[WEF 1845] Registration Thread
As it says on the tin. Register your characters here, and feel free to add their families as well if you'd like. You'll see that there's no format for the latter; essentially, I'm fine with a multi-paragraph history & list of members for it.
Character signup format (insert image here if you want)
Name:
Date of Birth: (include age at game start; note that you must be at least 35 to be POTUS, 30 to be a Senator, and 25 to be a Representative)
Ethnicity:
Religion:
Occupation:
Position: (President/Vice-President/Senator/Cabinet member/Congressman/General/Admiral)
Home State: (if you're a settler in a territory or Mexican California/New Mexico, you can just put down 'Western Frontier' unless the territory you're inhabiting happens to be an organized territory of the USA, like Wisconsin Territory)
Allegiance: (at game start the only options will be USA or Texas)
Party: (Federalist, Whig or Democrat; independents didn't really have a good record at this time)
Money: (useful when building province improvements or campaigning in election season)
Personality: (at least one paragraph of 6 sentences, as usual)
Biography: (at least one paragraph of 6 sentences, as usual)
Issues:
Ethnicities Yankee: You're an American of primarily English stock and come from the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. You're likely part of the progressive cutting edge in America, always on the forefront of any fight for social justice - whether it's the abolitionist crusade against slavery, temperance, women's suffrage, toleration for Catholics, etc. On the matter of abolitionism, you're likely to go a step further than most other abolitionists outside of New England and call for equal civil rights as well. That said, if you happen to belong to the business elite, few will expect you to support economic welfare for anyone beyond what's needed to secure their support for your other political programs; as far as your fellow Yankee plutocrats are concerned, that's the social version of making a good investment, but should well be the extent of their charity. You are especially likely to have been a merchant and/or naval officer; your political views are likely to stray towards the radical end of the spectrum, but favor centralization (ex. sweeping federal powers, a strong standing military in peacetime, taxes ranging from moderate to borderline oppressive, a national bank); and you are likely to be a Presbyterian, Congregationalist or some kind of Liberal Christian.
Tuckahoe: You're an American of primarily English stock and come from the coastal (ie. suitable for plantations) areas of the Southern states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. You are likely part of the conservative wing of American politics, looking down on the filthy masses of Yankee scum who threaten your Peculiar Institution and possibly even the 'white trash' from the backwoods of your states who are barely a step above the Negro in your eyes, unless you happen to be a populist (or not even then, if you're an insincere populist who just wants the votes of poor whites) and always out to look for opportunities to snap up more slave states to expand your power-bloc on the federal level. You are especially likely to have been a major planter prior to the war, the mirror image of the landed gentry across the Atlantic; your political views are likely to stray towards the conservative end of the spectrum, though you can favor centralization as long as it's clear the defense of slavery is going to be a key role of that central authority, and you're likely to favor expansion both West and South to extend the reach of Slave Power; and you are likely to be an Episcopalian or Southern Baptist.
Cohee: You're an American of mixed Scottish and Irish heritage from the backwoods of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. You hate everyone who ain't one of your people - the eggheaded elitist Yankee bankers and industrialists of the Northeast, the arrogant planters who lord it over you like they're a bunch of kings, and the Negro slaves who are lower than dirt - and thus you - and who you can still safely look down on; the big question is, who do you hate least? Because that's the group you'll find your greatest allies in. You are likely to be a soldier, a yeoman farmer or if you've really lucked out, a planter; your political view is likely conservative, but with a good dose of populism and expansionism both to the West and the South; and you are especially likely to be a Southern Baptist.
Middle American: You're an American of primarily English stock and come from the central states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. You're the most versatile of your countrymen, politically speaking - you can be for or against slavery to any extent, for or against the integration of immigrants to any extent, for or against a Bank to any extent, whatever. When it comes to your job, likewise you can work as almost anything, except obvious no-gos like that of a Native Leader. If there's any real political fault that can be associated with your people, it's that they're kind of...bland compared to everyone else. You can be of any religion besides Native Spirituality, though Quakers are especially common in Pennsylvania for obvious reasons.
