Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Republic Could Not be Kept
The Battle of Saratoga was the high-point
for the Continental Army
The devastating, decade-long War for Independence proved an immense struggle for the fledgling United States, devastating much of the nation and bringing the disorganized “Confederate Government” to the breaking point. By the time of the surrender of General Clinton in the Battle of Norfolk on June 13th, 1786, the United States’ capacity to continue the War had collapsed. The Continental Army, having not received pay for over two years, was demoralized and suffering from a disastrous string of defeats since Saratoga. Desertion was rampant, and the Continental Army had shrunk to below ten thousand men in the field. French troops performed almost all of the fighting against Britain for the last two years of the War. Even General Clinton’s surrender didn’t repair the situation; several of the largest cities and large swathes of territory across the United States were still occupied by the British. This occupation meant that many of the individual states themselves struggled to function, only further compounding the issues on the Confederate Government as a whole.
Perhaps the worst issue for the United States however was that with the total collapse in the value of the Continental Dollar. Since the Articles of Confederation gave the Confederate Government no mechanisms to gather taxes the Confederate Government simply issued ever increasing numbers of paper currency. This currency, the Continental Dollar, rapidly collapsed in value as it possessed nothing to back it. Attempts by Superintendent of Finance of the United States, Robert Morris, to stabilize the currency through foreign loans of specie only saw limited success and ultimately proved far worse for the Government’s financial state. In 1785 the Confederate Government finally went bankrupt, further ruining the economy of the United States. Unable to service their debts, the United States’ relations with most of the European powers collapsed. Stater merchants were denied access to most European ports, dramatically devastating the United States’ economy which relied on exporting goods abroad. Several countries which initially accepted Stater diplomats and had recognized the United States even expelled Stater diplomats over the debt crisis. Outside of her alliance with France, the United States found itself almost totally isolated in the world.
The negotiations in Paris between the US, Allies, and Britain initially seemed to be a breath of hope to the beleaguered Staters. Soon however, it quickly proved that things were not quite as most of the Stater diplomats hoped. The British absolutely refused to negotiate with Staters, instead only negotiating with the French and other Allies. Disastrously, the French accepted this and the negotiations plodded on slowly between the European powers. The dismay which settled in across the United States as the marginalization of their diplomats became public only further fragmented the fragile unity of the struggling United States. On September 13th, 1786, General Benjamin Lincoln led a mixture of disgruntled veterans of the Continental Army and Massachusettsian Militiamen in carrying out a military putsch against the government of the State. The putsch was mostly successful, with the new government in Boston successfully peeling Massachusetts away from the rest of the United States in the form of the new Republic of Massachusetts. The Massachusettsian District of Maine remained loyal to the old government, and remained in the United States as the last vestige of the State of Massachusetts.
While revered in Massachusetts today,
Lincoln's legacy is generally seen negatively by
modern historians.
Lincoln’s Putsch was particularly troubling for the government of the United States as it only emboldened certain radical elements within the Continental Army. General Horatio Gates, the Hero of Saratoga and only moderately successful American general, had long quarreled with the Congress of the Confederation over the lack of pay for the soldiers of the Continental Army. With Lincoln’s Putsch, Gates decided to take action in response. On November 1st, 1786, General Gates led the entirety of what remained of the Continental Army from their encampment in Wilmington, Delaware. to march on Congress, then assembled in Annapolis. Not even an appeal by the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington could stop General Gates’ march. On November 6th, Gates’ forces entered Annapolis and surrounded the Maryland State House, where Congress was assembled. In an impassioned speech, Gates demanded that the Congress make an agreement to pay the Continental Army or else be deposed by the Army.
