Civil War Continues

Point of Divergence
On April 14, 1865, conspirators including John Wilkes Booth kill President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of War William Seward. President pro tempore of the Senate Lafayette S. Foster became the 17th President of the United States, and the United States claimed that the Confederacy was responsible for the assassinations. Therefore, the United States disregarded the peace agreement and sent troops into Virginia, starting another part to the War.

1865
The Civil war appears to come to a close at General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. However, just five days later, conspirators kill Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and William Seward. New President Lafayette S. Foster believed that Slavery was unethical but constitutional. However, he was close to Johnson and Seward, and extremely upset with what had occurred. Four days after the assassination, Foster ordered George McClellan and Ulysses G. Grant to gather troops and invade the Confederacy. Grant marches West from into Virginia, and after Alexandria is captured, militia forces in Virginia begin to gather. Grant attacks the city of Manassas, and local militia forces are slaughtered, with many scared townspeople evacuating. At this point, the Confederacy declares war on the Union, as they broke their promise from the treaty. Judah Benjamin, the Confederate Secretary of State, urges Britain, Spain, and France to all declare war on the United States. France agrees, because "they can not tolerate a country breaking its promise to what it claims to be its own people", when really this was an excuse to benefit from the Southern cheep cotton. With this raised morale, the South manages to get more people to enlist, but have a shortage of uniforms, ammunition, guns, boats, and nearly everything other than manpower. Britain sympathizes with the Confederacy but does not want to declare war. They agree to supply the Confederacy with weapons, and refine the Southern cotton into uniforms, but the Confederacy takes a loan from the British to pay for this. However, the British North American Colonies join together to form the Dominion of Canada, to protect from a Union invasion. The Union forces generally advance into Confederate territory, trying to punish Confederates. However, the Confederacy, with help from the French and British, are able to regain control of the Mississippi River. Also, Joseph E. Johnston begins to push William T. Sherman's forces southwards, regaining Columbia, South Carolina. Finally, the 13th amendment is passed in December, abolishing slavery.

1866
Lafayette Foster reinstitutes habeas corpus, because it does not make sense to go to war with people for unconstitutional acts while committing unconstitutional acts. Meanwhile, Confederate Congress passes a law that allows the hanging of any blacks captured while in a Union uniform, and a different law restricting Blacks to serve in the military. The Confederacy, without having any gold to back its currency, seemed to not be able to pay its loan, and Britain stopped sending supplies and soldiers. This caused the Union to become slightly more successful, and was victorious in the Battle of Natchez, causing the Union to regain control of the Mississippi. But the Confederacy made a bold move, and decided to invade the Union in the midwest, becoming successful in capturing Evansville, Indiana. This became key, as the Confederacy would go east along the Ohio River. They also regained Augusta, Georgia, continuing to push Sherman back from his campaigns. In September, Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Potomac caused a further Confederate retreat in the battle of Culpepper. In November, outnumbered French troops held out in Gordonsville, causing Grant's forces to go slightly west and protecting the key railroad. In December, Robert E. Lee's forces along with forces from Kentucky led by Simon Bolivar Buckner prepared for battle in Charlottesville. A French messenger arrived in Charlottesville saying that the French troops were pushing Grant westward towards Charlottesville. When Grant arrived at Charlottesville, he did not expect a more than militia forces, and immediately retreated southward. The French, knowing that Grant would not cross back over the Rivanna River, had prepared themselves Southeast of Charlottesville. As Grant retreated, he ended up at  Monticello, and was surrounded (by the Confederates on one side and French on the other). After being attacked from behind by Robert E. Lee's Forces, the Union army disperses, and the most Union deaths of any battle in the Civil War, with 5,500 Union deaths, and over 30,000 Union casualties. Grant manages to escape, but is alone and injured. Also in December, the Confederacy holds a Presidential election, with John C. Breckinridge winning along with running mate Robert M.T. Hunter. That "Centralist" ticket defeated the "Confederalist" ticket of Zebulon B. Vance and Joseph E. Brown, among others.

