Cope Jacksonians.
The Corrupt Bargain of 1824, did not happen...probably.
I'm sure we're all aware, but just incase, the story goes: During the election of 1824, no one got enough EC votes to win. During the house contingent election, John Quincy Adams made a deal with Henry Clay, stating that if he made Clay secretary of state, Clay would support Adams in the house contingent election (Clay was the very influential Speaker of the House). That way, Adams and Clay (Sometimes Calhoun is also thrown in their) could keep the populist Jackson out of office, and keep all the power in the hands of the elites.
Sounds plausible, right? Wrong. There are two big things wrong with the theory.
- Clay would support Adams, even without the promise of being Secretary of State.
Clay would never support Jackson or Crawford during the election. Adams was a man who shared many of his beliefs. It simply made sense for him to support Adams. Now there's the argument that Clay worked out a deal to become Secretary of State with the desperate JQA, knowing full well that he was gonna support Adams either way. However, this is very uncharacteristic for both Clay and Adams. Adams is not power hungry, and our smartest President. Were Clay have tried this, Adams probably would've seen right through him.
- Adams and Clay did not hate poor people.
A less talked about, but important part of the so called Corrupt Bargain is how it was used by Jackson as proof that Adams and Clay wanted to keep the power in the hands of the elites of the USA. This is a gross vilifying of Adams and Clay, and more proves that Jackson was more power hungry than both Adams and Clay. Adams and Clay did not want Jackson in office because they didn't like his policies and Adams specifically (but Clay did share this belief) believed that Jackson would set a dangerous precedent. John Quincy Adams' biggest fear with Democracy was that the people would elect celebrities. Heroes who were not cut out to the office of the Presidency. He feared Jackson was not cut out for the office of the Presidency, and was just some power hungry man using flowery words to attract the people to his side.
And, he was right.
The lie of the Corrupt Bargain proves that. Jackson completely ruined a man's career, a man who wanted to do all he could to help the US, a man who was the most qualified and intelligent President, all so he could get elected. Adams believed Jackson could do good. Adams wanted Jackson to be Secretary of Wa
... keep reading on reddit ➡Bargain Bin Superheroes
(Arc ?, Part ?: Ito Junko v.s. The Sunrise King)
(Note: Bargain Bin Superheroes is episodic; each part is self-contained. This story can be enjoyed without reading the previous sections. This section has not yet been placed in the timeline.)
You always paid your debts in full, in the Sunrise Kingdom. If you were lucky, you could pay them with your job. If you weren't wealthy enough to pay off your debts in your lifetime, then your children would shoulder the burden. And if you were unlucky enough to have nobody left to pay the debt...
Well. There were always other options. Spinal fluid sold well nowadays; you could get millions of yen for a single ounce. Liver tissue, too. Piss off the Sunrise King enough, and you'd truly find yourself with no body left to pay the debt.
Ito Junko almost laughed at the pun. She'd spent too much time in the Unified Sovereignties, picking up foreign senses of humor while trying to earn enough money to pay her daughter's debt the easy way. She'd hidden from the Sunrise Kingdom's debt collectors for years, hoping that even if she coudln't buy her own freedom, she could set her daughter free. It didn't matter. Her daughter had died before she'd returned, fed to this very fucking pit; with nothing left to fight for, she'd turned herself in shortly after learning the news. The king's debtors had assessed her net worth, found it lacking, and sent her to the final collection.
She could see the pit of slime from the catwalk she was standing on. She wasn't sure what, exactly, the creature was—only that people went in the top, and clean, still-living organs came out the bottom. The other debtors landed on varying ends of the spectrum from catatonic to furious. Knowing that certain death lay ahead, and with nothing else to lose, a few debtors tried their luck. One would-be hero raised a fist, calling upon words of power to bring down the walls—
—and nothing happened, other than a dim gleam of hidden patterns in the walls. The Sunrise King had spared no expense in creating the harvesting chamber; all but the greatest powers and magic would simply fail to manifest in here.
