He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 344

(344) Even Democracies Can Fight Each Other

There’s a so-called law discussed by modern political scientists in the United States:

Democracies don’t fight each other.

It’s utter nonsense, of course.

However, the logic itself hints at a meaningful implication.

In societies where councils or elected officials, not monarchs, hold decision-making power, decisions for war are slow and complex.

“But looking at Washington now, it doesn’t seem quite that way.”

Louis-Philippe clicked his tongue, observing the not-yet-white Executive Residence [the White House, still under construction after being burned by the British in the War of 1812].

The city was plastered with anti-French pamphlets.

But what stood out most was the people.

As soon as Philippe disembarked from the ship that had sailed up the Potomac River, he was met by protesters.

The predominantly white protesters shouted.

“Drive out the French and reclaim Florida! Restore slavery!”

A truly terrifying but stark slogan.

Of course, even in the early 19th century, there was considerable opposition to slavery in the northern United States.

However, Washington, D.C., being close to Virginia, was a city where the influence of the South was strong during this era.

To have influence in the early 19th century meant living in a place where it was easy to ‘go up to the capital’.

For example, Tennessee, South Carolina, or Georgia, the states that supported Jackson.

Just as Philippe was contemplating how to respond to the protesters,

A politely mannered but balding young gentleman approached, wearing a hat.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Cafe.”

“You look even better, Mr. Adams.”

“Haha! I’ve been eating well lately. Lots of opportunities to be treated. Especially at the French embassy; they serve very delicious meals.”

John Quincy Adams, the son of President Adams and currently a senator from Massachusetts, a northern state.

Originally, he served as a Russian envoy and a Dutch ambassador, and he also went on the so-called Grand Tour of Europe [a traditional trip of Europe undertaken by upper-class young men of sufficient means], making him a typical pro-European elite.

John Quincy, who regarded Europe, especially France, as an ideal, sneered at the protesters.

“If those people ate French cuisine, they might soften up a bit.”

However, Philippe, the representative of the French allies, who was also a target of the protesters’ attacks, chuckled.

“They’re quite mild compared to the citizens of Paris.”

“Are they?”

“Mr. Adams, you should have come as the French ambassador, not the Russian or Dutch ambassador. Then you would have seen firsthand how radical the citizens of Paris can be.”

During the French Revolution, the protesters didn’t just shout slogans.

They even took up arms, burned buildings, and held executions.

As a result, the Duke of Orléans died in the original history.

As a former émigré aristocrat from the old revolutionary faction, Philippe was so used to radical protesters that this level seemed almost quaint.

Senator John Quincy shrugged.

“Well, we’re a bit too vast to start a riot. But what brings you here?”

“Didn’t our youngest, Alphonse, tell you?”

“I don’t know the details. I only know it’s related to Senator Jackson being driven out of Florida. Could it be that you’ve come as a special envoy?”

Philippe suddenly turned around and smiled.

“No, the special envoy is separate. He’s behind me.”

Senator John Quincy tilted his head.

The young man standing behind Philippe seemed too young to be a special envoy.

However, the men in plain clothes surrounding the young man had a strangely serious atmosphere.

The young man spoke to John Quincy in English with a slight French accent.

“Hello, Mr. Adams. My name is Eugène Bonaparte.”

At that moment, John Quincy was so surprised that his hat almost fell off.

“The Viceroy of New France? Good heavens, has the highest authority come in person?”

“It’s not an official visit yet. Please keep it to yourself, Senator.”

“I will. But I don’t think your presence will stop the protests.”

John Quincy Adams looked at the Viceroy of France with a bewildered expression and spoke frankly.

The arrival of the Viceroy was certainly a diplomatic marvel.

However, even if Napoleon himself came, the Southern protesters would not stop.

A king is merely someone to be expelled for Americans.

Nevertheless, Eugène smiled calmly and replied.

“At least we can have a conversation.”

“The United States is a democracy. In Europe, it was easy to conduct diplomacy by discussing with monarchs or prime ministers. But here, many stakeholders exert influence.”

“Mr. Adams, I spent my childhood in revolutionary France. I know a world without kings very well.”

