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Description
A little early, but finals are coming up and I don't want to miss posting this. My take on the movie, Django Unchained. Based a bit on Ephraim Ben Raphael’s “Rebel North” series and B_Munro’s take on the movie CSA: The Confederate States of America.

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The destruction of the Candieland plantation shook Southern society to the core. One of the greatest plantations in Mississippi, destroyed by a single slave? What other violence could this inspire? Already, tensions were growing with the North, where abolitionist sentiment grew and demonized the “peculiar institution.” Some of the more radical abolitionists even praised the destruction of Candieland and the small wave of less successful revolts it inspired. Many rich Southerners were left asking themselves, “Are we next?”

For some slaveowners in Virginia, that question would be answered in 1859. Django, the perpetrator of the “Candieland Massacre,” met with John Brown, the famous (or infamous) radical abolitionist, and the two formulated an audacious plan. Together, they would spark a revolution in the South by attacking plantations and recruiting the freed slaves into their militia. This militia would continue attacking plantations until resistance grows too difficult, at which point this rag-tag army would run off to the hills of western Virginia to found a “free republic of Appalachia.” The plan was audacious, suicidal, and insane. Both Django and Brown knew that, but the former wanted revenge, and the latter wanted to be remembered as a martyr.

The “revolution” began in 1859, with a raid on the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry. Brown and Django succeeded in overwhelming the armory’s defenses and getting away before Federal reinforcements could arrive, but the group gained little in the way of actual, useful weaponry. Nonetheless, the group continued with their plan, attacking various plantations in the area. While the group succeeded in liberating and recruiting a few dozen slaves, the Federal response to the attacks quickly became too much, and the abolitionists attempted to flee to their mountain hideaway. While some of the freed slaves managed to get away, a majority of the insurrectionists, including Brown and Django, were surrounded by Federal forces in a large plantation house before they could make their escape. Opting instead for a glorious last stand, the insurrectionists fought back, leading to five of their group dying before both Brown and Django were injured and surrendered.

The trial for the two men would not be as controversial as expected: most abolitionists frowned upon such violence, and at any rate they believed it gave pro-slavery forces in the country the position of the victim. Both men were charged with murder, conspiring with slaves to rebel, and treason. What did cause some controversy was that both men were tried in Virginia; some northerners argued that this would not give Brown or Django a fair trial, as a local jury would be unjustly prejudiced against them. Both men were found guilty on all three charges and sentenced to death.

The true controversy that arose from the actions of Brown and Django came in two forms: the Election of 1860, and the Fugitive Slave Act. The election of 1860 was a chaotic one, as the Democratic Party was divided enough to have two candidates running against one another, and the new Republican Party was on the rise with a divisive platform based on abolitionist ideas. None of the four men running for the office of President won the requisite electoral votes necessary to win the presidency, and so the decision was thrown into the House of Representatives. The House itself was divided, but in the end, compromise candidate Stephen Douglas emerged as the victor.

After assuming the office of the presidency, Douglas then had to deal with the latest controversy driving the Union apart: fugitive slaves. Although the Fugitive Slave Acts were controversial, and many Northern states refused to enforce them, the issue was reignited by the attack on Harpers Ferry. Some southerners hypothesized that some of the raiders had escaped north and, because the North refused to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, they were harboring murderers and traitors. Many plantation owners who were attacked took advantage of this fear by claiming that their slaves were not all accounted for, and demanded Federal aid in bringing them back.

Douglas was faced with a tough choice: enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and lose the North, or decline to enforce it and lose the South. In the end, Douglas chose the former, on the grounds that he would enforce any Federal law uniformly throughout the country, but in truth the decision was made as a compromise to Southern Democrats. Federal troops were thus authorized by the president to enter any state to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, and state officials were ordered to enforce it. More specifically, a nationwide manhunt was conducted for the slaves suspected of taking place in Brown’s insurrection.

Many Northern states considered this to be the last straw. The Federal government was clearly in the hands of the slave power, and the means by which they gained the White House were suspect. Now, the Federal government was not only enforcing immoral laws, but it was also violating the rights of the states by issuing orders to state officials and moving Federal forces into states without the states’ permission. Calls to secede from the Union, ignored in the past, were now seriously considered by state legislatures. Clearly, the Union was a corrupt institution, so it was time to make a new one.

One by one, the Northern states seceded. The New England states and Wisconsin began the trend, spreading slowly southward until almost every in which slavery was illegal had seceded. Together, they formed the Allied States of America, a new country that rejected slavery outright in its constitution. Douglas immediately considered the secession illegal, although the sentiment was not universal. The most radical pro-slavery politicians in the rump United States were glad to be rid of the “damnyankees,” although most realized that much of their commercial potential would be lost with the loss of the North.

