Four Peas to Creating an Authentic Alternative History: Possibilities

My second grade teacher, Miss Kennealy, had a favorite saying: "It's a possibility". Unfortunately following that advice can lead to some pretty weak premises. I am proposing a variation on that advice, and that is the third pea.

P#3: Possibilities

We could also call this, how many links are in your chain of events (or chain reaction). Unless you are interested in writing a very short story, you should try to have your premise create as many new possibilities as possible. Among the possibilities opened up by my original premise.

1. The obvious one: The initial story of the events leading up to the war, character backrounds, etc.
2. Without the States West of The Mississippi River being counted, certain election results will be altered

• The "Stolen Election" of 1876. Hayes (R) v Tilden (D). Hayes had 185 Electoral Votes. Tilden 184. They each needed 186 to win, but Tilden had won the popular vote by 260,000. The creation of The Republic of Ansdale removed 12 States and 76 Electoral Votes, 29 from Tilden but 49 from Hayes. With a new requirement of 148 Tilden got 155 and Hayes 138. And Tilden's Popular Vote Lead held up.
• Using a benchmark that both candidates needed to be born in a State, Territory or Possession East of The Mississippi River after the year 1875 (this only affected elections after 1928, before then all the candidates would have met the rule). The elections of 1952, 1956, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1996 would be thrown out because both candidates were ineligible. So Watergate never happened (Nixon born in CA), LBJ wasn't elected (b.TX), and Nobody Liked Ike (also a Texan)
• The Democrat Party was declared ineligible by that benchmark for the elections of 1948, 1984, 1992, 1996, 2008 and 2012. No birther, but Hawaii is West of The Mississippi. The Clinton Presidency also never happened, Bill having been born in Arkansas, which is part of the Republic. This also has the added what if "What if another President had accepted Libya's offer of Osama Bin Laden. Would 9/11 have never happened." But in a case of misery loves company, George W. Bush could still have been President, as his birthplace was in Connecticut. Reagan as well, as he was born in Illinois. Though Hillary Clinton is also from Illinois, since she made her fame on Bill's coattails, and he would never be President. No Hillary Presidency either.
• Republicans also had their chances at the White House altered, but mostly through correcting their mistakes. John McCain could have been eligible. My research on Canal Zone thinks he may, however, since Arizona was in the Republic, it wouldn't have meant anything, since that is how he ran, Senator from Arizona. Herbert Hoover was born in Iowa, which was part of the Republic, so did he cause the Great Depression. Probably not. Bob Dole (KS) and Gerald Ford (NE) would also have been ineligible, thus destroying the chances of Saturday Night Live for becoming a household name.

1. (3) The Battle of Little Bighorn (aka Custer's Last Stand) would have been a joint Republic of Ansdale/Native American effort to open up a second front in the Civil War.
2. (4) The Life of the Kingdom of Hawaii would have been extended beyond its traditional end because Queen Liliuokalani would not have been overthrown.
3. (5) The attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec 7, 1941) would have been on ships docked at the King Kamehameha Naval Base of the Republican Navy, which had United States Ships there as part of a joint operations lease agreement. Two nations were thus drawn into the conflict, not just one.
4. (6) The assassination of JFK in Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald, a known Russian agent, would have been a Soviet attempt to start a U.S.A.-R.O.A. war during JFK's friendship tour of the Republic of Ansdale

I think you get the idea. One decision creates almost unlimited possibilities. If you have passed through step three without your original premise being reduced to ashes, congratulations. If you haven't, go over it again until you find a premise that can stand the test. Once you do, you are ready for the "final" step.

Character Interview: Gray Wolf

This is the biggest scoop yet. I mean really big. An interview with an Ansdale. The Ansdale are an Alaskan Coastal tribe that many years in the past got expelled by stronger tribes. They eventually found their way into the Dakota Territory, and when discovered by Brigadier General John Lee Anderson and his expedition in 1855, the Department of the Interior misclassified them as Ansdale Sioux. It is just Ansdale.

The most powerful Ansdale in the Republic of Ansdale would be the current Second Minister of The Republic, and we'll let him take over from here:

CG: How should I call you?

GW: I was born Gray Wolf, son of Red Thunder, Principal Chief of The Ansdale Nation. When my father decided I should be a Scout for General Anderson's "Blue Tribe", I was also given the Christian name Daniel, so I also go by the name Daniel Graywolf..

CG: So you will be Chief someday?

GW: No. That will fall to my older bother Swift as a deer. I am content to be a soldier.

CG: And second in command to Prime Minister Davis.

GW: And third most powerful in this nation. Even Prime Minister Davis acknowledges that he is less powerful than General Anderson, though he is officially the leader.

CG: Tell me about the Ansdale.

GW: The Ansdale are a nation originally from the coastal parts of Alaska. We were the weakest of the nations in the area and so were forced to leave out native land. We migrated from the area commonly called Anchorage southward and eastward until we arrived in our current homeland in what you call Dakota Territory.

CG: So you are not a branch of the Sioux as the United States Department of the Interior maintains to this day. You are listed as Ansdale Sioux.

GW: We are not Sioux, or any other nation. We are Ansdale.

CG: If your tribe was weak, how is it that you avoided assimilation by another, stronger nation.

GW: For Six generations of Ansdale Chiefs, including my Father, we have created alliances with other nations, through trade. Both the Cheyenne and Dakota, enemies though they are, are both allies to the Ansdale. That has kept us strong.

CG: For our audiences reference, where is the Ansdale Reservation located.

GW: There is none. General Anderson and his blue tribe, as they were originally called, dwelt among us, and even though their presence has grown, they have never forced us off our land. Perhaps it is because, as a former Alaskan nation, we were accustomed to living in houses as they, instead of teepee's. Of course you can always recognize an Ansdale home, it having a totem at its entrance.

CG: In closing I was informed by my staff that you wished to clear up a misconception regarding the death of George Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn.

GW: Crazy Horse did have a role, but not as much as is given him. What is not known is that the Ansdale Native Cavalry, working with the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho, lured the United States Cavalry into an ambush. Custer thought he was going to face some of Anderson's troops and crush the western uprising in one battle. What happened was that the ANC lured the American Troops into a much larger force than they had planned to face. The result was inevitable.

CG: One final question. Your opinion on General Anderson's practice of naming his garrison's after the nation he has allied with. Fort Ansdale or Fort Shoshone for example.

GW: I can not speak for all of the nations, but the Ansdale are honored. Is not the family of the Blue Tribe Warrior honored when a garrison is named for them.

CG: I would think so. Second Minister Greywolf, thank you for your time.

Three interviews, all with a military bent. Next time I'm going to try to scare up a civilian of sorts. If you think of any questions for Greywolf if I should get another interview, please leave a question in the comments below.