1867
In January, Japan buys "Russian America", aka Alaska, from Russia, after the US, France, and Britain all turn it down. At the Second Battle of Atlanta, Joseph Johnston picked up forces from Alabama to help him, and overwhelmed Sherman's force, and Sherman was captured. Georgia was never invaded again by the Union, and Atlanta slowly began to rebuild. Jefferson Davis, as he was preparing to leave office, sent Secretary of State Judah Benjamin to Britain to try to get them to join the war. In March, Breckinridge takes oath as the next President, and Jefferson Davis decides to join the Confederate Army. Later in March, the good news returns that Britain will begin to prepare for war with the United States. In April, William T. Sherman was hanged, creating a boost of morale especially in the deep south. Also in April, the Union decided to invade Missouri, attempting to eventually regain the key city of St. Louis, which is on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. By August, the Union had captured all land North of the Mississippi River in Missouri and Kansas, but could not capture anything in the South, including Jefferson City. The Confederacy, after completely outnumbering the Union in the Eastern Front, decides to invade and head towards Washington. They recapture everything in Northeastern Virginia, capturing Alexandria in September. Just days later, Britain declares war. Britain invades and wins the Battle of Plattsburgh in October, just like it did in the war of 1812. In November, after Plattsburgh and also Burlington, Vermont had been captured, Lincoln asks the Confederacy for a peace agreement. In December, people from the USA, CSA, Great Britain, and France all meet in Washington to discuss peace treaty. Another convention is held in Saratoga Springs with the USA and British Canada, but that is not attended by Lincoln. In the Treaty of Saratoga, the only border change that occurs is that a small portion of Northern Maine becomes part of New Brunswick.

1868
The Washington Agreement, granted the Confederacy Independence, and was agreed upon in February. It dealt with which states would be Confederate, with main debates surrounding territories, West Virginia, and Kansas. It was decided that Kansas, the Unorganized Oklahoma Territory, and the Arizona and New Mexico Territories were given to the CSA, and West Virginia stayed with the Union. The Union was not allowed to invade again, and the Confederacy was not allowed to use Cotton Diplomacy in order to receive the diplomatic upper hand. This ends the Civil War, and the Confederacy becomes independent and recognized by the USA, Britain, and France. Later, they get recognition from Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Russia, Prussia, Belgium, Italy, and Mexico.

<h3 class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:16.5pt;">Recovery, Post War, and Barren Years (1868-1876)

<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">1868
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:4.8pt0in6pt;line-height:16.5pt;"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Recovery process begins in the South. Their economy has suffered greatly, and its currency collapses just three months after the war, especially due to the lack of payment to conscripts and lack of taxes. To change this, Breckinridge implemented his new three stepped system. He first created the New Confederate Dollar, with new designs and printing on the front and back. Second, set up mints in Richmond, New Orleans, Memphis, and Montgomery. Finally, he ordered construction of Fort Breckinridge, which would be a major Confederate fortress, Army training Academy, mint, and storage place of all of the government's precious belongings (similar to Fort Knox), and it would be located in South Carolina on the Savannah River, near Augusta, Georgia. Breckinridge then tries to install a tax system. This was heavily critisized by the Confederalists, but he raises the capitation tax of each state. Breckinridge also created a law that stated that the government may buy land from any private owner, and they may own land in new territories. He also allowed the government to own slaves. This allowed the government to get cotton for itself to sell to the British and French Empires for Gold andother goods. In 1868, Breckinridge set the Confederacy on the right path economically. In the North, Foster realizes that he has no chance of re-election, especially as he was never even on the ticket. He makes a law specifying the succession and the appointment of new officials after succession, and the 14th amendment passes, granting citizenship to all African Americans and women. In the new election, Foster is nominated, but knowing that he would not win, he declines. Benjamin Wade was chosen as the Republican Presidential candidate, with his running mate being Henry Wilson. The Democrats chose Thomas A. Hendricks as the Presidential Candidate with James W. Denver as his running mate. The Wade-Wilson ticket won by a large margin, as it was an extreme ticket that showed promise after such a loss.