Midwesterner: You're an American of primarily English stock and come from the Midwestern states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, oand Michigan. Yours is a people known for their extremes - you're either a hardcore abolitionist who believes blacks should be free from the chains of slavery (civil rights optional), or you're somebody who would get along very well with the planter barons of Dixie; you either adore the federal government or loathe it to bits; you're either a friend of the Catholic immigrants or a staunch nativist who would tremendously appreciate it if they crawled back to whatever hell they came from; and so on - there's very little middle ground in the ironically named Midwest. You are especially likely to have been a soldier or yeoman farmer before the war; your political views are likely to stray towards the radical ends of the spectrum, though the one thing you can agree on is that the US should expand out west to the Pacific; and you're likely to be any brand of Protestant.
Irish-American: You're a recent Irish-American immigrant, likely driven here by the policies of the British government back on the Emerald Isle. The so-called 'native' Americans look down on you for your poor origins, foreignness and (most likely) Catholic faith, but in turn you're just waiting for the day when you can achieve the American dream and laugh in their faces. You're especially likely to be a Catholic of humble origins; your beliefs will tend towards the fiscally liberal and socially conservative ends of the spectrum; and you're likely to be a Federalist or Whig, depending on whether you're still stuck in the lower classes or managed to climb up to the middle class respectively - they are after all the only parties who don't inherently loathe your guts.
German-American: You're a recent German immigrant. Maybe you fled political persecution for your liberal leanings back home, or you were just some poor nobody from a family of poor nobodies who just wanted to live a better life like the Irish. Also like the Irish, you're hated by an awful lot of the so-called 'native' Americans who call you 'Dutch' (a corruption of Deutsch), but you intend to show them all up one day. You're more likely to hail from the Northern or Mid-Atlantic states than the South and to have come from either middle-class (if you're a liberal intellectual) or poor (if you're not) origins; you trend economically and socially liberal; and you are equally likely to either be Catholic, or to belong to one of the many Protestant sects.
Anglo-Canadian: You're a Canadian of primarily English, Irish or Scottish stock, likely to hail from the new states of Canada/New Brunswick/Nova Scotia/Newfoundland/PEI. Your ancestors might've fought for Britain, but when they were repaid with martial law and a shutdown of their traditional British liberties you decided maybe your distant American cousins were on to something after all. You are likely to be a yeoman farmer if poor, a rising business tycoon if you come from the bourgeoisie, or a gentleman if you're from a landowning family; you are likely to be an economic conservative, but are open to Catholics (hey, you've had to live with them for neighbors for almost 100 years now) and are probably staunchly abolitionist; and you are likely to be an Episcopalian, that is to say an Anglican with the serial numbers filed off, or else some kind of Protestant (including the Liberal Christian traditions).
French-Canadian: You're a Canadian of French heritage, most likely coming from the new state of Quebec but also possibly from Canada or Nova Scotia (if you're a surviving Acadian). Turns out the British had no intention of giving up their oppressive policies, so you've decided that maybe the Americans to the south were right after all - and though a lot of them don't seem that friendly to Catholics, the 'Federalists' who reached out to your people sure are, and they don't seem to be some easily ignored minority either. You're likely to be either an urban-based businessman or a seigneur (hereditary landowner) from the countryside; you'll likely be a liberal progressive if you come from bourgeoisie roots or a stolid Catholic conservative if you hail from the seigneurial elite; and whether you agree with the Church's temporal power or not, you're almost certainly a Catholic like your forefathers, considering that Protestant immigration to Quebec was banned under French rule and few bothered to make the move except to set up new businesses under the British.
Creole: You're a free fellow of wealth and power, likely to be of mixed race (even if it's just one black ancestor from over 100 years ago) and to hail from Louisiana. Your ancestors were mainly French and/or Spanish settlers, and you might well look lily-white, but it wouldn't surprise you if somewhere back in the family tree you had a black or Indian ancestor; while the Spanish and French governed Louisiana this wasn't a problem, but then the States made their Louisiana Purchase and brought their bizarre concepts of race and a so-called 'one-drop rule' into play. Irregardless of that however, you've managed to hold on to a measure of power in Louisiana with the help of your fellow Creoles, both the lily-whites and those of mixed race (gens du coeleur libres) alike. You're likely to either be an urban businessman or a planter; politically, you'll trend conservative and might well support slavery, but will likely support protection for Catholics; and you are most likely to be Catholic, Episcopalian or to belong to a Liberal Christian sect if you happen to oppose slavery especially fiercely.
