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Anthem | "The Star Spangled Banner" | ||||
Capital | Washington, D.C. | ||||
Largest city | New York City | ||||
Other cities | Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco | ||||
Language | English | ||||
Religion main |
Protestantism | ||||
others | Roman Catholic, Judaism | ||||
Government | Democracy | ||||
Legislature | Congress, The House of Representatives and the Senate | ||||
President | Tom Hanks (N) | ||||
Population | 178,574,937 (as of 2010) | ||||
Established | July 4, 1776 | ||||
Currency | Dollar |
The United States of America, also known as the United States, U.S., USA, and America, is a Federal Constitutional Republic composed of 30 States and a Federal District, the District of Columbia. The country spans the central part of the North American continent, and is surrounded by Quebec, Assiniboia and Alyseka to the north, and the Confederate States of America, Texas and Mexico to the south, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The U.S. is one of the most prosperous countries in the world, and one of the first true democratic states, and the first to gain freedom from the colonial motherland, in the American Revolution (1775-1783). The United States Constitution is the oldest, and the shortest, used today. America is also one of the first countries to grant all citizens certain, unalienable rights, as defined in the Bill of Rights.
The United States is one of the largest economies in the world, with one of the highest incomes and GDP's of all nations. The USA is one of the most multi-cultured nations in the world, with immigration from all corners of Earth, which have greatly increased the power of the US. With world class healthcare and education systems, the United States is considered one of the most progressive and industrious countries in the world.
History[]
From Colonies to Independence[]
The first European colony established in America were at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, though Native Americans have lived in North America for thousands of years before. After a tenacious start, a series of British controlled colonies stretched along the Eastern coast of North America, labeled the Thirteen Colonies. New England in the north was mostly settled by Puritans, while the Middles colonies (present day New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland) were populated by a variety of European's seeking to escape religious and political persecution. The Southern colonies very early on developed a plantation system of growing crops and instituted slavery, first with unwilling and prone to fleeing Indians, and later imported Africans.
Struggles with between England and France eventually spilled over into the colonies, leading to a series of wars that eventually would see France expelled from Quebec in 1763. The cost of the war nearly bankrupted the British treasury, so efforts to increase taxes on the colonies to raise funds for their defense were put in place. This led to much anger and resentment, and the rallying cry of "No taxation without representation". Boston, Massachusetts, was the primary center of the revolt, and locals participated int he Boston Tea Party, which led to a series of harsher and harsher laws to try to quell the colonies. This led to many in the colonies to seek freedom and independence, which came to a head in 1776, with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
![Washington crossing the delaware](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/b/b0/Washington_crossing_the_delaware.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20131028025907)
General George Washington crossing the Delaware River in a Christmas Eve attack, 1776
Despite setbacks such as lack of supplies and morale, the American armies under George Washington eventually managed to gain the upper hand over the overwhelmed British who were not used to the American's use of unconventional military tactics, which led to a string of victories that convinced France to recognize the colonies. With French help, the Americans were able to finally decisively defeat the British at Yorktown, gaining their independence from the Motherland.
The early Republic worked on trying to build a strong nation within the confines of the first democratic constitution written, and within a few years, and the energetic policies of the Founding Father's, the nation had established itself as a beacon of freedom to the world, attracting immigrants and economic investment from the many nations of Europe.
First American War and Alliance with France[]
![786px-BurningofWashington1814](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/3/3f/786px-BurningofWashington1814.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20140503234356)
British Troops invading and burning Washington, D.C., 1814
The United States, after purchasing the Louisiana Purchase in 1804, was experiencing a time of rapid economic growth and immigration, with many British and other European Immigrants traveling to the New World. However, the American Revolution had left bitter memories on both sides of the Atlantic, and Great Britain was looking for ways to try to halt the growth of the US, while War Hawks in congress where trying to force the President James Madison to take over Canada and bring it into the Union. The culmination of this rising conflict was the the First American War, which was a resounding American defeat, forcing the United States to give up all the land west of 102° from the Prime Meridian of the Louisiana Purchase to Britain. This effectively quashed all hopes for westward Expansion to the Pacific for almost a century.