<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">1869
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:16.5pt;"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Breckinridge makes the new currency official, with denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100, as well as $.50 and $.10. He puts Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, John C. Breckinridge, Stonewall Jackson, John C. Calhoun, Robert Toombs, Judah Benjamin, Andrew Jackson, and Slaves working on the front of the bills, and on the back he puts drawings in memmory of major civil war battles. Breckinridge argues in favor the Confederate Bill Of Rights, basically the same as the United States Bill of Rights, which gets passed in February. He then proposes four more amendments: One defines citizenship, and grants all white men citizenship, regardless of religion (especially for Jews). Another would grant women equal protection under the law, but not the right to vote. A third would restrict Congress from passing any law that would end the internal slave trade. The Final ammendment mainly focused on the judicial system, determining that the Supreme Court could only rule on whether or not laws were constitutional, interstate cases, and cases where the state was sued. This means that for criminal cases, the state court is the highest court of appeals. The Third and Fourth proposals passed congress in 1869, and the First passed just the house in 1869. Breckinridge also set up more naval bases, and ordered the construction of ships to combat the weakness exposed by the Union Blockade. Key bases began construction in Norfolk, Pensacola, Charleston, New Orleans, St. Louis, Wilmington, Galveston, Mobile, and Savannah. Two naval training academies would be in Mobile and Norfolk. In the North, Benjamin Wade is sworn in as the 18th US President. The 15th amendment passes, granting African-Americans the right to vote. Wade focused in on the rights of African Americans, including the passing of a law that ensured equal compensation of Blacks and Whites in the military. He also proposed a bill that restricted non-American citizens from crossing the US-Confederate border to search for escaped slaves, which was not passed until 1870, and supported the Freedmen's Bureau. Wade next focused on Women's rights, trying to eventually sway enough people to grant women the vote.

<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">1870
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:16.5pt;"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 11th Confederate amendment, which defines the roles of the Supreme Court, is passed. John C. Breckinridge decides to install two holidays; One would be Independence Day, celebrated February 3rd. The other would be rememberance day, celebrated April 12. These would remain Confederate holidays for the rest its history. In March, Breckinridge passed a law allowing the federal government to restrict trade with any specific Union state, with the punishment for trading with those states being a fee. This passed a majority of both houses, and in May, Breckinridge restricted trade with California. The supreme court of Texas, however, determined that this law was unconstitutional, calling it a tax that would need to pass two thirds of congress, not just a majority. Texas resumed trade with California. Since this law had already been ruled constitutional, Breckinridge had no choice but to sue the state of Texas. In Breckinridge v. Lubbock, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the state courts can deem federal laws as null if they are determined unconstitutional by a state supreme court. Breckinridge, a centrist, then proposed yet another amendment, which would end nullification. However, this did not pass the Senate as the senate had enough Confederalists to reject it. The 12th amendment passed, defining citizenship in the Confederacy. In December, the 13th amendment also passed, restricting congress from banning the internal slave trade. Breckinridge was beginning to become hated by State governments. Breckinridge, however, was shocked when he heard the Robert E. Lee had died, and Breckinridge saw this as a chance to grant more war heroes high ranking offices. In the North, Ben Wade was pushed back about women's suffrage, but managed to pass the 16th ammendment, granting women the right to vote in local elections in all future territories newly admitted to the Union. Ben Wade raised taxes, especially tariffs, and tried to cut off ties with the Confederacy, as they would collapse without urbanization. Wade ordered the construction of railroads, national banks, and military hospitals, and raised the pension from the Civil War. However, he would soon find that the United states was beginning to lack key resources, and not have enough trade partners to help. Britain, France, Spain, Canada, and the Confederacy all where now against the USA, and they had lost the production of raw materials, especially cotton, in the civil war. In October 1870, the economy began to collapse due to Wade's policies, and in December, Wade lifted almost all tariffs, hoping that this would cheepen trade. Instead, many Federal agencies were bankrupt and began to shut down.

<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">1871
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:16.5pt;">In the South, Breckinridge saw the coming economic crisis in the North, and decided to shut down all trade with each Northern State. He was smarter this time, though, requiring jail time, instead of a fine, for smuggling. No state Supreme Courts ruled this unconstitutional, and the Confederacy isolated itself from the Union, and advised Britain and France to do the same. In 1871, the Union managed to find some trade partners in Spain, Portugal, Russia, and Belgium, though they could not provide anything close to what Britain and France offered to the Confederacy. The Union had realized that they needed good tropical land to grow their own cotton on, and asked Spain to purchase the Dominican Republic. Spain accepted at a price of $10,000,000. In order to pay this, the Union raised taxes and began to print more money. This caused inflation, and an economic disaster. However, with the USA now in control of the Dominican Republic, they set their sights on Haiti. The United states thought that they could capture a key source of Sugar and Rum, and that would help their trade, especially as they sold mass produced goods in the markets of Haiti. In 1871, the United States, just 4 months after buying the Dominican Republic, invaded Haiti, sparking the Haiti Conflict. Haitian President Fabre Gerrard claimed that this was a religious war, and that the catholics where being massacred by the protestants. At this point, the pope denounced the United States, and Russia and Spain began to have a rift with the USA, continuing the decline. In 1871, the Haitian military successfully fended off the Americans, who had no more funding, and won the two month long war. Wade, now basically causing a complete collapse of the economy, asked countries worldwide if they would purchase the Dominican Republic. The only country that accepted was the Confederacy. It was sold to the Confederacy for just $7,000,000 because of the destroyed propoerty, land, and government. The Confederacy happily intoduced the Dominican Territory, and installed slavery there. Fire-Eaters saw this as a chance to reopen the triangle slave trade, as they now had the means to make rum. The Fire-Eaters organized as a political party, becoming the first in the Confederacy to do so, and soon the Confederacy became partisan. The Fire-Eaters appealed to Confederate nationalists by proposing to colonize parts of Western Africa, and began to prepare for colonization. In the Union, the economy experienced a depression, as they had become insulated but not able to be self-reliant. Wade, for causing the collapse of the economy, was blamed by the growing Democratic Party. In November, he was impeached, and put on trial for his actions. However, after finding that he did nothing illegal, just wasn't good at his President, he remained in office. He sought new allies in Europe, and found trade partners in Italy and Germany, who had just unified and also needed trade. They traded with Germany and Italy, and they managed to stop declinining.