African-American: You're a free black man. Whether you were born free or became that way (legally or illegally), you've now become politically active. You may be descended from the Maroon community that came here from Jamaica, or you may simply come from 'native-born' African-American stock; you can hail from (or at least have fled/moved to) the North - it's not like the Southern states are going to let any free black man step up and speak his mind after all - but especially New England, the Canadian states or the Midwest, where anti-slavery sentiments are strongest (though it's also less safe to voice them in that last one); and you can follow any religion, though you're not at all likely to be an Atheist/Agnostic - if nothing else, your people are known for their fierce religious devotion even in the face of systematic oppression. You are especially unlikely to get along with any planters regardless of ethnicity or creed, and though you will heavily favor radical politics & can be of a centralist or anti-centralist tendency, the nationwide abolition of slavery in whatever country arises from this mess (enforced by gunpoint if necessary) is extremely likely to be your highest priority.
Native American: You're a Native American from a tribe living in American borders, such as the Cherokee, Seminole, Comanche, etc. The Americans have had a mixed record when it comes to dealing with your people at the best of times, but for whatever reason you have decided that continuing to side with them is the best way forward for your people as a whole. You're especially likely to hail from the Western Frontier for obvious reasons; you're likely to follow one of the Protestant sects or your traditional Native Spirituality; and you will probably favor decentralization alongside radical or conservative politics. Whether you define yourself as a conservative or radical though, the settlement of new treaties forbidding further white migrations into your lands should be your highest long-term priority, for obvious reasons.
Religions Episcopalian: You are an Episcopalian. Prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution/the Canadian Flip your forefathers were Anglicans of variable devotion, but since it's rather difficult to continue calling themselves that while they're also making war upon the British King, they opted to transfer their prayers and oaths to the cause of America while still preserving as much of the central hierarchy & traditions of the Anglican Communion as they could - and as a man of tradition you've followed in their footsteps. You are likely to be a moderate or conservative, and especially likely to be wealthy and/or Southern (or Canadian).
Lutheran/Reformed: You're what one could call a 'normal' Protestant, or in other words, part of the religious majority of the United States - Lutherans, Presbyterians, (normal) Baptists, Congregationalists, what have you. You are likely to have come from a poor or middle-class background in contrast to the primarily upper-class Episcopalians, and to favor moderate or radical policies. You may believe that any future central government should be weak, as surely as your church does not rely on any intricate hierarchy, or you may not allow your faith to have any place in your politics at all; you are generally not likely to be as fanatical as your Calvinist cousins, to be sure.
Calvinist: You are part of one of America's many Calvinist churches and sects. You are an heir to the Puritan tradition of the 16th and 17th centuries, the same zealously disciplined men and women who set up communities such as the ever-famous Plymouth. You are almost assuredly a zealous believer, perhaps even an outright fanatic who wants to see everyone else converted or destroyed, but one who favors the same decentralizing tendencies mirroring the lack of organized hierarchy in your faith. You're not at all likely to get along with those of other faiths, especially not the Papists you fully expect to sell the Revolution out to the Roman Antichrist or those supposed 'Episcopalians' who are in truth Anglicans.
Southern Baptist: You belong to the Southern Baptist Convention, which has recently split from the Baptist Triennial Convention over the issue of slavery - specifically, the other Baptists weren't willing to outright endorse it, and instead contented themselves with a stance of neutrality. Don't those fools know that God hates those too weak to make a choice between good and evil just as much, if not more, than He surely hates those who actually are evil, like those damned abolitionists? Your church infuses pro-slavery rhetoric with fire-and-brimstone teachings, and it shows in your reactionary opinions on things besides slavery too. Southern Baptists obviously should come from the Southern states.
