The Dominion of America, An Aternate History timeline

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The Great Colonial Rebellion (1776-1780)

Due to Restrictions placed upon Colonial Expantion, resentment of several royal proclemations and the problematic nature of Colonial America's government system, the North American British Colonies erupted into riots after the end of the seven years war and turned to full scale rebellion by 1776. With support from the French, the Colonials had managed to ammass a formidable force relitivly quickly. This force even managed to win several battles throught the corse of the war, however there rebellion would not lead to the new nation they desired.

One why the British forces won this war was of one Patrick Ferguson, a Scottish Sharpshooter that earned his place in the history books by three feets. The first of which being that he fired the shot that killed Colonial "Patriot" Leader George Washington at the battle of Brandywine, the effects of which were not only de-morlization among the Colonial troops, but the loss of a valuble military leader. A feat that earned him the rank of Major. The second was the outfitting of the South Carollina Militia with the Ferguson Rifle, the first Breachloading rifle to be used by any military using a screw base breech to bypass the ramming of. The rifle (dispite having some problems with foulling up) had a quicker rate of fire, could be loaded while sitting or lying down or on horseback and greater range than the smoothbore muskets used by the colonials. by 1778, over two thousand weapons were issued and became immensly popular with the soldiers, and unpopular among the Colonial Forces. The third thing he did was to bring about greater use of sharpshooters. By the end of the war he had received the rank of brigideer general and commander in Cheif of all Colonial Territories.

The War ended with the Hanging of Thomas Jefferson and several other Rebellion Leaders after the Battle of Philadelphia. How-ever due to lack of forces and a susiquent war with france the Revolution did lead to some consetions to keep order thanks largely to former rebellion leader Benjamin Franklin (who was latter knighted, ironicly). The Continetal Congress was given more power as the Colonial Goveners lost much of there ability to Veto preposed actions by colonial governments and all british penal colonial activity in America came to an end. These acts would latter lead to the foundation of our great nation, the Dominion of America.

The French Revolution and Napoleonic War (1789-1814)

During the last part of the 18th century, France was torn into civil war by a revolution between the Peasants and the Monarchist Nobility. Despite having the advantage of having the French army (for the most part) at their command, the Monarchists due to sheer number of Peasants were overthrown and many Monarchists were put to death by firing squad or decapitation. However, this lead to power struggles among the French Revolutionaries on what type of government to assume, and a Corsican born military officer managed to assume command of the country, instituted a massive Draft and began to ready his country for war. This man was Napoleon Bonaparte.

Napoleon’s army first marched against Europe in 1803, his forces had several unmitigated victories. This was due to size, strategy (notably trying to obliterate the enemy army) and the adoption of the Napoleon Rifle. The Napoleon Rifle was a screw-based breechloader identical to the Ferguson save for being adjusted to fire .70-caliber French ammunition. These were based on weapons that were either given or sold (ligitimently or not) to the French Monarchists and Revolutionaries during the Revolution, along with some duplicates totaling to about 2,000 Ferguson type rifles being used during the war. However, neither side in the Revolution adopted it to any major degree. The Monarchists did not adopt it due to military conservatism and lack of standardization, resources, organization and to a lesser degree military conservatism kept the Revolutionaries from adopting to a large degree. Napoleon however managed to get his hands on a Ferguson Rifle and was quite impressed with its rate of fire and range. When he became emperor, he ordered 100,000 Napoleon Rifles for his grand army (an order that was 75% met by 1805) and made subsequent orders for his increasing needs of his army. These weapons proved devastating against Spanish, Protegees, Italian and Egyptian soldiers, especially in the hands of cavalrymen. Much British Forces did make the transition to Ferguson Rifles by 1803, only the Royal Marine Corps, a few cavalry regiments and (due largely to Patrick Ferguson and clashes with Indians) the American Continental Army had made the transition to Ferguson Rifles. After several humiliating defeats against Napoleon’s grande Armee, orders were placed to increase the number of Ferguson Rifles.