This let the Federalist Party's Presidential Candidate Rufus King be elected in 1816, who then turned all former Federalist policies, especially anti-French/Pro-British attitudes, as President King sought help from Napoleon I and the Empire to help build the United States to a point where they could take on Britain, and the Emperor was happy to do so, helping to industrialize the United States and train the army to become a force to be reckoned with. The first railroads in the New World were built to link New York, Baltimore and Washington, and American industry grew exponentially. Although re-elected in 1820, Rufus King's Federalist's were unable to survive without his leadership, and war hero Andrew Jackson and his Democrat-Republican Party managed to win the 1824 election. A de-centralization of the federal government took place, giving more rights to the States and abolition of the national banks established under his predecessor, but the foreign policy of maintaining ties with France was kept.
The United States as of 1824, after the First America's War. Red designate states, while blue illustrates territories. No territories were accepted into the Union between the end of the war and 1826.
American Restlessness and Expansion[]
![Mexico nebel](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/b/bc/Mexico_nebel.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20140503235432)
American troops entering Mexico City during the War of the Southwest, 1846
Andrew Jackson continued his policies when he was re-elected in 1828, and his successor John C. Calhoun continued in his footsteps in 1832. Spanish Florida was bought in 1834, and despite a resistance movement in the Everglades, the territory became a state a few years later. In 1834, National Republican William Henry Harrison was elected president, and a new wave of Federalism took place, though Congress was increasingly coming under control of the Manifests, who pushed the administration to expand the US's borders, especially in Mexican control Texas and British held Canada. However, the assassination of Harrison by a Georgian states-rights activist brought Daniel Webster to the presidency, who actively promoted a more robust and active foreign policy. However, this led to the War of the Southwest with Mexico in 1846, and succeed in freeing the Mexican province of California, which became the Pacific Republic and brought Texas into the Union.
This victory also made America feel strong once again, having triumphed over an opponent that many commentators of the time saw as equal or even more powerful than the US. However, this also led to increasing divisions within the nation, especially between Southern, slave owning plantation owners and Northern industrialists and abolitionists. The problem with slavery, and the governmental rights that went with it, resulted in numerous political issues in Congress. President Gerrit Smith attempted a compromise, establishing the "Plantation Line", dividing the nation in two to prevent any spread of slavery north. However, this was a failure, as tensions did not decrease.
The short presidency of Zachary Taylor, followed by his Vice-President Millard Fillmore were also unable to do much, the Manifests pushing for expansion, while other groups vied for industrialization, economic growth and military expansion. When James Buchanan was elected in 1856, he was unable to calm the tensions and establish a new compromise. By early of 1858, with war in Europe now close, the Southern States seceded from the union, and established the Confederate States of America. Buchanan attempted one last ditch effort to bring the Union back together, but it was too late. The army was divided, with Southern officers resigning their commissions, and northern soldiers stationed in the south being recalled to the North by their generals. By August, it was clear that the South would not negotiate any more, and Buchanan reluctantly declared a state of war, which was immediately considered the first blunder of the North; acknowledging the independence of the South.
War of Confederate Independence[]
![Second America's War, CSA](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/a/ad/Second_America%27s_War%2C_CSA.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20100813181332)
The Battle of Knoxville, 1861
The War of Confederate Independence, also known as the Second American War, was a bitter battle between the former Southern states of the US, and the states that remained loyal to the Union. Both sides possessed advantages and disadvantages: the Confederates had better officers, and had only to defend their new nation, and wait for some nation to recognize them. The US held more factories and had a slight edge in population and held the majority of the Navy that was later used to blockade the "rebels." However, Union military leadership proved wanting, resulting in huge casualties that did not defeat the Southern Forces led by General Thomas J. "Stead Fast" Jackson. President Buchanan was also tied by his own Democratic Party, who forced the president to hold on to the politically popular, but militarily incompetent, General Ambrose Burnside as head of the Army. The South, however, had a weaker economy, and were dependent on foreign imports and exports to equip the armies, although a crash industrialization would help with the supply situation.