Liberal Christian: You belong to one of the newer, more liberal Christian sects, such as the Society of Friends (Quakers), Unitarianism (which argues against a Trinitarian concept of God) or the Universalist Church that stresses universal reconciliation (the idea that all things, regardless of whatever sins they've committed, will eventually return to God's fold). These churches are most popular in the Northern and Western United States, as opposed to the Episcopalian hierarchical church or fire-and-brimstone sects that dominate in the South. Needless to say, as a follower of these liberal churches, you're likely to have liberal political beliefs yourself, chiefly the abolition of slavery in the United States.
Catholic: You're a Catholic, a fast-growing minority in America at this time. In many states you are looked upon with suspicion at best, at worst the same crowd of so-called 'nativists' keep burning down your business, but in Canada and the cities of New England at least you can find acceptance; across the other Northeastern states, Maryland and the Midwest, your brothers and sisters in the Church have had to battle these 'natives' for acceptance, sometimes and hopefully always with the ballot box, but all too often with the bullet box. You may be an ordinary believer or a zealot, but either way you're likely to be Irish or French, to favor government protections for your faith and perhaps even for other religious minorities, and to have little love for those close-minded Calvinist and Southern Baptist fanatics, truly Cromwell and his Puritan boors reborn.
Native Spirituality: You follow the spiritual traditions of your people, the same traditions they were practicing well before the strange white invaders came with their One God and His Son. You might be animists, or you might have tribal shamans, or what have you - it all really depends on which tribe you come from. Either way, you've got to be a Native American to have this religious background.
Mormon: You're a Mormon! Congratulations, everyone else hates you. And for what reason? Sure, you follow a different creed than they, so different in fact that they say your people aren't even Christians at all, but then doesn't the First Amendment guarantee your freedom of religion? Unfortunately, intensive persecution and a lack of government response has forced you to relocate from state to state, and now this piece of probably-uninhabited land way out into the west your leaders are calling 'Deseret' is looking mighty fine indeed. You're likely to come from the Midwest or Far West.
Atheist/Agnostic: You follow no creed, in truth an agnostic or outright atheist. How can you be expected to follow something you have no physical evidence for? God and the gods are for the superstitious commons to follow, not a man of reason like you, no - if there's anything you believe in, it's human reason & will, and (probably, unless you're an extreme skeptic) the physical universe around you. You're more likely to be a Northern Thinker than a Southern one, those weak-kneed fools who can't seem to live without the concept of any deity to cling to.
Occupations Business Tycoon: You are one of America's leading 'merchant princes', whether your big business specializes in one area (such as the construction of ships or the trade of luxury silks) or is more of a generalist conglomerate with a thumb in every pie, and turn a considerable profit every year from Atlantic and/or inland trade routes. The snobbish planters of the South might see your kind as upjumped middlemen, but you know full well that in this day & age, centuries-old bloodlines and famous ancestors no longer provide you with power - money is power, and you stand to make a lot more of it than they do, so who gives a toss what they think? You may also have previously served in the navy. Business Tycoons have a baseline income of $15,000 & make an additional $3000 per year for every trade agreement the US makes with a foreign nation. Business Tycoons also have a bonus to commanding ships.
Gentleman: What might a rich, highborn Tuckahoe, a Louisianan Creole of high esteem, a Quebecois seigneur and some Cohee from the backwoods all have in common? Well, how about being the owner of a decently-sized to massive agrarian estate and scores of slaves/tenant workers? That's enough to get you considered a gentleman, at least by enough people that the term sticks. You prize yourself on your family's proud lineage, possibly reaching back to the 17th century (if you're a Tuckahoe) or your diligence and inexhaustible drive to reach the top (if you're a more recent arrival to America's planter elite). The merchant prince might think his $ makes him worthy to stand in the same room as you, but without an aristocratic lineage and fine breeding, you know he can never be more than a pale shadow of your kind's glory. Cotton, tobacco, sugar, indigo, rice - all of it makes you a great profit, and the best thing is you don't even have to actually lift a finger to rake in all those pounds when you have so many others to do it for you! Gentlemen have a baseline income of $20,000 pounds & 1d5 X $2000 per year (representing that year's harvest). Planters also have a bonus to commanding cavalry.