Horatio Gates
the American Sulla
Congress would partially capitulate to Gates, defusing the crisis by offering to call forth a Constitutional Committee to establish a new government. This new government was planned to be one which would have the power to actually extract some form of taxation and pay the soldiers what they were owed. This was enough for Gates and his men, who promptly returned to Wilmington. Across the United States, tensions rose and the stability of the fledgling nation further crumbled. Rhode Island and Georgia joined Massachusetts in secession, while attempts at secession by New York, Virginia, and North Carolina only failed due to intimidation as disgruntled veterans of the Continental Army turned out to support General Gates. A quiet unease settled across the United States as the threat of a mass-uprising of the veterans of the Continental Army forced change at a manic pace. On March 15th, 1787, the Constitutional Committee would assemble in Annapolis. Over fifty-five days, the delegates of the Committee would draft a Constitution for the United States, the first of many.
Hastily drafted, and far from perfect, the first Constitution of the United States is often known as the Bayonet Constitution due to the threat of the Continental Army. The Confederation Congress was abolished and replaced by the Senate of the United States. Unlike the Confederation Congress, the states were represented in the Senate by the proportion of free men in each state. In order to appease the smaller states that remained in the United States, an additional house of the legislature, the Council of the States, was established. The Council held veto power over all legislation passed by the Senate, and each state was permitted to send one tribune to the Council. The new Senate was also given power to extract taxation revenues from each state in proportion to their populations, and to enact tariffs, finally enabling the new government to pay the unruly soldiery.
Additionally, along with the reforms of the legislature, was the establishment of the executive branch. The primary executive was the Consul, elected for a single year term by the Senate. The Consul was obligated to enforce the law through limited edicts, and was granted the authority to pardon individuals and veto legislation. Uniquely among governments of the time, the Consul was explicitly banned from having authority over the military. Instead, the Commander-in-Chief was a separate office in the executive branch, being appointed by the Senate.
But most importantly of all in the Bayonet Constitution was the abolishment of the Republican government and the establishment of the office of the King of the United States. Vaguely described within the Constitution, the exact nature and purpose of the Kingship was ill-defined and much speculation on the intent of the Kingship began to fly immediately upon the new Constitution becoming public knowledge. Historians have pieced together numerous theories as to why the Bayonet Constitution established a monarchy, but no definitive answer has ever emerged. It is, however, generally accepted that the drafters of the Bayonet Constitution did not seriously consider the plan for a Kingdom of the United States as being workable. Instead, the most common theory is that the drafters of the Bayonet Constitution added the Kingship to the Constitution as an active form of sabotage to try and prevent the Bayonet Constitution from being accepted by either the states or the people.
One of the most infamous opponents
of the Bayonet Constitution,
Thomas Jefferson died returning to the
United States from France in early 1787.
In what survives of their letters, several of the drafters of the Bayonet Constitution wrote that they believed a popular revolt against the forces of General Gates and the Continental Army would occur when the Bayonet Constitution was revealed to the US public. Several attempts by the mercantile and planter elite of the United States during this period to try and trigger this desired uprising all failed. The general population, who had suffered the brunt of the tribulations and misery of the War of Independence, were too exhausted to cleave to any idea of revolution. Fears of a cataclysmic civil war, which would surely smash up the last vestiges of prosperity, and anger at the seemingly self-serving nature of the pro-Republican politicians, instead led to the general population rallying behind the Continental Army and General Gates.
Consul Thomas Mifflin found himself
the public scapegoat for many of the woes
the United States faced, despite his
best attempts to assuage them.
And so, to the surprise and horror of many, the Senate of the United States would successfully assemble for the first time on September 3rd, 1787. Thomas Mifflin from Pennsylvania would be elected Consul by a narrow vote. Mifflin, a long-time supporter of General Gates, was initially perceived to be a mere puppet of the General, but he swiftly moved to distance himself from Gates to some degree. Surprising many, Mifflin would see to it that Gates was not appointed Commander-in-Chief, instead placing Colonel Josiah Harmar in the office. As part of the political horse-trading that occurred, Mifflin attempted to place the problem of the Monarchy on the backburner with the leader of the small overtly pro-monarchy faction, Nathaniel Gorham, being appointed Regent of the United States.