Junko just watched as the young woman who'd tried to escape was unceremoniously shoved off the edge of the platform, screaming as she fell into the slime. Some detached part of her thought she should be feeling something—fear for her own life, perhaps, or pity for the dying woman—but all she could wonder was if her own daughter had
... keep reading on reddit ➡In a shocking turn of events, whilst we may have said prior that Monroe would likely become the next President, even with the election going to the House of Representatives, the results have been shocking to many in our Democratic-Republican strongholds and across the South. For the first time in our great nation's history, the man who didn't even have the majority of Electoral Votes has been elected to another term in our White House.
Needless to say, the anger in the streets for many is real. How could our Congress elect a man who wasn't even in the majority of Electoral Votes when that was the system our great Founding Fathers had agreed upon for this nation to follow? The answer is simple. The Federalist Party themselves.
Ever since Hamilton lost his bid for re-election, the party has been itching for some means to control the White House and here they saw an opportunity. It's shocking to say that many of our former Democratic-Republican Representatives, men who we thought would feel sympathetic to our plight and elect Monroe but instead would rather side with the Federalists instead.
We don't know what must've happened between the two parties but one thing is clear, corruption is in the air. The Federalists effectively now have a Federalist in all but name in the White House. Burr, a man of clear lacking moral character has won himself a second term. The only possible silver lining from this bargain is that the Democratic-Republicans control both chambers of Congress and with Monroe as Burr's Vice President, we can secure our selves in the coming mid-terms and next Presidential Election.
But for now, this can and likely will set a foul precedent for our country. If the man who doesn't even wield a majority in the Electoral College can be renominated and elected into the highest office in the land, what's stopping a tyrant from taking hold in our country? The answer is all down to what party he's apart of.
It is now time for the (Alternate) 1828 Election. President John Quincy Adams is seeking re-election but faces two strong opponents - Speaker of the House Henry Clay and his scorned Secretary of War Andrew Jackson. Jackson and Adams were friends for a while, but broke it off and became enemies due to conflicts of the Indians in Georgia. However, both men HATE Clay far more and if this election goes to the United States House of Representatives, they may try to ally to defeat him.
Andrew Jackson - General Andrew Jackson is the Former Secretary of War, and hero of the Battle of New Orleans. Rising to fame of his Western Populism and career as General, he nearly threw it all away by swinging his votes to Adams in the House Election in order to stop Clay due to a grudge. This was further compounded by Adams making him Secretary of War, which led to allegations of a "Corrupt Bargain" by Jackson and Adams to steal the election away from the American people and Clay. However, due to disagreements with Adams on Indian Policy and other domestic and foreign policy, he resigned in 1827 (not late enough to swing TN to the Dem. Alliance in the Midterms) and has bitterly denounced Adams, though claiming that Clay is just as bad, if not worse than Adams. He is running his campaign in the support of Indian Removal, Attacking Clay and Adams, His Generalship, and his overall popular appeal. After the convention, he has also decided to revamp attacks on the National Bank causing many in the Northeast to go to Adams. His reputation has also been hurt by his alleged "bigamy" due to controversy surrounding his marriage and the "Coffin Handbills' accusing him of murdering Americans. However, he is a favorite among the South and West. Will Old Hickory ride his popular appeal to the White House?
John Q. Adams - Son of President John Adams, John Quincy Adams is the current President of the United States. Although he was able to get most of his bold (and successful) legislation through Congress, his reputation is still in tatters. Factors range from the so-called Corrupt Bargain of 1824 to his perceived eliteness, to even attacks claiming he pimped American girls to the Russian Czar. His tariff bill - brought all the goodies to the West while hurting businesses in his home region. He is an advocate of the tariff, the continued national bank, harmony, and humanity with the Native Americans, less Republican than Jackson or Clay, and attacks Clay for his drinking and gambli
... keep reading on reddit ➡After much vitriol, the results were in. Henry Clay won the Popular Vote with a measly 38% of the popular vote, nowhere near a majority, but still a plurality. In second, to the shock of many, President John Quincy Adams at 34%, and in dead last place, General Andrew Jackson with 28%. But, Presidents aren't decided by the popular vote now. To the electoral college! Jackson would sweep most of the South (except Louisiana), including the key state of Virginia and the 1 electoral vote of Baltimore County putting him at 79 Electoral Votes. Henry Clay wins 101 Electoral Votes including every Western State, Louisiana, and most of the Mid-Atlantic votes. That leaves John Quincy Adams with 81 Electoral Votes, from New England, New York, and some of Maryland's districts.
