The Year is 1852.
For the last half century, one thing has continually divided the young United States, the issue of Slavery. Over the last 65 years, ever since the dreaded 3/5ths compromise, there has been compromises to try and keep the nation stable and together. However, tensions have continued to boil as one compromise had lead to more problems than the last. In 1820, the Missouri Compromise established that Slavery was not allowed over the 36'30 as Missouri was allowed to become a state with Maine. This was followed by the Gag Rule that made sure abolitionist petitions couldn't be discussed, and the Compromise of 1850, which admitted California as a free state and banning the slave trade, but not the practice itself, in the District of Columbia before making the Territory of New Mexico a slave territory and a much more forceful version of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act.
Now, just two years after the last compromise, tensions have begun to boil as many in the North and the South begin to have deep mistrust for the other. In a time of Crisis, such as this, a leader is needed to end the debate once and for all. Can a great compromise be found and bring the country together, or is it already too late for that?
Potential Democratic Candidates
Former Senator Franklin Pierce (D-NH)
Former Representative Henry C. Murphy (D-NY)
Senator Lewis Cass (D-MI)
Former Secretary of State James Buchannan (D-PA)
Former Secretary of War William L. Marcy (D-NY)
Senator Stephen Douglas (D-IL)
Former Representative William O. Butler (D-KY)
House Delegate Joseph Lane (D-OR)
Senator Sam Houston (D-TX)
Senator Henry Dodge (D-WI)
Former Senator Daniel S. Dickinson (D-NY)
Senator William R. King (D-AL)
Senator John B. Weller (D-CA)
Among Others
Potential Whig Candidates
Commanding General Winfield Scott (W-NJ) [S019]
President Millard Filmore (W-NY)
Secretary of State Daniel Webster (W-MA)
Navy Secretary William A. Graham (W-NC)
Former Representative Edward Bates (W-MO)
Senator James Pearce (W-MD)
Former Representative John W. Crockett (W-TN)
Representative Edward Stanly (W-NC)
Former State Attorney General James L. Petigru (W-SC)
Senator John Bell (W-TN)
Governor Thomas Brown (W-FL)
Attorney General John J. Crittenden (W-KY)
Senator Willie P. Mangum (W-NC)
Senator James C. Jones (W-TN)
Among Others
Other Candidates
Businessman Corneilius Vanderbilt (?-NY)
Former President Martin Van Buren (?-NY)
Senator Salmon P. Chase (?-OH)
Senator John P. Hale (?-NH)
Former Representative George Washington Julian (?-IN)
Former Philadelphia Orphans’ Court clerk Jacob Broom (?-PA)
Former Senator George Troup (?-GA)
Former Representative Lewis Charles Levin (?-PA)
Among Others
Other Parties for Candidates
Free Soil Party
Union Party
Native American/Know Nothing
Southern Rights
Welcome to
As Tensions Boil, an election game based on the 1852 Presidential Election, which was one of the most important elections in the OTL leadup to the American Civil War. Now, this game will be set into three stages : 1) Pre Convention Stage. Starting on March 1st, there will be three turns of one month each that is set up to bring about a candidate rising through the field to be the potential nominee. Since this is the age before primaries, there will be no pre-convention polling for the party's nomination, instead there'll be 1:a number chances (such as 1:1000) of you getting the nomination. This number will fluctuate up and down depending on how well you're campaigning, if you're resonating with the Party's delegates/Party bosses, and how it seems you'll be as the Party's Nominee. This phase will end on June 1st, which will be the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland. Once the DNC is finished, there'll be an inter period between the end date of the DNC and the June 17th, which will be the first day of the Whig National Convention in Baltimore. In both of these conventions, there will be a tier of three for the candidates : Likely, Probable, or Dark Horse. the Likely candidates will be the ones who seem to have the best chance at the outset, the Probables have a lesser chance than the Likelys, but it's still pretty good, and the Dark Horses are very unlikely but they have a chance under the right set of circumstances.
Should you choose a candidate and party that isn't a Whig or Democrat, you'll be free to message me where you'll like your party's convention to take place, when it'll take place, and what your planned ticket is, if you aren't being opposed for that party. Keep in mind that Candidates can be NPCs as well, so remember to try and make deals and get the support of other candidates or you'll be forced to endorse/play as a former NPC, touch the chances of that happening are slim to none. Each day of a convention will be a two irl days long until a Nominee is selected. Once the Whig Convention is over, we get into the third and final stage of the game, being the Fall Campaign that'll end on November 2nd, 1852. This phase will be split into several turns that are two weeks long in the game until the end date. During the campaign, you can travel the country and rally support around you, have a fundraiser, get an endorsement, or challenge your opponent(s) to a series of debates. It doesn't matter if a minor party accepts a debate invite, there just needs to be two agreeing parties. Once two parties have agreed, discuss a time and place with me in the PMs via BCC and also discuss what the issues should the debate be on, if your running mates should have their own debates, and how many there should be. If you don't accept a debate, there'll be no penalty towards you, but expect some interest in your campaign to fall.
Once the end of the game comes, I'll be announcing when the important and OTL close states of Illinois (8 PM EST), Indiana (6-7 PM EST), Kentucky (6-7 PM EST), Massachusetts (8 PM EST), New York (9 PM EST), North Carolina (7:30 PM EST), Ohio (7:30 PM EST), Tennessee (8 PM EST), and Virginia (7 PM EST) (A total of 171 Electoral Votes of the 296 in the Electoral College and 22 more than the required 149 needed to win) close their polls, when important updates happen, and when they're finally called. They'll be other close states depending on the campaign and state by state polling will be given at the start of every turn. Each turn will be five days long irl until the conventions and then will resume after said conventions and in the inter convention phase between the DNC and WNC. If there are any concerns, let me know and I'll be sure to try and sort them out for you.