1872
The USA was aligned with Germany and Italy, and the CSA was aligned with Britain and France, causing a major rift between the two. to go further, the Confederacy had been proven better then the Union twice now, once in the Civil War and the other in the Haiti Conflict. The newly unified Germany was interested in restarting the Holy Alliance, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia all joined together. They would all become key trade partners and allies of the United States. The United States used their new strength to help rebuild after the Civil War and economic collapse, and Ben Wade decided to no longer have an ambassador to France or Britain, but had an embassador to each of Germany, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who had forgiven the USA after the pope denounced them. The Confederacy passed the 13th and 14th amenments, granting all white men and then all white women born in the lands of the Confederacy who remained loyal to the Confederacy citizenship, but not yet granting women the right to vote. The Confederacy established a small coastal African Colony called New Richmond. Both the USA and CSA prepared for a new Presidential election, the first one that they both had at the same time. The Confederacy had its first election with established political parties, with the Centrist, Confederalist, and Fire-Eater Parties. The Centrists chose Robert M.T. Hunter as their Presidential Candidate, and Albert G. Brown as Vice Presidential Candidate. The Confederalists chose Zebulon B. Vance and their Presidential Candidate again, this time choosing Thomas H. Watts as his running mate. The Fire-Eaters chose Louis T. Wigfall and William P. Miles as their ticket. The Confederalists won, and Zebulon B. Vance was the new President of the Confederacy. In the North, President Ben Wade ran for President, but he had lost support of the Republicans, and was not chosen at the Republican National Convention in Boston. Instead, Hannibal Hamlin was chosen as the Republican Presidential Candidate, and John Sherman would be his running mate. The Democrats chose Samuel S. Cox as their Presidential candidate, and George H. Pendleton as his running mate. Cox defeated Hamlin, as the Republicans had developed a bad reputation after losing the Civil War and causing the economy to collapse. Samuel S. Cox and Zebulon B. Vance prepared to become the new Presidents.

1873
Vance and Cox are sworn in on March 4th. Vance decides to veto almost every bill proposed, as he wants no progress in the federal government, just state governments. Vance, thinking that the state government of Virginia is having issues sharing a capital with the country, proposes to move the capital to a city on the border of two states. He gave congress seven proposed cities for the new capitol (Savannah, GA; Augusta, GA; Columbus, GA; Memphis, TN; Kansas City, MO; Natchez, MS; Vicksburg, MS). Congress, not completely happy about moving, originally did not approve a move. Vance then threatened to veto everything, and make every bill require two thirds of each house to pass any bill. Congress agreed to move the capital, and debated the best city to move to. The favorites were Savannah and Augusta. In the end, Augusta was chosen as it was not as easily accessible in case of war. Vance then spent the reast of the year preparing for the move, and decided to declared Augusta as a separate capital district, similar to the District of Columbia. Georgia became dissatisfied with Vance, as he had taken away some of the voting power of the state. Georgia claimed that this was against his promise of states' rights. This became the main source of attacks from Centrists on Vance. In the North, Cox introduced new policies regarding civil service and westward expansion. Vice President Pendleton managed to get his Civil Service Act passed, changing how government jobs were given. Cox then urged to accept Colorado into the Union, which was accepted in November. He also urged congress to give government owned railroads to get to the west, with users paying a fee, and the money making more railroads. This system, he believed, would create an extreme boom in the crippled American economy, and make the United States an economic Superpower. Cox also tried to improve economic relations with Mexico, which only bordered the United States at California, as he believed that it would help the west succeed.