By 1860, it was clear the war was a stalemate, and although Buchanan was re-elected, the Liberal Party had taken over Congress and forced Burnside out of command and focused all the resources of the nation into the war. But the effort to find another officer to rival the South's failed: by 1861, three men had been cycled through the Department of the Army and four in the First Union Army command. The recognition of the South by Great Britain and Prussia, and the arrival of the Royal Navy to break the naval blockade of the South, guaranteed the South its victory. With this, and the flood of resources to the south, led to Buchanan calling for a ceasefire and the end of the War on 1 October, 1862.
Political Crisis and the Third American War[]
![598px-Abraham lincoln inauguration 1861](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/0/08/598px-Abraham_lincoln_inauguration_1861.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20120219230512)
President Abraham Lincoln at his innaugeration in front of the under-repair Capitol Building, 1865.
Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1864, and sought to improve the army and the economy of the US, and focused his intentions to these efforts. However, despite the best intentions of the leaders of America, Congress was bitterly divided between the left leaning Liberal Party and the increasingly conservative Democrats and the new right-wing Nationalist Party, the later two merging in the 1880s. The close election of Nationalist Horatio Seymour in 1872, when Congress had to decide the results after none of the three candidates gained a majority of the Electoral College, led to further tensions and difficulties, and a deadlocked Congress that lasted until his defeat in 1876 to James G. Blaine. In one of the few successes of the Seymour Administration, which was started by Abraham Lincoln, was the recognition of Assiniboia as an independent nation.
President Blaine inherited a difficult situation. The British decision to restrict immigration to the Oregon Territory was seen as an unfair attack on American rights, as well as Mexican attacks on both Union and Confederate settlers in Arizona, increasingly distracted attention of both the nation and Congress. The Deseret Massacre, where illegal American settlers attacked British-allied Mormon settlers and those that did not actively oppose the British "oppression", killing hundreds. The Confederacy and the UK demanded answers, but Blaine had none to give, and when Mormon's rose en masse and over 3,200 Americans, and led to more reprisals on both sides, until the British Army declared Martial Law and detained the leaders of both sides. However, Blaine was able to use the difficulties in the west to help him coast to another term in the White House, proposed conscription and military expansion, which easily passed the Liberal dominated Congress. As the crisis escalated through winter and spring of 1882, the American newspapers and Congress pushed for war, while Blaine tried to blackmail territory from the UK. However, this failed, and a raid by Confederate supported Indian troops in Sequoyah, and Blaine used this excuse for war, allying with Assiniboia to take on the British Empire and the Confederacy.
Despite earlier successes in both Oregon and Texas, superior Confederate leadership during the failed invasion of Kentucky, and a British naval blockade ground the US army and economy to a halt. A Confederate attack toward Washington, D.C. in 1883, as well as British counter attack in Oregon and from Canada resulted in crisis, with the US army trying to now fight a war on three fronts simultaneously. Although the Confederate attack on Washington was halted at Baltimore, the war was clearly turning against the Union, and forced Blaine to call for peace. This, along with revelation of corruption and awarding contracts to political cronies, caused the now Nationalist dominated House of Representatives to impeach the president.
Industrialization and Militarization[]
![1869-Golden Spike](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/e/e4/1869-Golden_Spike.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20140523024736)
The driving of the Golden Spike in the Union-Oregon Railroad in 1873 established the first transcontinental railroad in North America.