The Civil War broke out after fighting between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Maryland, with the Federal government siding with the state government and the pro-slavery forces. The war itself would rage for five years, far longer than anybody had expected, but victory for the ASA was all but assured. Having a superior population and industry, the ASA was also backed by Britain and France, both of which wanted to see a divided America and seen as fighters against slavery worldwide. By 1864, Douglas, already meeting stiff opposition from the southern Democrats, was forced to acknowledge the independence of the ASA.

Both nations would remain bitter rivals, but for the rest of the 19th century, they avoided conflict with one another. The United States continued to expand westward and southward, while the Allied States built up its trade relations with Europe. The next conflict the USA and ASA would fight would be the Great War. Sparked by the collapse of the Austrian Empire, the war would pit two great alliances together: the Allied powers of Germany, Austria, Italy and the United States, and the Entente powers of Britain, France, Russia and the Allied States. The Central Powers would emerge victorious from this conflict, although not without significant losses. Perhaps the biggest losers were Britain and Russia, the former losing Canada and the latter losing their entire country to communism. The Allied States lost some of their western territories to their American counterpart.

The interwar period saw the rise of Leviathanism throughout the world. An ideology based on an extreme version of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, Leviathanism believes the state is the supreme protector and executor of the national will. These ideas became very popular in the defeated Entente nations, arising first in the Allied States. Another strange form of government, Unionism, emerged in Britain and France, and the two governments formed a “United Nations of Great Britain and France,” although this union was mostly on paper only. The Unionists believed that Britain and France should become leaders of a “World Union,” under the ultimate leadership of London and Paris, respectively. The Leviathanist powers in Europe made an unholy alliance with the communist Eurasians against the German juggernaut while the Allied States ignored them and turned to avenging their defeat against the United States. In the meanwhile, the Japanese expanded their empire and ran against both the European colonial powers and growing American interests in the Pacific.

The Second Great War was not one war as much as it was three separate wars fought concurrently and meshing together into one conflict later on. The war in Asia between Japan and China began first, in 1935, while the American conflict began in 1939 and the European in 1940. The Second Great War saw the Leviathanist Allied States defeated, with last-minute aid from the Canadians, and saw most of its territory absorbed into the United States. The Anglo-French Union and the Eurasians succeeded in destroying the German juggernaut, splitting the old German Empire between each other. And in the Pacific, the Americans soundly defeated the Japanese after a brutal invasion that culminated in the world’s first nuclear attack. As soon as the war ended, however, the Silent War between the communist and non-communist worlds began.

The Alliance of Democratic States, a misnomer according to the communists and the neutrals, is led by the United States. A continental juggernaut, the United States is democratic, although the franchise of women and ethnic minorities is still very limited. Politics is dominated by the conservative Democratic Party and its political machine, with a few opposition parties here and there to give the appearance of choice. Politics and society are still very religious, and calling someone an agnostic in society is grounds for slander. Involved in military adventures to counter communism, the United States is the richest and most militarily powerful state in the ADS and is not afraid to show it. The Anglo-French Union, whose constituent members are still effectively independent, are dominated by their “National Constituent Defense Forces,” as is the rest of the “Free Europe Front.” The Indians, perhaps the only true democracy in the ADS, are only members of the ADS because they worry about Chinese dominance of Asia and because the Eurasians have been supporting a communist revolt within their borders for decades.

The Communist International is little better, composed of autocratic states that are just as eager to dominate the world as their ADS counterparts. Incidentally, the great powers of the Communist International have rejected pure command economies in favor of state capitalism, and the Eurasians have even taken a nationalist and religious turn that makes the modern Eurasians seem more like the Tsars of old. The People’s Republic of Canada likes to pride itself on being freer than its allies, but in truth its form of military autocracy is masked behind a sham elected government.

While the Silent War continues, fear of nuclear war has largely abated. Save for the continued presence of Eurasian troops in Germany, and the occasional wild antics coming from the People’s Republic of Germany, the two blocs have little to argue about. Indeed, trade is increasing between China and the ADS, although the Americans are particularly insistent in keeping the embargoes against Canada. However, there is the potential of a devastating war between Communist-backed Iraq and ADS-backed Iran, a war that could restart tensions between the two blocs. Both sides look warily at the deteriorating Middle East situation, hoping that the worst does not happen.