The American Continental Forces first moved against Louisiana in 1803, Fearing English Assault Napoleon sent 7,500 soldiers (About a third of which armed with Napoleon Rifles) to augment the Local Militia. The Colonial Forces under Major General Sir Isaac Brock, along with their respected native allies gathered along the Ohio River and pushed down river on a flotilla of rowboats and canoes. This force was over 20,000 men strong and despite facing a minor defeat early on, the Colonial Forces took New Orleans on November 18th.

American forces also played a significant role in Europe. The Royal Colonial Military Academy was established in Boston (something that both Patrick Ferguson and Benjamin Franklin argued in favor of) in 1788, providing thousands of officers and Cavalrymen. The large number of Ferguson Rifles and Sharpshooters among them and high Esprit de Corps made American Soldiers effective against Napoleonic forces across the war’s multiple fronts. The Colonies also provided over 150 warships, American ships and Sailors preformed Admirably at the Battle of Trafalgar and were praised by Admiral Nelson Afterwards. American forces also proved there worth against Napoleon’s Imperial Guard during the Battle of Paris. In all, over 180,000 soldiers and 38,000 Sailors served King and Country against Napoleon and 29,000 men gave their lives during the corse of the war.

Birth of Our Nation, The British North America Act of 1830

After the Colonial Rebellion and Napoleonic Wars, it became clear to Britain that managing the Colonies to closely led to unrest and inefficiency and that granting them additional responsibility and power allowed them to develop more quickly and kept the population more satisfied. The British Empire having formally regretted Mercantilism in favor of Capitalism became more willing to grant them said independence. By this note on July Twentieth, 1830 (Which would then be known as “Dominion Day”) the parliament of Westminster ratified the British North America act and American Constitution, and gave birth to the Dominion of America, a sovereign nation in the British Empire. The Continental Congress was replaced by the American Parliament (Based on the Westminster System) in Manhattan. Thirteen Provinces were cut out of the Old Colonies, which are listed as follows…

Quebec
Ontario (Southern Ontario, mostly English speaking but far less populated than OTL Ontario of the same period)
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
PEI (Prince Edward Island)
Massachusetts (Formed out of OTL Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Mass.)
New York (OTL New York Connecticut and Road Island)
Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland)
Virginia (East and West Virginia)
Carolina (North and South Carolina)
Georgia
Mississippi
Kentucky (Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky)

English was declared the first Official Language and French, the second. Sir General Isaac Brock was elected first Prime Minister of America, a member of the Liberal party of America. Not everyone was happy with this, there was a strong anti Catholic/French sentiment by many clergymen and Orangemen. There were plenty of (then) Conservative Federalists who argued against giving the Provinces to much power. Regardless, this act remains the Foundation of our nation.

The Southern Rebellion (1832 to 1834)

During the First Third of the nineteenth century, many people in the British and the northern provinces developed strong anti-slavery sentiments. Slowly growing in power, the Abolition movements gained power, first stopping the slave trade and in 1833 Britain officially put an end to slavery. However, this lead to problems of it’s own.

The economy of the Southern Provinces of the Dominion was based largely around cotton and relied heavily on imported black Slave Labor and kept said provinces quite wealthy. Abolitionism was believed to destroy their lifestyle and there was plenty of anti British sentiment in Mississippi. Many Southerners served during the Napoleonic War and had firsthand combat experience and there was a high level of weapons. They began rallying people against the Dominion Government, covertly trained an army and on September sixteenth, the Provinces of Mississippi Georgia and Carolina declared there independence of the British Commonwealth in the name of the Southern Confederacy (Using the old Rebel “Stars and Stripes” Flag). Prime-Minister Brock responded to this with the newly formed Royal American Army (RAA) and the Royal American Navy (RAC) quickly formed a blockade. Brock dispatched an army under General Benjamin Howes to deal with the southerners, a man who was confident that only 35,000 soldiers with conventional Fergusons would be sufficient to take down the southern army (consisting of approximately of 50,000 men at the beginning and gathered an additional 20,000 over the Crosse of the war). A third of that force was destroyed by February, and Brock he was withdrawn in favor of General Hasley. He brought in 45,000 fresh soldiers and called upon 10,000 latter on, half of which were armed with the new 1832-Ferguson Caplock Rifle. The Confederacy surrendered on February fourth when Hasley’s army marched to Atlanta, despite some small losses due to Confederate Cavalry. President George R. Gilmer was hung for high treason against the Dominion of America and the last vile vestige of Slavery were swept away from the British Empire. It was the first time the Fledgling Dominion Army saw battle, but not the last.