The defeat of the US in the war focused their attentions to rebuilding American power, which under President Grover Cleveland of the hybrid Nationalist-Democratic Party, was focused on Industrialization of the nation: cities in Cleveland, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chicago, Illinois; Albany, New York; and Boston, Massachusetts, became the major industrial centers of the US, supported by grants, loans and rapidly increasing immigration. By 1890, the population of the United States had grown to almost 87 million people, nearly twice as large as the Confederate, who suffered from a trickle of immigration and only a slow population growth. The sudden death of Cleveland from cancer in 1890 elevated the sole hero of the Third American War George A. Custer, to the presidency. Under his administration, the armed forces were extensively modernized, taking inspiration from their French allies: despite their defeat in the Second Great European War, the French were still one of the most professional armies of the world, and the American army began to adopt the techniques, tactics and styles of the French Army. Perhaps the greatest example is the adoption of the eagle as the sole symbol of the army, similar to the French Empire.
During this time of rapid industrialization, the Union movement also began to arise, to try to ensure the health, safety and living standards of the workers. The notorious Pinkerton Detective agency was hired by the "New Barons" to infiltrate these new unions and to try to break them to prevent the unions from demanding these rights. The most infamous of these attempts was the 1901 "Battle of Carnegie" at the massive Carnegie Steel plants in Pittsburgh, when the Pinkerton's began shooting workers that were striking over the inadequate wages they earned. This bloodbath horrified the nation, and almost directly led to the creation of the Socialist Party, with progressive elements of the Liberal Party and the trade unions. which left the Liberal Party as a directionless party, often times associated with corruption as President Blaine had been notorious for.
Along with the rise of the Socialists and progressives, other radical factions began to spring up in America. Xenophobic, jingoistic nationalists on the hard right began to to grow among the white settlers against Roman Catholic, Jewish and Southern Europeans that were coming to America in the late 1800s/early 1900s. On the other side of the political spectrum was the anarchist movement, who sought to destroy the government and get the people to govern themselves. The Anarchists focused on bombing "symbols of the tyranny" of government. The highest point of Anarchist activity was the in 1890s and up to the early 1900s, climaxing in the assassination of progressive President Theodore Roosevelt in 1909. William Howard Taft, Roosevelt's Vice-President, took over, and created the United States Federal Police Service, which practically destroyed the Anarchist movements, as well as taking roles in inter-state crimes and counter-espionage.
The Second Global War and The Great Depression[]
The assassination of the Turkish Prime Minister in July 1911 was seen originally as a European problem. However, the crisis would eventually spill over into the Americas, with the crisis between the dormant desires of American Manifest Destiny and the desire for continental hegemony between the two major powers, the Confederate States and the US. The Second Global War would last five years between 1911 and 1916, during which time millions of men were killed over little gains, on battlefields in Canada, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky and Oregon. The failings of the early years of the war, along with anger over increasing corruption and nepotism in the Nationalist Party, similar to the Liberal Party only 30 years before, led to the first Socialist president, Eugene V. Debs being elected in 1912, as the war was still in its early stages. However, he would see the United States through to victory, and was re-elected in 1916 to help "Win the Peace." However, the devastation of the war shocked the US, and despite the victory, the horror of the war convinced many that never again should a war like this be fought.
![Lange-MigrantMother02](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/5/54/Lange-MigrantMother02.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20150226145925)
One of the most famous pictures of the Great Depression, **Migrant Mother** captured both the despair but also resoluteness of the average American.
The economy began to slow down, and nearly collapsed, after the war, when war contracts were canceled and the wave of de-mobilized soldiers struggled to fit back into civilian society, as well as the "Soldiers Flu" swept across the globe, sickening over 25 million Americans, killing seven million. Some form of normally and economic growth began in the 1920s, presided over by the progressive, yet steady, hands of President Charles Edward Russell of the Socialist Party. However, as the decade wound down the 1928 election was won by the Nationalist Party led by Herbert Hoover, for the first time since 1908, but the Stock Market Crash of 1931 in both New York and Paris wiped out millions of dollars in investments, and made millionaires paupers overnight. Millions were thrown out of work, and the worlds economy ground to a halt.