Lawyer: You're on pretty much everybody's go-to list when they're in trouble, and their hit-list when they aren't. As a highly educated man who makes a good amount of money from his profession, you have a clear path to power, no matter how many so-called gentlemen and self-pitying paupers look down on you as an 'elitist snob' (oh the irony, especially in the case of the former!) or how many merchant princes would slander you for daring to expose their shadier dealings. Lawyers make $8000 + 1d6 X $2000 (representing their clients' payments) a year.
Preacher: You're a preacher of any religion besides Atheism/Agnosticism (for obvious reasons). You've been spreading the Good Word to the masses for much of your life, now it's time to spread some revolutionary fervor instead. You could be a Protestant preacher, an Episcopalian bishop, a Jesuit still hoping that the Holy Father will eventually rescind his suppression of your order, or a Native shaman, whatever. Religious Leaders gain $5000 + 1d6 X $500 per year (representing donations from your flock) and will have a bonus to generating support for their chosen party in speeches or posters.
Soldier: You're a career soldier. You are almost certain to have fought in the French & Indian War or even in the Seven Years' War in Europe, and possibly even older wars than these depending on your age. You have a baseline income of $4000, Congress can also opt to give you bonuses for battlefield successes or as political favors. You can take a bonus to commanding infantry, cavalry, artillery or ships.
Doctor: You're a man of medicine, educated to tend to wounds instead of actively causing them. Medical knowledge at this time was just starting to undergo tremendous leaps in development, so you might well be an innovator responsible for coming up with more effective painkillers, antiseptics, etc. in your line of duty as well - and somehow, your life-saving skills have made you popular enough to land yourself a political career. You have a set income of $12,000 a year.
Scientist: You are a man of science, a well-to-do inventor and/or philosopher who alone (in your head, at least) holds the key to the future. Conservative elements might fear you for (in their minds, anyway) trying to surpass God, anti-intellectual brutes might attack you for being 'egg-headed' and 'foppish', but you'll show them all one day! Preferably with that lightning cannon they no doubt fear you've been working on, or some other device of mass destruction only you had the genius and ambition to realize. Scientists have a baseline income of $5000 per year + 1d4 X $300 per year and will have a bonus to researching any projects (weapons, cheaper railroad materials, etc) Congress authorizes.
Yeoman Farmer: You were a humble farmer, likely living in the Appalachians or beyond, before you became remotely important on the political stage. You've probably not yet forgotten where you came from, and though you may not have actively sought out your elevation to the halls of power, you know full well that this is your chance to improve the lot of your fellow farmers - or maybe you'll just trample upon them in a bid to join the established elite, now that they've served their purpose in getting you within reach of a seat in the upper class. Farmers make a baseline $1000 per year + 1d4 X $1000 (representing that year's harvest in their home state), and have a bonus to commanding light troops in particular.
Workers' Leader: You were part of the urban poor. You've experienced homelessness, starvation and the contempt of those above you first-hand, at best you've gotten semi-steady jobs as a menial worker for one of the great merchants (up North), a planter's farmhand (down South) or another farmer's contract labor (out West) but even then you've had to live from paycheck to paycheck, but now you've somehow emerged as a leader for your fellow urban workers and are in a position to improve their lot, lending your voice to they who have none in the halls of power - or maybe you've just been scheming to round up their support as a springboard into the established elite yourself. Workers' Leaders make a baseline $500 + 1d6 X 1000 per year.
Positions President of the United States: You're the elected head of state & government of the US, combining political leadership and a military role as Commander-in-Chief in your person, and you must face an election every 4 years. In addition to your aforementioned responsibilities, you wield the right to appoint your own cabinet with the Senate's approval and the power of executive order - presidential decrees that have the full force of the law behind them, which allow you to direct officers and agencies of the executive branch without first running through Congress. You make an additional $5000 per turn as long as you're the POTUS.
Vice-President of the United States: You're the above's #2 man, and next in line should he die in office. Under the current Constitution, you aren't specifically voted for, but instead must be the man with the second-greatest number of votes to become VP. You're also President of the Senate and have the right to cast the deciding vote in deadlocked senatorial votes. You make an additional $3500 as long as you're VP, and so that you can actually do something while waiting for the POTUS to kick the bucket, you can also directly participate in Senatorial debates as its President.