The initial successes of the Mifflin government soon proved insufficient to build a properly stable government. On October 19th, the full text of the Treaty of Paris would be read for the first time by the Senate. It was, simply, a disaster for the United States. New York City was to remain in the hands of the British, the lands of the Northwest were conceded to the natives as the “Indian Reserve,” and even obligated the United States to pay an indemnity for all British shipping seized during the conflict. With little prospect of any better terms, and facing the resumption of war with Britain if the Treaty was not signed, the Treaty of Paris would be signed by the United States on November 1st, 1787. The “Dictate of Paris,” as the Treaty came to be known, would sour the perception of the Mifflin government despite the necessity of signing the treaty. Riots would break out in several cities, and protests would burn effigies of Mifflin across the United States.
A troublesome and rather transparent schemer,
Nathaniel Gorhamwould remain a steadfast figure of
Monarchist politics in the United States
until his death.
Mifflin’s government would face another crisis as 1787 came to an end. Regent Gorham had been in secret communication with the Kingdom of Prussia, trying to woo the brother of King Frederick II, Prince Henry, to accept the office of King. Gorham’s communications became public over the New Year, forcing Mifflin’s government to take action. Prince Henry rejected the offer of becoming King of the United States, which deflated some of the initial trouble, but nevertheless the gears were turning. Two factions swiftly emerged on the matter of the King. The first pushed for Stater to become King, for the United States government to appoint one of their own to become King. The other however believed that a foreign King was necessary as such a figure could serve as a unifier for the divided nation, as well as provide legitimacy for the United States in her dealings with Europe.
While the supporters of the domestic King were in the majority in the Senate, pragmatic concerns ultimately made their position untenable. There were only two realistic domestic candidates to be elevated to the Kingship, George Washington and Horatio Gates. Washington flatly declined to accept the crown, and no attempts to convince him to accept the position worked. Gates, on the other hand, while expressing some willingness to accept the position ultimately also declined, publicly declaring that he would “rather be remembered as Sulla, not Caesar.” With no other viable options, the only real option for the monarchy moving forward was to find a King from abroad.
At this point, a number of Stater politicians would propose to do away with the Kingship, to abandon the whole project which few within the United States were truly enthusiastic for. But across the ocean, events were moving at pace and an unlikely candidate for the throne was about to emerge.
The Battle of Saratoga was the high-point
for the Continental Army
The devastating, decade-long War for Independence proved an immense struggle for the fledgling United States, devastating much of the nation and bringing the disorganized “Confederate Government” to the breaking point. By the time of the surrender of General Clinton in the Battle of Norfolk on June 13th, 1786, the United States’ capacity to continue the War had collapsed. The Continental Army, having not received pay for over two years, was demoralized and suffering from a disastrous string of defeats since Saratoga. Desertion was rampant, and the Continental Army had shrunk to below ten thousand men in the field. French troops performed almost all of the fighting against Britain for the last two years of the War. Even General Clinton’s surrender didn’t repair the situation; several of the largest cities and large swathes of territory across the United States were still occupied by the British. This occupation meant that many of the individual states themselves struggled to function, only further compounding the issues on the Confederate Government as a whole.
Perhaps the worst issue for the United States however was that with the total collapse in the value of the Continental Dollar. Since the Articles of Confederation gave the Confederate Government no mechanisms to gather taxes the Confederate Government simply issued ever increasing numbers of paper currency. This currency, the Continental Dollar, rapidly collapsed in value as it possessed nothing to back it. Attempts by Superintendent of Finance of the United States, Robert Morris, to stabilize the currency through foreign loans of specie only saw limited success and ultimately proved far worse for the Government’s financial state. In 1785 the Confederate Government finally went bankrupt, further ruining the economy of the United States. Unable to service their debts, the United States’ relations with most of the European powers collapsed. Stater merchants were denied access to most European ports, dramatically devastating the United States’ economy which relied on exporting goods abroad. Several countries which initially accepted Stater diplomats and had recognized the United States even expelled Stater diplomats over the debt crisis. Outside of her alliance with France, the United States found itself almost totally isolated in the world.