In the dark times of the early Great Depression, both the Nationalist and Socialist Parties were unable to resolve the issue. Hoover was booted from office in 1932 without being able to reverse the course of the Depression, and the popular Governor of New York Norman Thomas was swept into office. Aided by talented men of both political stripes, including his Socialist Secretary of the Treasury Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Nationalist Secretary of the Interior Alf Landon, Thomas set to work to revive the US economy, through infrastructure building and improvement, housing development, social security measures, loans to businessmen and encouragement for westward expansion. This so called "American Socialism" was decried by some as to extreme and destroying American ideals of hard work and profit, while others claimed that the Nationalists Thomas brought into his cabinet to help slowed down the progress that the socialist measures would have created. Nevertheless, results were quick to show, with unemployment being cut in half, from a high of over 35% to almost 17% in between 1932 and 1936. Thomas easily swept into a second term, and was set to continue the process for another four years.
Appeasement and the Third Global War[]
![Rayburn-Sam-LOC](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/0/00/Rayburn-Sam-LOC.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/200?cb=20110111205611)
Sam Rayburn, President of the CSA (1935-1945). A Second Global War veteran, his National Socialist ideology lead to the outbreak of war in North America in 1940, as well as the horrors of the Confederate Holocaust against African Americans, homosexuals and other "undesirables."
However, Thomas was increasingly faced with foreign issues in his second term, which was not his strong point. The rise of Sam Rayburn in the Confederacy as the head of the National Socialist Liberty Party, and his demands to rewrite the Treaty of Boulogne-Billancourt that the CSA was forced to sign in 1916, increasingly forced Thomas to bend, until in 1936 he at last agreed to remove the military limitation clauses. After this victory, Rayburn demanded that Kentucky and the newly created state of North Virginia to be reunited to the Stars and Bars. Thomas refused at first, trying to placate the Confederate sympathizers with a relaxing of military law to be replaced with civil law, despite the demands of his own Socialist Party. However, the Nationalist Congress, fearful of war, demanded that referenda be held. Held in January 1938, with all the residents of the state (including, by US demand, the Blacks of the territories), the referenda in Kentucky and North Virginia were in favor of re-unification with the South, on the condition that they remained demilitarized for at least 25 years. Rayburn pledged he no longer sought territorial gains in North America, but this turned out to be a lie.
On the Northern border of the US, Canada fell into civil war after the assassination of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King on July 1, 1937. While at first sure that the war could be contained in the borders of the British Imperial dominion, the victory of the National Socialist English-Canadians by 1940 raised fears that they would next turn on the United States' ally Assiniboia, which they did in July of the same year.
![Waves of paratroops land in Holland](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/9/9a/Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/180?cb=20150226151735)
American paratroopers landing in Tennessee in 1944.
President Thomas left the White House in 1940, and Nationalist Joseph P. Kennedy, a leader of the US Senate and supporter for Appeasement, took his place. He was prepared to do whatever he could to ensure peace in North America, but it was for naught. While American attention was focused on the Assiniboian crisis, Rayburn's Confederates attacked from the secretly militarized Kentucky, and quickly occupied Ohio and Indiana. President Kennedy, now facing a two front war, rallied the US to drive off the Confederacy, but it would take four years of bitter fighting, and aid from Brazil and the South American members of the Grand Alliance to destroy the CSA in early 1945. However, during the 1944 Presidential Election, Kennedy was turned out for his nearly destructive appeasement, and former General George C. Marshall was elected in his place.
After the defeat of Canada, the Confederacy and the Pacific Republic, American forces were used in the invasion of Great Britain, destroying the Natso government in the British Isles, and liberating Ireland from the oppression John Beckett had brought down on the Irish people. After the capture of Beckett, and the death of Rohm in the nuclear destruction of Leipzig in 1946, the war in Europe ended. American forces were prepared to be sent to Asia when the Japanese dropped a nuclear bomb on Shenyang, and soon after the final front of the war was over.