Cabinet Member: You're a member of the executive cabinet, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. You could be the Secretary of State (foreign affairs minister), the Treasury (finance minister), War (military recruitments minister), etc. You make an additional $2500 as long as you're holding a cabinet position.
Senator: You're a sitting member of the United States Senate, the more prestigious upper house of Congress. Your powers include the approval or disapproval of any treaty made with a foreign power before it can be formally ratified, the right to confirm presidential appointments to the executive cabinet, the right to try officials impeached by the House, and of course the right to approve or disapprove of any legislation passed in the House. You aren't actually directly elected by the people but instead by state legislatures, and while for simplicity purposes you'll always be allowed to retain your seat except in cases of forced removal or a landslide defeat, you should still campaign for your faction in the Senate elections every six years to make sure this chamber is filled with as many of your allies as possible. Senators make an additional $2000.
Representative: You're a sitting member of the House of Representatives, the lower house of Congress. Your powers include passing domestic legislation & revenue bills, initiating the impeachment process of government officials, and electing the President in case of deadlock in the Electoral College. Unlike the Senate, you really are directly elected by your constituents, and while for simplicity purposes you will be allowed to hold your seat except in special cases such as a landslide defeat for your party or a forced removal, you should still campaign for your faction/party in the House elections every two years to make sure that this chamber is filled with as many of your allies as possible. Representatives make an additional $1000.
General/Admiral: You're a military commander, duh. Note that your commands or lack thereof depend entirely on the will of Congress - screw with them as General Eggers did during the Revolutionary War, and they can easily demote you or even vote to have you tried (and possibly executed) by the Supreme Court. You get a salary of $1500 as long as you have at least one command.
Parties Federalist Party: America's oldest surviving party, the progressive and centralist Federalists claim first President Hammitt Poole and especially first Secretary of the Treasury Elon C. Massie as part of their ideological heritage. They favor extensive government intervention in the expansion and modernization of the American economy, including high tariffs and the continued existence of the Second Bank of the United States in addition to generous subsidies to big businesses such as railroad companies; a liberal social agenda that aggressively opposes slavery, whose total unilateral abolition is a common theme with every Federalist candidate everywhere, and welcomes both immigrants and blacks as equal citizens; the supremacy of the federal government; and a peaceful foreign policy, so as to not interrupt trade. Their strongholds are New England (especially their 'cradles' of Massachusetts and Connecticut) and newly-included Canada, and their supporters tend to be middle to upper-class liberal whites, big businesses, Catholics, immigrants, and blacks - really, minorities in general. Their opponents call them elitists and vice-ridden destroyers of American values, but as far as the Federalists are concerned they're the only party that's both actually willing to work towards the Founders' dream of a land where all men are free & to practice the Christian virtue of charity towards the less fortunate; to them, the Democrats are hidebound hypocritical pharisees who preach about freedom and Christian love but will allow neither for their fellow man and who like to spout populist rhetoric but never actually act on any of it, and the Whigs are wishy-washy cowards who are so afraid of standing for anything (especially major moral issues like abolition) that they now stand for nothing.
The Federalist colors are black and orange, and their symbol is a whale; large and in charge, warm-blooded, oceangoing, and loving towards their families and dependents but more than capable of tearing down those who would threaten them. The Texan Union Party is essentially a fusion of their sympathizers and those of the Whigs in the Lone Star Republic, though Federalism is a less prominent influence there than the Whigs' intellectual & political traditions.