Description
A little early, but finals are coming up and I don't want to miss posting this. My take on the movie, Django Unchained. Based a bit on Ephraim Ben Raphael’s “Rebel North” series and B_Munro’s take on the movie CSA: The Confederate States of America.

---

The destruction of the Candieland plantation shook Southern society to the core. One of the greatest plantations in Mississippi, destroyed by a single slave? What other violence could this inspire? Already, tensions were growing with the North, where abolitionist sentiment grew and demonized the “peculiar institution.” Some of the more radical abolitionists even praised the destruction of Candieland and the small wave of less successful revolts it inspired. Many rich Southerners were left asking themselves, “Are we next?”

For some slaveowners in Virginia, that question would be answered in 1859. Django, the perpetrator of the “Candieland Massacre,” met with John Brown, the famous (or infamous) radical abolitionist, and the two formulated an audacious plan. Together, they would spark a revolution in the South by attacking plantations and recruiting the freed slaves into their militia. This militia would continue attacking plantations until resistance grows too difficult, at which point this rag-tag army would run off to the hills of western Virginia to found a “free republic of Appalachia.” The plan was audacious, suicidal, and insane. Both Django and Brown knew that, but the former wanted revenge, and the latter wanted to be remembered as a martyr.

The “revolution” began in 1859, with a raid on the Federal armory at Harpers Ferry. Brown and Django succeeded in overwhelming the armory’s defenses and getting away before Federal reinforcements could arrive, but the group gained little in the way of actual, useful weaponry. Nonetheless, the group continued with their plan, attacking various plantations in the area. While the group succeeded in liberating and recruiting a few dozen slaves, the Federal response to the attacks quickly became too much, and the abolitionists attempted to flee to their mountain hideaway. While some of the freed slaves managed to get away, a majority of the insurrectionists, including Brown and Django, were surrounded by Federal forces in a large plantation house before they could make their escape. Opting instead for a glorious last stand, the insurrectionists fought back, leading to five of their group dying before both Brown and Django were injured and surrendered.

The trial for the two men would not be as controversial as expected: most abolitionists frowned upon such violence, and at any rate they believed it gave pro-slavery forces in the country the position of the victim. Both men were charged with murder, conspiring with slaves to rebel, and treason. What did cause some controversy was that both men were tried in Virginia; some northerners argued that this would not give Brown or Django a fair trial, as a local jury would be unjustly prejudiced against them. Both men were found guilty on all three charges and sentenced to death.

The true controversy that arose from the actions of Brown and Django came in two forms: the Election of 1860, and the Fugitive Slave Act. The election of 1860 was a chaotic one, as the Democratic Party was divided enough to have two candidates running against one another, and the new Republican Party was on the rise with a divisive platform based on abolitionist ideas. None of the four men running for the office of President won the requisite electoral votes necessary to win the presidency, and so the decision was thrown into the House of Representatives. The House itself was divided, but in the end, compromise candidate Stephen Douglas emerged as the victor.

After assuming the office of the presidency, Douglas then had to deal with the latest controversy driving the Union apart: fugitive slaves. Although the Fugitive Slave Acts were controversial, and many Northern states refused to enforce them, the issue was reignited by the attack on Harpers Ferry. Some southerners hypothesized that some of the raiders had escaped north and, because the North refused to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, they were harboring murderers and traitors. Many plantation owners who were attacked took advantage of this fear by claiming that their slaves were not all accounted for, and demanded Federal aid in bringing them back.

Douglas was faced with a tough choice: enforce the Fugitive Slave Act and lose the North, or decline to enforce it and lose the South. In the end, Douglas chose the former, on the grounds that he would enforce any Federal law uniformly throughout the country, but in truth the decision was made as a compromise to Southern Democrats. Federal troops were thus authorized by the president to enter any state to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act, and state officials were ordered to enforce it. More specifically, a nationwide manhunt was conducted for the slaves suspected of taking place in Brown’s insurrection.

Many Northern states considered this to be the last straw. The Federal government was clearly in the hands of the slave power, and the means by which they gained the White House were suspect. Now, the Federal government was not only enforcing immoral laws, but it was also violating the rights of the states by issuing orders to state officials and moving Federal forces into states without the states’ permission. Calls to secede from the Union, ignored in the past, were now seriously considered by state legislatures. Clearly, the Union was a corrupt institution, so it was time to make a new one.

One by one, the Northern states seceded. The New England states and Wisconsin began the trend, spreading slowly southward until almost every in which slavery was illegal had seceded. Together, they formed the Allied States of America, a new country that rejected slavery outright in its constitution. Douglas immediately considered the secession illegal, although the sentiment was not universal. The most radical pro-slavery politicians in the rump United States were glad to be rid of the “damnyankees,” although most realized that much of their commercial potential would be lost with the loss of the North.