The Tri-Powers Conflict and the California Liberation Movement[]
As the victory of the Grand Alliance was becoming clear, tensions began to arise between Sorelist France and Japan, and democratic America and Russia on the post war world. France sought to dominate Europe, by directly annexing large sections of Western Europe into the Empire, and turning Central Europe, the British Isles and the states around the Mediterranean into puppet nations. The US was not so severe, instead demanding a large portion of the confederacy and the Pacific Republic, while dividing the Confederate States into an American dominated North CSA, and a Brazilian allied South CSA. However, American fears of French superiority, especially with the detonation of nuclear weapons that the US was still researching, led to increasing tensions over "buffer" states, like Scotland, Ireland and Greece. Despite the creation of the Organization of Sovereign Nations, which the US was a founding member of, little could be done to salvage the relationship between the US and France. The long standing alliance between the US and France, which had lasted for over 100 years, was at last over.
The US sought to stabilize its position, and detonated its first nuclear weapon in 1947, making it only the fourth nation (of which Natso Germany and Britain and France where the other members, and the first two no longer existed) to posses nuclear weapons. In 1949, the allies of the US, such as Assiniboia, Alyseka, Russia and Australasia signed the Juneau Pact, forming a defensive alliance to protect all members should one be attacked, and was first put to the test in the British Isles War in 1951, and France would respond with the European Defensive Alliance that same year. However, this effort to fight Sorelism wherever it was led to the downfall of Harry S. Truman, President after George Marshall. The revelation that he ordered secret support for groups in Europe, Asia and Africa that tried to upset the balance of power, including a plot to kill Emperor Louis II forced an impeachment of the president, on the fears that he would drag the US back into war before the nation had healed from the Third Global War.
In the years after the Third Global War, the US had to deal with many issues, including the rebuilding of the devastated cities in both the Union and the occupied Confederacy and the new state of California, as well as resistance to American rule. This was especially pronounced in the west, and the California Liberation Movement sprang up in the American occupied Pacific Republic in 1951. For years the US would be bled by the uprising in California that became bloodier and bloodier as the years passed on and ineffectual counter-partisan movements did little to stop the violence. Famed war hero George Patton was killed in 1958, and his successor, General John F. Kennedy was put into a coma in 1963, and it would take General Marion Mitchell Morrison to put an end to the fight by 1968.
However, the CLM was not the only thing that troubled during the 1960s. President Curtis LeMay, elevated to the position after Joseph McCarthy resigned due to health issues, was faced with the Scottish-Quebec Missile Crisis of May 1960, where the discovery of French nuclear missiles set up in Quebec, and the American decision to arm their weapons in Scotland with nuclear weapons sparked a crisis that had the potential to start the Fourth Global War, but was resolved after a late night OSN meeting in St Petersburg, Russia. This policy of brinkmanship, although potentially destructive, became LeMay's hallmark. However, the increasingly desperate CLM led an attack on LeMay in 1966, who was killed in Chicago.
The Civil Rights Movement and Collapse of Brazil[]
The CLM crisis in the United States was also met at the same time by the demands for equal rights that the African-American minority in the Union began to reach a crescendo. After the horrors of the Confederate "murder factories" that the Liberty Party established to kill the black population that they assumed "back stabbed" the Confederacy in the Second Global War, and the "Gentleman's Racism" that had dominated the Union up until this time was no longer acceptable. Unlike the sometimes violent effort at desegregation in the North CSA, and bloody efforts in the Gulf States Confederacy, by the 1960s, and led by such popular leaders as television host (and son of President Joseph Kennedy) Robert F. Kennedy, the efforts at true equality for the Black minority to the North was complete. This was followed by efforts to elevate and remove other restrictions on Latinos, Native Americans, Jews, Roman Catholics, and the other so called "Hyphenated Americans," immigrants from Europe and Asia that were viewed as different from the majority Western European descendants that had controlled the US since the Founding Fathers and before.