Whig Party: The Whigs are America's youngest party, founded by Federalists and Democratic-Republicans who defected from their former parties as they both took on increasingly extreme positions. They claim Edward C. Lamberth as their ideological 'Founding Father', and like him they are moderates who loathe to take an extreme stance on most if not all issues, instead preferring carefully negotiated compromises that give every involved party something they want. The Whigs also accept virtually anybody who doesn't feel like they belong to the two other parties into their ranks, so it is entirely possible to find anti-National Bank small bankers from New York, pro-National Bank farmers from Indiana, Prohibitionist evangelicals from Missouri, better-off but still hard-drinking Irish immigrants in Maryland, anti-slavery landowners from Ohio and pro-slavery industrial barons from Virginia all running together under the Whig banner. Thus, the Whigs can call on support from every level of society, albeit not as much from specific sectors as the Federalists and Democrats, and they're especially strong in the Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic states. Both the Democrats and the Federalists routinely slam them as spineless toadies who can't take a firm stand on anything, whether to avoid alienating potential voters or simply due to a lack of personal conviction; for their part, the Whigs consider both the Federalists and Democrats to be dangerous extremists with a very real chance at tearing the country apart should they get into power.
The Whig colors are brown and buff, and their symbol is an owl; wise, cautious, quite capable of flight, and always awake when everyone else goes to sleep. The Texan Union Party takes most heavily after them, though its members also occasionally display shades of Federalism as well.
Democratic Party: The Democrats are America's second oldest party, successors to the Democratic-Republicans alongside the Whigs and inheritors of Henry Wallace's intellectual tradition. Like Wallace, they are uniformly fiercely racist and conservative, envisioning a future America of prosperous, self-sufficient, God-fearing and most importantly white yeoman farmers or planter barons - where all the job-stealing, booze-guzzling, Pope-worshiping immigrants are locked out of the country, where the feral blacks are in their place and where the degenerate, effete Yankees of the North cannot threaten the nation's virtue; and in addition to their militant racism, agrarianism and social conservatism, the Democrats are also traditionally the most jingoistic of America's parties (when they were still the D-Rs, they were the biggest pushers of the disastrous War of 1812), and to balance out the recent acquisition of Canada they've been pushing hard for a conquest of half or even all of Mexico. To nobody's surprise then, they carry a lot of appeal with both the 'Tuckahoe' planter aristocracy of Dixie's coasts and the poorer 'Cohee' farmers and rural laborers living further inland, though this hasn't been enough to fully defuse long-lingering socioeconomic tensions between the two groups. Their enemies revile them as a cabal of warmongering slavocrats & insincere populists who've managed to fool a flock of ill-educated sheep into thinking they're lions; the Democrats counter that they're the only party willing to stick up for the common (WASP) man and Christian values in American society, as opposed to the sneering elitist Negro-loving Federalists and their immigrant hordes or the gutless, unmanly Whigs.
The Democrat colors are blue and red, and their symbol is a donkey; (literally) mulishly stubborn, brave, land-bound, and more than happy to send any who would dare challenge them flying with a single mighty kick. The Texan National Party takes most heavily after them.
Issues (Federalist positions are in orange, Whig positions are in brown, Democratic positions are in blue, multicolored positions can be held by multiple camps, red = an unpopular position that can nevertheless theoretically be held by anyone from any party)
Central Government: Sweeping federal powers, commitment to fight slavery-->Sweeping federal powers, commitment to restrict slavery-->Balance of powers-->Weak federal gov't-->Weak federal gov't except to defend/expand slavery-->Sweeping federal powers, commitment to defend/expand slavery
Religious relations: Harmonious religious mosaic-->Grudging tolerance of all other faiths-->Strict neutrality-->Establishment of a Protestant national church-->Active discrimination against non-Protestants
Tariffs: High tariffs-->Moderate tariffs-->Low tariffs-->No tariffs
Slavery: Total, uncompensated abolition-->Total, compensated abolition-->Free soil, no abolition-->Popular sovereignty-->No abolition-->Expansion of slavery to the Territories-->Expansion of slavery beyond territorial and racial bounds
Immigration: Open immigration-->Lightly limited immigration-->Heavily restricted immigration-->Shut down immigration entirely
Military: Strong standing military-->Mix of federal & volunteer forces/state militias-->Reliance on state militias & volunteers
Social welfare: Socialist manifestos are the truth-->Limited welfare networks (ex. through political machines/churches) are acceptable-->All men must stand on their own feet
National Bank: The Bank must survive-->The Bank must die
Foreign relations: Peaceful coexistence-->Expansion for free states-->Realpolitik-->Expansion for Manifest Destiny's sake-->Expansion for slave states