1874
Vance completes the move to Augusta. He tries to lower federal taxes, but this becomes tough with the expensive move. Vance vetoes as much as he can, and begins to be hated. Centrists such as Thomas Bocock and John Reagan were very mad at Vance, and used this as a source of mudslinging. Since a new congressional election was coming, the Centrists decided to blame the lack of progress on the Confederalists, so that they would win enough seats in the next election to override his vetoes. However, when he vetoed a bill regarding escaped slaves, the two Fire-Eater senators and seven Fire-Eater Representatives were maddened, and began to discuss impeachment. They realized, however, that he had the right to veto. So, they ended up becoming aligned with the Centrists, joined together against Vance. In the North, Cox continued to improve the economy, through his trading with Mexico and railroad construction. The infrastructure of the United States was growing, and more and more people were moving West due to the promise and fresh start they were promised. California began to grow, and Cox urged congress to approve the statehood of Utah despite the Mormon dominance of the state, as the First Amendment protected their rights and freedom of religion. However, Congress did not approve. In the Confederacy, the new election was held, and Confederalists had a major loss, with over 70% of the seats going to Centrists. The Confederalists had only about 25% of the vote, and the Fire-Eaters lost seats, down to about 5%. After the election, the Fire-Eaters merged with even smaller third parties, creating the Conservative Party. This would soon create the Second Party System of the Confederacy, with the Conservative Party soon becoming the second largest party.

1875
In the Confederacy, a sizeable group of Confederalists leave the party and join the Conservative Party. These people are mostly more moderate on the topic of Centrist or Confederalist, and were very conservative in their beliefs. This change in power causes Vance to become nearly useless, as anything he vetoes gets overturned. Because of this, he loses the approval of his cabinet, and in September, his Vice President, Thomas H. Watts resigns. This creates the perfect chance for the centrists to impeach Vance for the corruption and disruption of progress he caused, vetoing more than four fifths of all bills sent to him. Thirteen Articles of Impeachment were submitted, detailing his crimes. The senate, which was now less than one quarter Confederalist, seemed to be hostile towards Vance. Chief Justice West Hughes Humphreys presided over the trial. Before the trial finished, another Confederate amendment was passed, changing the electoral system of the presidency to allow for election of a Vice President by default, and not separate from the President (though at this point, all Vice Presidents were running mates of the President). Vance handpicked John Milton, a Confederalist senator from Florida. Milton was immediately rejected by Congress and Vance was forced to try again. He then asked for Tennessee governor Isham Harris, who was also declined (in a closer vote). After Vance's third choice, Edwin Reade, was denied, the office of Vice President remained vacant. In the North, Cox successfully got both North and South Dakota admitted to the Union, to continue his campaign to improve the economy through westward growth. Cox continued his railroad system, which had really taken off. He also pushed in favor of civil service reform, and sought to improve the postal service in the west. Cox began trade with Japan, as the USA was now a presence in the pacific and Japan owned Alaska, and the two countries exchanged embassies.

1876
In January, the Vance trial ends with the vote of the senate. Of the 28 senators, 19 were required to vote in favor of the impeachment for Vance to be removed. 18 senators were Centrist, 3 were conservative, and 7 were Confederalist. The vote came out at 20-8, and Vance was impeached. With no Vice President, it was ruled that President pro tempore of the Senate, Robert M.T. Hunter, would become President until a special election was held in June. This meant that there would be four months to campaign and hold Conventions to nominate candidates. In February, these conventions were held, with the Centrists in Montgomery, the Confederalists in Mobile, and the Conservatives in Memphis. The Centrists chose Robert M.T. Hunter, technically the incumbent, with John H. Reagan as his running mate. the Confederalists chose Isham G. Harris, with John Milton as his running mate. The Conservatives chose Civil War hero Jubal Early and James Chestnut, Jr. as his running mate. In June, Robert M.T. Hunter was elected, essentially reversing the election of 1872. Hunter remains as President, but vows that he will not run again so that it does not seem unfair as the Confederate Constitution allows for only one term for a President. Hunter, however, also becomes useless, as he vetoes almost nothing in order to go against Vance. Not much is done, but hostilities begin to errupt with the Indians in the Indian territory. In the United States, another Presidential election occurs. Cox and Pendleton are again chosen from the Democratic Party, and Ulysses S. Grant is chosen from the Republican Party with James Garfield as his running mate. Cox and Pendleton were re-elected. Also in this year, Cox signs a treaty with Mexico, which does not state that the two are allied, but creates an informal alliance.

