No Compromise

No Compromise is a timeline, centred on the United States, that begins in 1850. The POD is the Compromise of 1850; a series of bills that ended the late 1840s dispute between free and slave-holding states. The American Civil War, at least in the conventional OTL form, is averted. The U.S. develops differently - more imperialistically - through the 19th century.

1850s
In OTL 1850, two years after the end of the Mexican-American War, two new territories (New Mexico and Utah) were created, and one new state (California) was admitted. These facts remain the same, but the borders are different. There is still no Wilmot Proviso. The legality of slavery violated (thus ended) the Missouri Compromise Line, setting the precedent of state and territorial supremacy over the federal government on the issue by way of popular sovereignty. No new Fugitive Slave Law is introduced, meaning free states are under no obligation to honour the laws of slave states in regards to runaway slaves. This makes it safer for runaways to settle in the North, which they do in increasing numbers over the course of the decade.
 * 9 September: New Mexico Territory is created, constituting OTL New Mexico (west of the Rio Grande) and Arizona (minus the Gadsden Purchase), and the southern tip of Nevada. Slavery is legal.
 * New Mexico east of the Rio Grande is annexed by Texas, but the federal government does not take over the state's public debt. All claims north of the 36th parallel are revoked to keep the Texas Panhandle.
 * 9 September: California is admitted as a free state with OTL boundaries.
 * 9 September: Utah Territory is created, constituting OTL Utah, most of Nevada, western Colorado (following the Colorado River basin), and the very southwestern corner of Wyoming. Slavery is legal.
 * 20 September: The slave trade (but not slavery itself) is banned by the District of Columbia.

William Walker was a Southern filibuster who started his career in northwest Mexico in the summer of 1853. Backed by supporters of slavery and Manifest Destiny, his goal was to take the states of Baja California and Sonora.
 * 15 October: Walker and 45 men capture La Paz, the capital of the sparsely populated peninsula of Baja, which is placed under the jurisdiction of slave-holding Louisiana.
 * 21 January, 1854: With an expanded force, including many veterans of the Frontier Wars, Walker captures the Sonoran port of Guaymas. The Mexican government takes notice and deploys its military, forcing Walker's men to retreat back to La Paz.
 * 8 May: Lower California Territory is created. Slavery is legal, though impractical.

Pig War
Despite the resolution of the 1846 Oregon Treaty, Anglo-American disputes in the Pacific Northwest remained. These centred on navigation by the San Juan Islands. A boundary commission, set up in 1856, was unsuccessful in spite of a proposed line that bisected the archipelago. The short conflict was the first direct confrontation between British and U.S. forces since the War of 1812, though their respective governments had moved swiftly to resolve it. Tensions between the two powers would continue in the lead up to Canadian Confederation and the Alaska boundary dispute.
 * 15 June, 1859: A dispute between American and British farmers on San Juan Island turns violent (a pig is shot, hence the name of the ensuing conflict). American residents call on the U.S. for protection.
 * 27 July: 66 American soldiers under Brigadier-General William S. Harney take control of the island.
 * 10 August: Colonial governor of Vancouver Island (James Douglas) orders British troops to engage the Americans. Five warships and over 2,000 men (including marines under Rear Admiral Robert Lambert Baynes) are deployed against 461 Americans. San Juan Island is captured with 14 American casualties and over 100 captured.
 * September: British forces moved to take Orcas and Lopez Island, though the forested geography of the island meant an American insurgency persisted. News reached the opposite side of the continent, and weeks of diplomacy followed.
 * October: Ceasefire, followed several days later by the concession of the San Juans (west of the Rosario Strait) to the British. Merchant ships allowed free passage as far west as the Haro Strait, and American settlers were compensated for their loss of land and livestock.