Due to the 1826 Midterms, in which the ANP won easily, it wasn't going to be a repeat of 1824. But, on the first ballot, Henry Clay would get 12, not 13 votes.
However, on the 2nd ballot, Martin Van Buren, hoping to pit himself against the Westerner Clay in 1828 (to rally the East, Southeast, and Southwest) subtly (and w/o knowledge to his contemporaries) swings a few moderate New York Jacksonians to Clay on the 2nd ballot, giving Clay the win with 13 House Votes to Quincy Adams's 6 and Jackson's 5.
Ok so first things first, I did change the name cuz it's shorter, and yes.
At the 1828 DANC - Democratic Alliance National Convention, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson, and John Calhoun were the three candidates for President. For much of the campaign, it looked like Van Buren would win easily, but the folly of the Tariff of 1828 halted his (and Calhoun's) campaigns gains. Nonetheless, at the Convention, on the 1st Ballot, he had a lead.
However, he wasn't close to a whole majority. On the following ballots - 2nd, 3rd, and 4th it stayed around the same. Vice President Calhoun knew that he had no shot at winning the Convention by this point - his only hope was to somehow make an advance into the Mid-Atlantic states and some of the West, both of which failed. He also knew, that even if he allied with Van Buren, all his delegates would go to Jackson en masse. He also recognized that his delegates on the ground liked him - but also liked Jackson due to his attacks on the Bank. Thus, after some conversation with Senator John Eaton (the man who got Jackson's vote for Adams in 1824) regarding matters of state, he would instruct his supporters in the South to vote for Jackson on the 5th ballot. He would end up getting a majority on the 5th ballot - and nominated unanimously after shifts. For the Vice Presidential Nomination, many names would be thrown out. However, Andrew Jackson and his supporters would help propel Martin Van Buren to the position of VP. Van Buren - although bitter about losing, would agree to become VP for the sake of party unity.
https://preview.redd.it/sc7mc4v8icm71.png?width=251&format=png&auto=webp&s=5c2530f2fda992e03ad4d49b8981cc1fc983687d
K so I was gone for a day and a 1/2 due to work, but I will be able to make this post on the 1828 Election. Also, you'll see it's multiple - that's due to how ho-hum it will be.
The National Republicans, who fret the outcome of the election due to the Tariff, don't even hold a national convention since all their leaders don't see the value it can have. Instead, all the Pro-Adams legislatures nominated President John Quincy Adams for a 2nd term, and to balance the ticket by adding a Pennsylvanian, Secretary of State Richard Rush was chosen as Vice President.
The American National Party, the brainchild of Henry Clay and his Western gang, decided to hold a National Convention. The Presidential nomination was a wash - Clay won unanimously. The first choice for VP - Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri - declined, partly due to his wanting to stay in the Senate and partly due to his opposition to the National Bank. Thus, they decided to nominate, rather easily, Senator William Henry Harrison of Ohio - a supporter of the Bank, Internal Improvements, and Tariffs. He however wasn't being nominated due to his political views. He was being nominated for his actions at the Battle of Tippecanoe - where he protected and saved the American Frontier against Tecumseh.
The stage was now set for a 3-way clash. Andrew Jackson, the fiery hothead populist from the Southwest vs John Q. Adams, the calm, reserved elitist Northeasterner, and Henry Clay a mixture of Western Populism and Pro-Eastern Business.
The election of 1824 led to what is frequently referred to as the Corrupt Bargain. Henry Clay threw his support to Adams in exchange for political favors, resulting in Andrew Jackson being the first candidate to receive the most electoral and popular votes and not become President.
Now, in the real world, Jackson fumed for four years and then was elected in 1828. However, let's say it had gone differently.
March 4th, 1825. President John Quincy Adams is inaugurated in Washington. On March 5th, 1825, our point of divergence, an enraged General Jackson rides into the District with a large number of troops, intending to take the Presidency that was rightfully his.
Path A: General Jackson successfully deposes President Adams and takes control of the federal government.
Path B: General Jackson's coup is put down by forces loyal to President Adams. General Jackson is summarily executed.
What happens next, Reddit?
