Alternate Civil War

It all starts with a different Texas land division. The Texans are stubborn in letting go the territory they had claimed for several years, but the sheer size of Texas was to big for a singular state. It was decided in the Texas Compromise that while the people of Texas could elect senators and representatives to Congress they would also elect officials for an autonomous government running Texas. While the constitutional amendments would of course be present in Texas, Texas could make their own laws that just affect Texas that is extremely hard and time consuming for the US government to overrule, they had their own armed forces and could choose whether or not to take part in wars involving the US. Other states and territories could become a part of the Autonomous republic if the people of said state want to, Texas agrees to and so does congress. Texas would cede all their land north of OTL Oklahoma and New Mexicos northern border. While many Republicans opposed the Compromise saying a slave state that big would hold too much power, while others chose to accept it saying a state that size had to have two governments and that it was OK. This started the divide in the Republican Party and strengthened the Democratic Party. While most states entered into US normally with the pro-slavery people winning in Bleeding Kansas this further the split between Radical and Moderate Republicans. By the time of the election of 1860 the Democratic Party was united and strong while the Republican Party and the more radical Freedom (New England) Party. Despite being a larger party the Republican Party only won a couple of states in the North with the New England party winning more northern states. In the end while the Democratic Party won the popular vote the New England won with the most electoral votes, this resulted in political revolution in the US with people all over the country, mainly democrats, calling for a change in the election system to where the people voted directly for their president. Buchanan and the Senate quickly agreed to this but the House of Representatives was a different story. All the democrats voted in favor of the change and the all New England party members voted against, the Republican party split with most in favor of the change out of anger towards the New England party. This argument lasted into the middle of 1861 and while the New England party nominee was brought to D.C. as president, after the decision to make the popular vote win, he was removed from office and replaced by Breckenridge the democrats nominee. Protests erupted throughout California and the Northeast against the decision with many calling the decision "unfair," and "congress electing their king." Secession had been a discussed idea in the north for sometime and secessionists used the election to push for secession, Massachusetts was the first state to secede in November 12th, 1861. The rest of New England including New York seceded as well and formed the Federal States of America with Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner becoming president. The people of New York City opposed the secession and voted to leave the FSA and stay in the USA , choosing to keep the name New York and the rest of the state being referred to as Hudson. The Battle of New York City started the American Civil War as the citizens of the city started fighting against Federal troops attempting to take the city with Union troops arriving a few hours later securing the city. The rest of the northwestern US angered over the Unions military action against the FSA seceded to join as well, even Delaware who voted Democrat but was economically assimilated into the north. In the western US California voted to secede as well forming a new California Republic and claiming most western territories. But within the new nations even more areas left their home state, like southern Illinois forming the state of Little Egypt, Upper Peninsula Michigan forming the state Superior, New Jersey dividing into North Jersey and South Jersey, and Southern California forming Colorado. Even in their major cities people protested the secession. This led to campaigns into the rebel cities easier as the people most of the time would push the rebels out by the time the Union got there. The FSA government had to flee the capital Columbus and moved to Detroit. In the west the capture of California was largely thanks to Texas but also the Californians weren't prepared for the Mormons and Navajo to fight with the Union, or that Oregon would choose to stay as well. California was the first of the two nations to fall with the Californian president Leland Stanford being captured.  The FSA took a bit longer as they kept getting supplies through the Gulf of St. Lawrence and of course Britain wasn't going to let the US blockade the gulf. But the US did anyway and sent ships up the river to the great lakes even though they were fired upon by a military garrison in Quebec City, They reached Detroit and started their sack of the city. Lee had made his way to Detroit, where he met the forces of the Federal general Ulysses S. Grant. As the battle raged on the people inside Detroit grew restless, never asking for a war to damage their city. At 12:01 am a group of armed men entered the building where Sumner was residing. They captured him and several other officials and forced them to surrender to the Union. At 5:00 am Grant received the news that the FSA government had surrendered. Grant quickly surrendered himself to Lee, who showed respect for the Federal general and his soldiers by only disarming them and letting them go home.While both sides of the war committed wrongs during the war but the worst came from William T. Sherman. He had come up with the idea to destroy the Unions infrastructure and invaded Kentucky and started to destroy acres of farmland, freeing the slaves and sometimes killing the owners. This became known as Sherman's Massacre and was the only rebel military leader to be executed.  Reconstruction still came into being but was much shorter as OTL as only a few cities had actual fighting within the city as the people of the city had forced the Federal soldiers out of cities by the time the Union troops arrived. The American Civil War is the bloodiest war in US history, a war that split a nation and put brother against brother. It's a war that would never be forgotten.