The negotiations in Paris between the US, Allies, and Britain initially seemed to be a breath of hope to the beleaguered Staters. Soon however, it quickly proved that things were not quite as most of the Stater diplomats hoped. The British absolutely refused to negotiate with Staters, instead only negotiating with the French and other Allies. Disastrously, the French accepted this and the negotiations plodded on slowly between the European powers. The dismay which settled in across the United States as the marginalization of their diplomats became public only further fragmented the fragile unity of the struggling United States. On September 13th, 1786, General Benjamin Lincoln led a mixture of disgruntled veterans of the Continental Army and Massachusettsian Militiamen in carrying out a military putsch against the government of the State. The putsch was mostly successful, with the new government in Boston successfully peeling Massachusetts away from the rest of the United States in the form of the new Republic of Massachusetts. The Massachusettsian District of Maine remained loyal to the old government, and remained in the United States as the last vestige of the State of Massachusetts.
While revered in Massachusetts today,
Lincoln's legacy is generally seen negatively by
modern historians.
Lincoln’s Putsch was particularly troubling for the government of the United States as it only emboldened certain radical elements within the Continental Army. General Horatio Gates, the Hero of Saratoga and only moderately successful American general, had long quarreled with the Congress of the Confederation over the lack of pay for the soldiers of the Continental Army. With Lincoln’s Putsch, Gates decided to take action in response. On November 1st, 1786, General Gates led the entirety of what remained of the Continental Army from their encampment in Wilmington, Delaware. to march on Congress, then assembled in Annapolis. Not even an appeal by the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, George Washington could stop General Gates’ march. On November 6th, Gates’ forces entered Annapolis and surrounded the Maryland State House, where Congress was assembled. In an impassioned speech, Gates demanded that the Congress make an agreement to pay the Continental Army or else be deposed by the Army.
Horatio Gates
the American Sulla
Congress would partially capitulate to Gates, defusing the crisis by offering to call forth a Constitutional Committee to establish a new government. This new government was planned to be one which would have the power to actually extract some form of taxation and pay the soldiers what they were owed. This was enough for Gates and his men, who promptly returned to Wilmington. Across the United States, tensions rose and the stability of the fledgling nation further crumbled. Rhode Island and Georgia joined Massachusetts in secession, while attempts at secession by New York, Virginia, and North Carolina only failed due to intimidation as disgruntled veterans of the Continental Army turned out to support General Gates. A quiet unease settled across the United States as the threat of a mass-uprising of the veterans of the Continental Army forced change at a manic pace. On March 15th, 1787, the Constitutional Committee would assemble in Annapolis. Over fifty-five days, the delegates of the Committee would draft a Constitution for the United States, the first of many.
Hastily drafted, and far from perfect, the first Constitution of the United States is often known as the Bayonet Constitution due to the threat of the Continental Army. The Confederation Congress was abolished and replaced by the Senate of the United States. Unlike the Confederation Congress, the states were represented in the Senate by the proportion of free men in each state. In order to appease the smaller states that remained in the United States, an additional house of the legislature, the Council of the States, was established. The Council held veto power over all legislation passed by the Senate, and each state was permitted to send one tribune to the Council. The new Senate was also given power to extract taxation revenues from each state in proportion to their populations, and to enact tariffs, finally enabling the new government to pay the unruly soldiery.
Additionally, along with the reforms of the legislature, was the establishment of the executive branch. The primary executive was the Consul, elected for a single year term by the Senate. The Consul was obligated to enforce the law through limited edicts, and was granted the authority to pardon individuals and veto legislation. Uniquely among governments of the time, the Consul was explicitly banned from having authority over the military. Instead, the Commander-in-Chief was a separate office in the executive branch, being appointed by the Senate.
But most importantly of all in the Bayonet Constitution was the abolishment of the Republican government and the establishment of the office of the King of the United States. Vaguely described within the Constitution, the exact nature and purpose of the Kingship was ill-defined and much speculation on the intent of the Kingship began to fly immediately upon the new Constitution becoming public knowledge. Historians have pieced together numerous theories as to why the Bayonet Constitution established a monarchy, but no definitive answer has ever emerged. It is, however, generally accepted that the drafters of the Bayonet Constitution did not seriously consider the plan for a Kingdom of the United States as being workable. Instead, the most common theory is that the drafters of the Bayonet Constitution added the Kingship to the Constitution as an active form of sabotage to try and prevent the Bayonet Constitution from being accepted by either the states or the people.