1877
In 1877, Huner begins by unveiling his new plans for a permanent "government square" in Augusta. This includes Presidential and Vice Presidential quarters, a permanent Capitol building, a supreme court building, a treasury, and a civil war memorial. The construction of this does not begin until October. Hunter also begins to use the same westward expansion policy as Cox, beginning the fund for building railroads to the west. Hunter decides to send military units to push the Native Americans in Oklahoma more and more North, close to the border with the United States. The Native Americans in the Arizona Territory are pushed northeast into Oklahoma to eventually go to the same reservations. However, this trek includes enemy tribes, and fightingbreaks out between tribes. The Confederate officers are given order to warn the "Indians" to either agree to peacefully go to reservations, or be shot, or become enslaved. Hunter passed a law making it a crime for Native Americans to fight back against removal, which was punishable by becoming slaves of the Confederate Government. As certain tribes fought back, the survivors would become slaves of the govenrment, which caused the government to gain profit and cut costs. Hunter, however, was sure to keep taxes at the same rate in order to increase the amount of military, including pensions for civil war veterans who had joined the military due to conscription. He also proposed a law that promoted conscription in times of war, so long as drafted soldiers are sufficiently treated and paid. In the North, separate battles with the Native Americans occurred, with many casualties on both sides. Cox spent most of the railroad money this year on improving the railroad accessibility to the Dakota and Montana Territories for the purposes of being able to send military over quicker. As the government was now gaining some sort of a monopoly on the railroads going to the West, Cox decided to finally stop building new railroads and have all of the money go to paying railroad workers, lowering the cost of a ticket, and maintenance.

1878
In the south, Tennessee Senator Gustavus Henry, Georgia Senator Benjamin Hill, Louisiana Senator Judah Benjamin, and North Carolina Representative Burgess Gaither formed the Industrial Party, which was the Confederate rebirth of the Whig Party, in anticipation of the upcoming election. This party focused on policies to modernize the south with industry, thinking that slaves could work factories in cities. This also favored a lack of government intervention once the Confederacy had fully industrialized. In the 1878 Presidential election, the Centrists held their convention in Wilmington, the Confederatlists in Jackson, the Conservatives in Pensacola, and the Industrialists in St. Louis. The Confederalists chose Edwin Reade for President and John Milton as his running mate. The Conservatives chose Jubal Early and Josiah Turner as his running mate, the Centrists chose John Reagan and Thomas Semmes, and the Industrialists chose Judah Benjamin and Gustavus Henry. The Confederalists won no states, the Conservatives won Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina, the Industrialists won Tennessee, Missouri, and Louisiana, and the Centrists won all remaining states. However, there was no candidate who won a majority, just a plurality, so the House of Representatives was allowed to choose, and it obviously went Centrist, causing John Reagan to be President. However, In the 1878 congressional elections, the Industrial Party and Conservative Party each made large gains, and the Centrist party lost its unbreakable two thirds of both houses, and after only three seats in the house and two seat in the Senate remained for the Confederalist Party, it disbanded as Vance had tarnished its reputation. With the Confederalists no longer existing, the issue was no longer the strength of the federal government. For this reason, the Centrists decided to rename themselves as the Democratic Party. In the North, Cox continued to push Native Americans North. They had been pushed into Canada, and the Natives attacked a small Canadian trade camp. This caused Britain to be outraged, as the United States' egotism had caused the death of some of their people. Britain was very mad, and basically gave the Union one final warning before war would occur. The Union, knowing that the Confederacy was allied with the British Empire, asked Japan and Mexico for formal alliances. They both agreed, creating the North American Triple Alliance of Japan, USA, and Mexico.

1879
John Reagan takes his oath, and he orders faster construction of government buildings in Augusta. He also orders higher taxes in order to improve the military for wars with native Americans. He makes many new federal offices such as a patent office and a census administation. He orders the construction of many new army and naval bses, including along the Savannah River to protect the new capital. He improves the postal service, and continues improving railroads. He also organizes congressional committees, such as finance, war, and foreign affairs. In the North, Cox meets with the Prime Minister of Canada, John Macdonald. He tries to improve their relations, and open up trade. Thomas Edison makes a new lightbulb and demonstrates incandescent lighting in Menlo Park. Cox also makes a law regarding female lawyers, which allows them to serve in supreme court cases.