Eugène, a [reincarnator], who knew even more about the democratic system, said succinctly.

“I didn’t come here to solve problems with a summit with President Jefferson. I came to use a very [American] solution.”

The United States was a newly formed country.

Therefore, there was not much of a national tradition.

Suspecting that he might have brought the wrong British solution, John Quincy asked.

“What is it?”

Eugène uttered a word that John Quincy could not yet understand.

“Lobbying.”

The omnipotent word that would dominate American politics in later history.

***

Of course, even the Viceroy of New France was just a foreigner in Washington.

“I didn’t expect the Viceroy to come in person, not Rochejaquelein. Oh, should I pay my respects?”

Therefore, the most immediate base of operations had to be the embassy.

The French ambassador, Lafayette, greeted the Viceroy with a displeased expression.

Eugène chuckled, took a sip of coffee, and replied.

“It’s not an official occasion, and Princess Marie isn’t here either. You don’t have to go out of your way.”

“Good. Then I’ll treat you comfortably as the son of a former subordinate. Go back immediately.”

“I’ll treat you as the leader of the opposition party I sponsor. No, thank you.”

Lafayette glared at Eugène, then frowned and exclaimed.

“What on earth are you thinking? Anti-French sentiment is at its peak in Washington right now!”

Of course, Lafayette wasn’t trying to scold Eugène, but was worried.

In fact, Eugène’s biological father, Alexandre, was one of Lafayette’s favorite subordinates.

He wasn’t very capable, but he had some insight, and he got along well with Lafayette, who even gifted him a sword.

Although he became the Viceroy as the Emperor’s adopted son, Lafayette still remembered Eugène from his childhood.

If he came to Washington and got into an accident with rioters, he wouldn’t be able to face Alexandre in the afterlife.

But Eugène brought up an irrelevant story to Lafayette.

It was about Jackson.

“I hear that voices supporting Jackson are spreading widely among voters in the United States.”

“Did you do a poll or something? Without me knowing?”

“This country of America isn’t in a situation where that’s possible, is it? But I heard that pastors in each state are offering prayers supporting Jackson every Sunday sermon. It’s just like Egypt.”

Lafayette asked nonchalantly.

“There’s a pyramid drawn on the American dollar bill. So?”

France wasn’t the only country where Egypt was popular during this era.

The United States, where Freemasons led the revolution, also frequently used Egyptian symbols.

As a result, the pyramid and the all-seeing eye, or the Eye of Horus, were included on the one-dollar bill.

Of course, Eugène wasn’t telling Lafayette, the head of the French Freemasons, to use the Freemasons.

He was just trying to explain something through his experiences in Egypt.

“When I fought in Egypt, the Egyptians naturally hated the French. But when we set the Turks as the enemy, they cooperated.”

When there is a common enemy, those who are on bad terms with each other tend to unite.

But do the United States and France have a common enemy?

Lafayette frowned as he pondered.

“What are you talking about? Are you going to bring up England again? The Simcoe Report [a fabricated document purporting to reveal a British plot to destabilize the US] is no longer valid. The threat of England is distant, and the damage from slavery is near.”

“I can’t send the black soldiers marching into the Great Plains back into slavery, can I? But there’s something more terrifying than losing slaves.”

“What is it?”

Eugène said in a low voice.

“Being banned from the slave trade.”

Lafayette’s eyes widened.

Black slaves were a crucial labor force that supported the American agricultural economy, especially the Southern economy.

The Southerners could never allow it to be taken away.

Those who are currently protesting ultimately want the territory of Florida, but the immediate problem is the black slaves who are fleeing to Florida.

But what if they couldn’t get any slaves at all?

The Southern planters would have no choice but to revolt en masse.

Lafayette hurriedly asked.

“What do you mean? A trade ban?”

“Slaves don’t fall from the sky. They come across the sea. The largest supplier is, of course, England. They supply about half, sometimes two-thirds, right?”

“That’s true, but there’s no way England would ban the slave trade. There’s so much profit involved.”

Eugène shook his head.

