Here’s the latest installment of the current playtest write-up by William Outzen:
1783-1784
Heading into a new session of the Continental Congress, the parties put aside their bickering to select James Armstrong to serve as their President. He then appointed William Moultrie, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, and Andrew Adams to serve as the Committee Chairs, restoring power to the Red Party. Moultrie and Adams both had to fill open positions, with Moultrie choosing Benjamin Lincoln to become the new ambassador to France, and Adams choosing Robert Treat Paine to become the new Secretary of the Treasury. In a surprising turn of events, President John Armstrong retired, feeling that his body could not handle the rigors of the position. Jared Ingersoll was elected in his stead.
The war continued outside of simple politics. The Congress had invited the war, but had so far proven incapable of finding Generals who could win the war. In the Battle for Illinois, General Bloomfield was overmatched and crushed, retreating back east. In an attempt to Reclaim Philadelphia, Daniel Morgan was assassinated by a spy in the middle of the night, the battle was abandoned, and the Americans retreated. Once again, the British forces marched on New York. General Bloomfield, fresh off failure in Illinois, took his surviving troops and quickly marched East, picking up the troops under the former command of General Morgan. Confronting the much larger British Force, Bloomfield did the impossible: he defeated the British, ending the British will to fight. The war was won, and General Bloomfield was hailed as a hero across the colonies.
This didn’t stop politics however: Senior Admiral Benedict Arnold replaced General Bloomfield in a bid to advance his political position, General Dudley Saltonstall was promoted to replace Morgan, Esek Hopkins replaced Arnold as Senior Admiral, and Abraham Whipple was promoted to Admiral.
With the end of the war, the Congress returned to the hard task of legislating, with new issues to tackle. They passed several packages. The first package created a Confederation Cabinet, an extremely weak central government to give freedom to each state. It also included a provision to create a system for settlers to purchase western lands. The second package included the Treaty of Paris, an organization of the Mississippi Territory, and Organizing the Northwest Territory. Each of the proposals passed, and the Congress. Arnold, using his position, convinced Congress to name him Ambassador to the UK, with General Bloomfield, a mere pawn in the schemes of an ambitious man, returning as General.
Celebrating their new status as an independent country, the states held their Governor elections. The elections went poorly for the Blue team, with the Red Party winning 11 states. The Blue Party was in trouble as they ushered in a new era, as the Congress was controlled by the Red Party.
A More Perfect Union 