One of the most infamous opponents
of the Bayonet Constitution,
Thomas Jefferson died returning to the
United States from France in early 1787.
In what survives of their letters, several of the drafters of the Bayonet Constitution wrote that they believed a popular revolt against the forces of General Gates and the Continental Army would occur when the Bayonet Constitution was revealed to the US public. Several attempts by the mercantile and planter elite of the United States during this period to try and trigger this desired uprising all failed. The general population, who had suffered the brunt of the tribulations and misery of the War of Independence, were too exhausted to cleave to any idea of revolution. Fears of a cataclysmic civil war, which would surely smash up the last vestiges of prosperity, and anger at the seemingly self-serving nature of the pro-Republican politicians, instead led to the general population rallying behind the Continental Army and General Gates.
Consul Thomas Mifflin found himself
the public scapegoat for many of the woes
the United States faced, despite his
best attempts to assuage them.
And so, to the surprise and horror of many, the Senate of the United States would successfully assemble for the first time on September 3rd, 1787. Thomas Mifflin from Pennsylvania would be elected Consul by a narrow vote. Mifflin, a long-time supporter of General Gates, was initially perceived to be a mere puppet of the General, but he swiftly moved to distance himself from Gates to some degree. Surprising many, Mifflin would see to it that Gates was not appointed Commander-in-Chief, instead placing Colonel Josiah Harmar in the office. As part of the political horse-trading that occurred, Mifflin attempted to place the problem of the Monarchy on the backburner with the leader of the small overtly pro-monarchy faction, Nathaniel Gorham, being appointed Regent of the United States.
The initial successes of the Mifflin government soon proved insufficient to build a properly stable government. On October 19th, the full text of the Treaty of Paris would be read for the first time by the Senate. It was, simply, a disaster for the United States. New York City was to remain in the hands of the British, the lands of the Northwest were conceded to the natives as the “Indian Reserve,” and even obligated the United States to pay an indemnity for all British shipping seized during the conflict. With little prospect of any better terms, and facing the resumption of war with Britain if the Treaty was not signed, the Treaty of Paris would be signed by the United States on November 1st, 1787. The “Dictate of Paris,” as the Treaty came to be known, would sour the perception of the Mifflin government despite the necessity of signing the treaty. Riots would break out in several cities, and protests would burn effigies of Mifflin across the United States.
A troublesome and rather transparent schemer,
Nathaniel Gorhamwould remain a steadfast figure of
Monarchist politics in the United States
until his death.
Mifflin’s government would face another crisis as 1787 came to an end. Regent Gorham had been in secret communication with the Kingdom of Prussia, trying to woo the brother of King Frederick II, Prince Henry, to accept the office of King. Gorham’s communications became public over the New Year, forcing Mifflin’s government to take action. Prince Henry rejected the offer of becoming King of the United States, which deflated some of the initial trouble, but nevertheless the gears were turning. Two factions swiftly emerged on the matter of the King. The first pushed for Stater to become King, for the United States government to appoint one of their own to become King. The other however believed that a foreign King was necessary as such a figure could serve as a unifier for the divided nation, as well as provide legitimacy for the United States in her dealings with Europe.
While the supporters of the domestic King were in the majority in the Senate, pragmatic concerns ultimately made their position untenable. There were only two realistic domestic candidates to be elevated to the Kingship, George Washington and Horatio Gates. Washington flatly declined to accept the crown, and no attempts to convince him to accept the position worked. Gates, on the other hand, while expressing some willingness to accept the position ultimately also declined, publicly declaring that he would “rather be remembered as Sulla, not Caesar.” With no other viable options, the only real option for the monarchy moving forward was to find a King from abroad.
At this point, a number of Stater politicians would propose to do away with the Kingship, to abandon the whole project which few within the United States were truly enthusiastic for. But across the ocean, events were moving at pace and an unlikely candidate for the throne was about to emerge.