“The bill to abolish the slave trade demanded by the [Clapham Sect] [an influential group of evangelical Anglicans] has already been introduced in the British House of Commons. The bill has a high chance of passing the House now. The problem is the Senate.”

In fact, even in the original history, England eventually abolished the slave trade in 1807.

Completely prohibiting slavery was a matter for 1833, but with the trade banned, it effectively led to the abolition of slavery.

But in 1804, there was an incident where the bill to abolish the slave trade narrowly failed to pass.

Eugène was trying to use this issue.

Lafayette narrowed his brow and pondered.

“There was a new general election in England this time. Pitt must have returned for sure by now.”

“Probably. Does it take about six weeks to get from America to England? When information only travels by clipper ship.”

“It’ll probably take that long. I’ll check it out. But it’s a bill that infringes on the interests of British Atlantic traders. Will they pass it?”

Eugène smiled.

“Of course, they’ll try to oppose it. But if the information I recently obtained is correct, and if the problem is only the Senate, we can do something about it. We can go through the British East India Company.”

Of course, Eugène didn’t obtain the information, he just recalled it.

However, since the situation in England hasn’t changed much, the abolition movement led by Wilberforce and the Clapham Sect will continue.

It is certainly a meaningful and great movement in human history.

Nevertheless, Eugène was trying to use this movement for [war] now.

“So, there’s a way to spread the news of the abolition of the slave trade first. How are you going to do it?”

When Lafayette asked, Eugène smiled.

“Call Hamilton. Secretly.”

Of course, if Eugène called, Hamilton would drop everything and run.

***

So how does lobbying begin?

“What did you just say, Mr. Bonaparte?”

Hamilton’s mouth dropped open.

On the other hand, Eugène was watching Hamilton, who had secretly visited the French embassy, for other reasons.

In 1804, that is, this year, Hamilton dies in a duel in the original history.

Preventing this duel was also one of the problems to be dealt with on this trip to Washington.

After briefly considering how to deal with Aaron Burr, Eugène got straight to the point.

“I asked you to raise the [British Threat Theory] through the New York Post, or rather, the New York Evening Post.”

“Do you think that makes sense? We’re pro-British. Besides, public opinion is full of anti-French sentiment right now.”

“What if the slave trade is abolished?”

Hamilton was a man with a quick mind.

Even with Eugène’s very simple words, he roughly grasped the situation.

If the slave trade were abolished, the economy of the southern United States would be severely damaged.

Hamilton, who was quickly rolling his eyes, asked urgently.

“What do you mean?”

“A bill to abolish the slave trade will soon be introduced in England. The chances of it passing are very high.”

“No, I thought it had been introduced and repealed more than 20 years ago.”

In an instant, Hamilton saw Eugène smiling and clicked his tongue.

“You’re saying you’re going to pass it.”

“Well, I’m just going to make sure that a bill that will be passed anyway is passed a little earlier.”

“Are you sure it will pass?”

Eugène nodded and said lightly.

“Of course. But if this bill passes, the southern states of the United States will be severely affected, right?”

Many American farmers covet Florida or Louisiana.

But that land is a long-term unrealized profit, regardless of the fact that it is New French territory.

On the other hand, the slave trade, which will be banned immediately, is a short-term loss in reality.

Humans are always most sensitive to short-term losses.

Furthermore, wasn’t the American independence movement itself a reaction to short-term taxes?

However, those who lead such controversies can easily seize the initiative in politics.

Hamilton, who was stroking his chin, twisted his lips and said.

“Tell me the exact timing. Then, I will become a [leading] anti-British advocate.”

Eugène nodded with satisfaction.

“This year, June.”

Eugène recalled the words of later American political scientists that democracies cannot fight each other.

England is a parliamentary cabinet system, and the United States is a presidential system, both with parliaments as the central axis.

But Eugène was now starting to move to make these two clash.

In addition, Hamilton, who had become an anti-British advocate, would have no time to worry about Aaron Burr.

Because this seemingly simple anti-British movement triggered by the [slave trade ban] ultimately aims for only one thing.

Soon, the Anglo-American War.