The Republic of Texas and the British/Mexican War (1835 to 1848)

Up until the Nineteenth Century, Texas was claimed by many people but inhabited by no one but a handful of Indians. The British, Spanish, Mexicans and Even the French claimed Texas but did next to next to nothing to develop it (Texas finally becoming Mexican). However, that began to change.

Starting around 1820, a stream of Colonists began to flow to Texas. After the Southern Rebellion, a slew of Former Southern Confederacy supporters also moved southwards. This had brought a strong Anti-Dominion sentiment. It was an odd mix of people; Englishmen, Frenchmen, Mexicans, Fresh Immigrants from Germany, Half-Indian Outcasts, Veterans, and Poor laborers, Captains of Industry and over 3,000 Soldiers of the Southern Confederacy Army. Many People in Texas thought that Texas should become independent of either the Commonwealth or Mexico. They knew the Royal American Army had been weakened and one of the big facts to the Dominion’s victory was the series of railways that allowed the swift movement of soldiers and equipment to the front line, Something that did not exist in Texas. Many Mexicans wanted independence from Mexico and freedom from Santa Anna.

In 1835, The Republic of Texas declared it’s Independence, this caused an increased in the number of American Settlers. Santa Anna Responded by bringing up his Army, several thousand men strong-armed with Flintlock Ferguson type breechloader Rifles, while the Texas Forces had managed to buy/steal several hundred 1832-Fergusons. He first one the battle of the Alamo, but was latter defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto. This lead to the Foundation of the Republic of Texas, an independent nation between Mexico and the Dominion.

After it’s foundation, the Republic of Texas claimed a large portion of land, a lot of which was also claimed by the Dominion of America. In the 1845 election, the Tory (conservative) party under James Smith came to power. With Smith’s appointment of Prime Minister, he mobilized over 60,000 Royal American Army soldiers (Including the First Negro Redgiment) under General Zachary Taylor and 15,000 additional soldiers from across the commonwealth. The Texans (which were far more numerous than in OTL due to the Southern Rebellion, numbering around 140,000) put up a fight against the Dominion Forces using ambushes, raids (particularly on the Dominion Army’s supply lines), large use of snipers and Scorched Earth Tactics on Bridges and Bison Herds (the primary source of food for the Dominion Soldiers, known as Redcoats), inflicting nearly a thousand casualties against the RAA. However, the Dominion army had several new tricks up its sleeve. These included the Colt-1835 Revolver, these six shot weapons replaced the Ferguson type breechloading Pistol as the sidearm of choice of the Royal American Cavalry (RAC). The Second was the 1842-Ferguson Rifle, developed by Henry Fredrickson. The weapon was a cartridge breechloading rifle, instead of having the Traditional Screw loading Port it had a top loading port with a hinged top breech that was sealed using a wishbone shaped handle and a clamp behind the hammer. This weapon was not only faster firing (rate of fire of 8-10 rounds a minute, compared to the 4-6 of the Ferguson) but also had a longer range (400 meters compared to 200 meters of the Ferguson) and was less prone to the fouling that plagued the Ferguson Rifle. First used by the cavalry, and latter the infantry this weapon was of devastating effect against the Texans. Austin was taken on April 15th, 1846. However, the Dominion’s victories led to Mexico entering the war fearing a Dominion attack. The Dominion responded by moving south into Mexico. The Battles were very much one sided, though a combination of lack of troops and supply lines prevented the total annexation of Mexico This war directly lead to the Provinces of Texas, California, South California (Baja Peninsula) and latter Victoria (Tamaulipas and Nuevo León), Queensland (Sorona, Nuevo León and Coahuila) and British Mexico (Chihuahua) to the added to the Dominion of America. 18,000 Soldiers of the British empire gave there life durring this war, most of them (16,000) due to Disease and unsanitary conditions.

More to come

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