republican Senators in the North proclaimed their continued loyalty to Mr. Madison. Most ironically these news were then followed by the switch of the New York Whig deputy to the Republicans, citing the Whig-Radical alliance as "unacceptable and dangerous". The aftermath of these events was also  followed by a most curious reaction in Pennsylvania itself, where in open disgust at Mr. Bache's entrance on the Whig Party and Madison government a substantial group within the Pennsylvania State Legislature abandoned Bache to become independents. How large the blow to Bache's actual popularity is remains to be seen, but many expect the by-elections to be a test of whether the Radical-Whig merge is indeed popular or not.

This was eventually completed with several defections and switches across the National Assembly including:

(1) The defection of the Augusta Patriot, a North Carolina Patriot and the Delaware Whig to the Centre Party.
(2) The defection of the Farmers's New York deputy to the Federalists.
(3) The defection of the Massachusetts/New Hampshire Republican deputies to the Whigs, alongside Mr. Bache and the Radical Massachusetts deputy.
(4) The defection of the Whig New York deputy to the Republicans.

Which in turn, left as a surprising development the news that the Government was hanging onto a majority of a single seat, and that Adams's Whigs now outnumbered the Republicans 14 to 13.


NATIONAL ASSEMBLY:

Federalist: 19
Whig: 14
Republican: 13
Patriot: 9
Farmers: 8
Centre: 3
Tory: 2
Pennsylvanian: 1

Government Majority: +1 (35 out of 69 seats)

SENATE:

Federalist: 12
Whig: 7
Republican: 7
Patriot: 4
Farmers: 2

Government Majority: Tie (16 out of 32 seats)

GOVERNORS:

Federalist: 5
Whig: 5
Republican: 3
Farmers: 2
Patriot: 1
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Lumine
LumineVonReuental
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« Reply #2 on: August 11, 2018, 09:32:59 PM »

Yellow fever in Baltimore!
First Secretary resigns!

Hundreds dead, Madison almost killed by disease, Adams takes over

BALTIMORE - The news that a handful of citizens living near Baltimore harbor had been struck with fever and died at the beginning of August did not raise more than a few concerned questions at first, and then an increasing sense of unease as the disease began to rapidly spread on the sweltering heat and the dead became a dozen, and then a hundred. By September-October the dreaded yellow fever took over Baltimore as the population took a massive heat, and the deputies of the National Assembly - alongside President Hancock - were forced to take refuge elsewhere or stay indoors, a factor which dramatically slowed down the legislative work in the new temporary capital.

A critical moment ensued in mid-October as First Secretary Madison, who had been taken precautions due to his bad health, was struck with the fever after one of his servants became afflicted. For five days he battled against death as several people around him - including most of his doctors - died as well, the purging and the bloodletting taking a toll on his body. Left to the brink of death, Madison nonetheless soldiered on into November while the colder temperatures seemed to drive the fever away, and eventually Baltimore itself was considered freed from it at the end of December, 1792. Hundreds were dead, and the doctors brought in from New York City reached a grim conclusion: the First Secretary would live and he could concievably make a recovery, but the damage to his health was much too grave to allow him to continue his inmense duties - indeed, the cabinet was told it could easily kill him -.

With an unprecedented situation before them, President Hancock was advised by the cabinet that the only response to the crisis was to appoint Second Secretary Samuel Adams to lead the government, a course of action the barely conscious Madison assented to with a nod. Thus ended the tenure of James Madison in power - at least for now -, at the still remarkably young age of 41 and after three and a half tough years leading the nation. His task had not been easy and it had not escaped controversy, but for the most part newspapers proved kind with Madison after his departure - many softening the harsh tone taken with him while in power -, paying tribute to America's first First Secretary and acknowledging that the sort of challenges facing the nation would have put any other hand in a tough spot as well.

As the National Assembly prepared to gather once again at the start of 1793 and with at least two years until the latest date for a new election, the increasingly shaky coalition of Republicans, Whigs and Farmers would now feature Mr. Samuel Adams (aged 70) as its new leader.
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