Discussion:
Lincoln joins the Donner Party
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d***@gmail.com
2017-07-10 08:08:17 UTC
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According to an article in National Geographic, Lincoln was friends with James Reed in Springfield, Illinois. He considered joining the doomed expedition but stayed behind because of Mary Todd's pregnancy. So what if he does?

Worst case, the Great Emancipator ends up eaten by Lewis Keseberg. Best case, he survives and joins the other survivors in San Jose but has the black mark of cannibalism.

So what are the long term effects? A civil war delayed until WW1 with slave and socialist uprisings is my opinion but I don't know.
jerry kraus
2017-07-10 13:02:02 UTC
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Post by d***@gmail.com
According to an article in National Geographic, Lincoln was friends with James Reed in Springfield, Illinois. He considered joining the doomed expedition but stayed behind because of Mary Todd's pregnancy. So what if he does?
Worst case, the Great Emancipator ends up eaten by Lewis Keseberg. Best case, he survives and joins the other survivors in San Jose but has the black mark of cannibalism.
So what are the long term effects? A civil war delayed until WW1 with slave and socialist uprisings is my opinion but I don't know.
Depends on how important Lincoln really was. And, that, is a very difficult question to determine really.
Insane Ranter
2017-07-11 02:48:55 UTC
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Post by d***@gmail.com
According to an article in National Geographic, Lincoln was friends with James Reed in Springfield, Illinois. He considered joining the doomed expedition but stayed behind because of Mary Todd's pregnancy. So what if he does?
Worst case, the Great Emancipator ends up eaten by Lewis Keseberg. Best case, he survives and joins the other survivors in San Jose but has the black mark of cannibalism.
So what are the long term effects? A civil war delayed until WW1 with slave and socialist uprisings is my opinion but I don't know.
Assume Lincoln gets eaten. Then do we see William H. Seward elected as the Republican Presidential candidate. Chances are he wins the same way as Lincoln with the same splits.

Take it from there!
jerry kraus
2017-07-11 13:02:16 UTC
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Post by Insane Ranter
Post by d***@gmail.com
According to an article in National Geographic, Lincoln was friends with James Reed in Springfield, Illinois. He considered joining the doomed expedition but stayed behind because of Mary Todd's pregnancy. So what if he does?
Worst case, the Great Emancipator ends up eaten by Lewis Keseberg. Best case, he survives and joins the other survivors in San Jose but has the black mark of cannibalism.
So what are the long term effects? A civil war delayed until WW1 with slave and socialist uprisings is my opinion but I don't know.
Assume Lincoln gets eaten. Then do we see William H. Seward elected as the Republican Presidential candidate. Chances are he wins the same way as Lincoln with the same splits.
Take it from there!
Good analysis, Insane. Actually, Seward was even more anti-slavery and pro-Union than Lincoln, so, we might have actually had a shorter war, since Lincoln was actually rather reluctant to commit himself to all out confrontation. I can see Seward going for the jugular of the South right from the start, so, the war might be over in a couple of years, with much less bloodshed.

I'm always rather skeptical of the American tendency to turn their Presidents into geniuses and Saints. Actually, most American Presidents have been incompetent, corrupt and mentally ill, Lincoln being no exception. Not to mention the current occupant of the White House, of course!!!
David Tenner
2017-07-16 13:46:22 UTC
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Post by d***@gmail.com
According to an article in National Geographic, Lincoln was friends with
James Reed in Springfield, Illinois. He considered joining the doomed
expedition but stayed behind because of Mary Todd's pregnancy. So what
if he does?
Worst case, the Great Emancipator ends up eaten by Lewis Keseberg. Best
case, he survives and joins the other survivors in San Jose but has the
black mark of cannibalism.
So what are the long term effects? A civil war delayed until WW1 with
slave and socialist uprisings is my opinion but I don't know.
Sorry, I just don't see Lincoln relocating to the West Coast. In OTL, he
even declined an offer to become governor of the Oregon Territory--a really
tempting offer. ("Oregon will be a state beofre long,and if I am governor, I
might become its first senator" etc.) But Mary said No--didn't want to
relocate in a distant frontier--and that was that...
https://books.google.com/books?id=ldfcBd_-O8QC&pg=PT405
--
David Tenner
***@ameritech.net
Rich Rostrom
2017-07-17 06:14:04 UTC
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Post by David Tenner
Post by d***@gmail.com
According to an article in National Geographic, Lincoln was friends with
James Reed in Springfield, Illinois. He considered joining the doomed
expedition but stayed behind because of Mary Todd's pregnancy. So what
if he does?
Sorry, I just don't see Lincoln relocating to the West Coast. In OTL, he
even declined an offer to become governor of the Oregon Territory--a really
tempting offer. ("Oregon will be a state beofre long,and if I am governor, I
might become its first senator" etc.) But Mary said No--didn't want to
relocate in a distant frontier--and that was that...
https://books.google.com/books?id=ldfcBd_-O8QC&pg=PT405
Yabbut that was in 1849, when the Lincolns had two
children, and the younger child, Eddie, was sickly.
(He died less than a year later.) Also, Lincoln had
won a term as U.S. Representative. In 1846, his
political career was stalled, and there was no invalid
baby to worry about. There _was_ Mary's pregnancy, but
if that was delayed a year...

OK, 1846 was the year he was elected U.S. Representative,
but I don't know when in the year that became a serious
possibility. The Donner Party set out in May from
Independence; Lincoln's friend Reed and George Donner
left Springfield on 14 April. They must have decided to
go well before that. (Eddie Lincoln was born 10 March;
and Lincoln made his decision _while_ Mary was pregnant.)

Incidentally, the U.S. declared war on Mexico on 25 April.
--
The real Velvet Revolution - and the would-be hijacker.

http://originalvelvetrevolution.com
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