The Civil War broke out after fighting between pro- and anti-slavery forces in Maryland, with the Federal government siding with the state government and the pro-slavery forces. The war itself would rage for five years, far longer than anybody had expected, but victory for the ASA was all but assured. Having a superior population and industry, the ASA was also backed by Britain and France, both of which wanted to see a divided America and seen as fighters against slavery worldwide. By 1864, Douglas, already meeting stiff opposition from the southern Democrats, was forced to acknowledge the independence of the ASA.

Both nations would remain bitter rivals, but for the rest of the 19th century, they avoided conflict with one another. The United States continued to expand westward and southward, while the Allied States built up its trade relations with Europe. The next conflict the USA and ASA would fight would be the Great War. Sparked by the collapse of the Austrian Empire, the war would pit two great alliances together: the Allied powers of Germany, Austria, Italy and the United States, and the Entente powers of Britain, France, Russia and the Allied States. The Central Powers would emerge victorious from this conflict, although not without significant losses. Perhaps the biggest losers were Britain and Russia, the former losing Canada and the latter losing their entire country to communism. The Allied States lost some of their western territories to their American counterpart.

The interwar period saw the rise of Leviathanism throughout the world. An ideology based on an extreme version of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan, Leviathanism believes the state is the supreme protector and executor of the national will. These ideas became very popular in the defeated Entente nations, arising first in the Allied States. Another strange form of government, Unionism, emerged in Britain and France, and the two governments formed a “United Nations of Great Britain and France,” although this union was mostly on paper only. The Unionists believed that Britain and France should become leaders of a “World Union,” under the ultimate leadership of London and Paris, respectively. The Leviathanist powers in Europe made an unholy alliance with the communist Eurasians against the German juggernaut while the Allied States ignored them and turned to avenging their defeat against the United States. In the meanwhile, the Japanese expanded their empire and ran against both the European colonial powers and growing American interests in the Pacific.

The Second Great War was not one war as much as it was three separate wars fought concurrently and meshing together into one conflict later on. The war in Asia between Japan and China began first, in 1935, while the American conflict began in 1939 and the European in 1940. The Second Great War saw the Leviathanist Allied States defeated, with last-minute aid from the Canadians, and saw most of its territory absorbed into the United States. The Anglo-French Union and the Eurasians succeeded in destroying the German juggernaut, splitting the old German Empire between each other. And in the Pacific, the Americans soundly defeated the Japanese after a brutal invasion that culminated in the world’s first nuclear attack. As soon as the war ended, however, the Silent War between the communist and non-communist worlds began.

The Alliance of Democratic States, a misnomer according to the communists and the neutrals, is led by the United States. A continental juggernaut, the United States is democratic, although the franchise of women and ethnic minorities is still very limited. Politics is dominated by the conservative Democratic Party and its political machine, with a few opposition parties here and there to give the appearance of choice. Politics and society are still very religious, and calling someone an agnostic in society is grounds for slander. Involved in military adventures to counter communism, the United States is the richest and most militarily powerful state in the ADS and is not afraid to show it. The Anglo-French Union, whose constituent members are still effectively independent, are dominated by their “National Constituent Defense Forces,” as is the rest of the “Free Europe Front.” The Indians, perhaps the only true democracy in the ADS, are only members of the ADS because they worry about Chinese dominance of Asia and because the Eurasians have been supporting a communist revolt within their borders for decades.

The Communist International is little better, composed of autocratic states that are just as eager to dominate the world as their ADS counterparts. Incidentally, the great powers of the Communist International have rejected pure command economies in favor of state capitalism, and the Eurasians have even taken a nationalist and religious turn that makes the modern Eurasians seem more like the Tsars of old. The People’s Republic of Canada likes to pride itself on being freer than its allies, but in truth its form of military autocracy is masked behind a sham elected government.

While the Silent War continues, fear of nuclear war has largely abated. Save for the continued presence of Eurasian troops in Germany, and the occasional wild antics coming from the People’s Republic of Germany, the two blocs have little to argue about. Indeed, trade is increasing between China and the ADS, although the Americans are particularly insistent in keeping the embargoes against Canada. However, there is the potential of a devastating war between Communist-backed Iraq and ADS-backed Iran, a war that could restart tensions between the two blocs. Both sides look warily at the deteriorating Middle East situation, hoping that the worst does not happen.