The Anglo-American War of 1833 Parts 1 & 2

The Anglo-American War of 1833 Parts 1 & 2 by Steve Payne, Eric Lipps and Scott Palter.

Author says: what if the British Government had a secret agenda during the Crisis of the Union in 1833?

In November 1833,over a month before John C. Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency to join forces with his rebellious comrades in South Carolina, agents provocateurs of Her Majesty's Government secretly arrived in Charleston Harbour, triggering a sequence of events that would lead inexorably to a rematch with their nemesis from 1812, the "Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson (pictured).

Because the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Marquis Richard Wellesley - elder brother of the Duke of Wellington - was intent on "the dissolution of the American Confederacy, which I think would be a great benefit to the civilized world".

"The dissolution of the American Confederacy would be a great benefit to the civilized world" ~ WellesleyOf course the biggest driver for dissolution was purely economic. Because high federal tarrifs might be good for protecting Northern manufacturers from imports, but they were frankly disasterous for the cotton and rice planters in the South who depended on export trade. Worse still, secession was an unspeakable word in Washington, because the loss of the southern states would cost the Federal Government millions in lost revenue.

Invoking a strict interpretation of the Tenth Amendment, South Carolina nullified the tarrifs, infuriating President Jackson who believed that the State was about the destroy the Union. Soon enough Jackson would be dispatching a warship, the Natchez, to Charleston Harbour, to extract - if necessary by force - federal tarrifs from merchant's warehouses.

The War would soon be joined, and yet the conflict would take a shape few anticipated. Because the State of South Carolina overestimated its support in the south. And Andrew Jackson was determined to fight, predicting that "I expect soon to hear that a civil war of extermination has commenced. When everything is ready, I shall join them myself".

The President was also secretly pledging to arrest Southern leaders, and hang them.

"By the God of Heaven, I wil uphold the law!" ~ Jackson Starting with the hero of the South. Because already medals were being issued, with the clandestine assistance of British agents provocateurs, emblazened with "John C. Calhoun, First President of the Southern Confederacy".

In the immortal words of Daniel Webster, America faced "Disunion by Force".

In December 1833,in order to disuade his hot-headed, rebellious comrades from prematurely seceding from the Union, John C. Calhoun (pictured) resigned the Vice Presidency and returned post-haste to his home State of South Carolina on this day.

Of course his own position was a matter of timing rather than principle. Because from the perspective of Washington, he could clearly that there was insufficient support from neighborough states to create the Southern Confederacy that he hoped to head as First President.

His arrival was none to soon. Because unbeknown to the Vice President, agents provocateurs of Her Majesty's Government had been stirring up some real trouble in South Carolina for the previous month. And he was shocked to be presented with medals emblazened with "John C. Calhoun, First President of the Southern Confederacy".

Those medals had been manufactured in London under orders from the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Marquis Richard Wellesley.

Worse, the Royal Navy vessels upon which they were transported had just forced upon Charleston Harbour. The USS Natchez would soon arrive upon the scene. Dispatched by US President Andrew Jackson for the purpose of seizing by force the federal tarrifs by South Carolinians, this vessel would soon become entangled in the first shots of the 1833 Anglo-American War. And the matter of South Carolina's nullification of those federal tarrifs became, rather rapidly, something of a non-issue.

Author says, the facts and sentences are from the source article ("American Lion, Andrew Jackson in the White House" by John Meacham) with the exception of course that whilst Richard Wellesley did write these words, he wasn't the Prime Minister..

Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting fictional blog.