In the 1970s, as the military dictatorships of Brazil and Colombia were bogged down in the fight in occupied Venezuela, and the US leadership under President Edward R. Morrow began to supply support and aid to the Venezuelan rebels, who ultimately succeeded in 1978. This not only resulted in the re-unification of Venezuela, but the collapse of the Brazilian Bloc, nations that had allied with Brazil, one of the most powerful nations in the world after the Third Global War, most from South America. This power vacuum allowed both the French and the American's to gain new allies in the ideological conflict of the post Third Global War world, although the greatest prize, Brazil, the dictatorship was overthrown in a Sorelist coup. Therefore the Tri-Power Conflict became the Dual-Power Conflict.
The Dual Power Conflict and the Rodham Impeachment[]
The formerly three-sided ideological struggle became only two sided with the collapse of Brazil in 1978, with the forces of Democracy, led by the US and Russia, and the Sorelist Nations, headed by France and Japan. The Space Race, having started in the 1950s and becoming increasingly competitive in the 1960s and into the 1970s, climaxing in the simultaneous landing on the Moon by both French and American lunar craft in 1973. A recession in the mid 1970s, sparked by a huge surge in oil prices after the First Middle Eastern War, and the sabotage and terrorist attacks on oil wells and refinery's in Persia. In this crisis, the youngest son of former President Joseph Kennedy, Edward Kennedy was elected, and began to push for a "New Socialism," were former Socialist ideas such as the primacy of the state over the private sector were thrown out, and instead a mixed economy was promoted: where private enterprise could provide lower prices, they will be allowed to, while in sectors that could not provide reasonable costs to the consumer, government-run businesses will be created until such time that the private sector could compete at the same level. This theory, and proposals for cheaper power and telecoms in areas that the private sector considered too expensive to operate in, resulted in a surge of Socialist support in areas where Nationalists had always maintained power, such as in the Mid-West. This led to a two term Kennedy Presidency, despite the opposition of the more traditional members of the Socialist Party of this idea.
This "New Socialism" coalition dominated American politics for the next 20 years, under Edward Kennedy from 1976 to 1984, and later under Micheal Dukakis. However, Dukakis was unable to control the increasingly Nationalist Congress like his predecessor was able to, and he went down in defeat in 1988, and the "Neo-Liberal" hero in the Senate, Barry Sadler was the victorious Nationalist candidate in the 1988 election. Although he wasn't able to reverse the popular policies of Kennedy, some of which he publicly supported, Sadler instead began focusing more on Foreign affairs. The President and Prime Minister of France, Jacques Chirac faced each other down over a rapidly escalating series of crisis, such as the Siege of the American Embassy in Mecca, Arabia, and the French operation to take over the terrorist hub of Arabia. When a French general defected to Russia, and the revelation of possibilities of French attacks on Poland and Greece, tensions came to a head, and a naval skirmish in the Mediterranean, and border conflicts between Russia and Manchukuo all led to the fear of nuclear war in what was known as the Crisis of 1991.
Last minute agreements at the OSN led to a halt to the escalation, but the emotional and mental breakdown of Sadler during the crisis convinced him to not seek re-election. In 1992, businessman Ross Perot won the Presidency as a Nationalist, and sought to continue the Neo-Liberal platform of Sadler to push further economic deregulation, tax decreases and support for industry and business, while at the same time working with Socialists to push more welfare and affordable housing for the American people. Perot was also partially responsible for pushing for the reunification of the Confederate States of America, considering it a "humanitarian" effort that was his proudest achievement. He left the White House a popular man, but the Socialists regained power in 2000 after a hotly contested election, under Hillary Rodham, the first female president in the US. Presiding over an economic boom, Rodham was easily re-elected in 2004, due to her sound handling of policy, and the popular announcement of support to the European Liberation League, which had started a savage guerrilla and terrorist war against the French Empire to liberate the nations that had been destroyed after the Third Global War. However, in the later weeks of the 2004 US Presidential Election, reports of widespread corruption and money laundering to the Socialist Party led to the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment of the President.
The impeachment trial led to President Rodham fight to stay out of the proceedings, until the Supreme Court, in the famous statement "The laws of justice do not end at the door of the Oval Office," forced the President to come in front of the chamber, where she denied wrong doing until under questioning she at last admitted that her Chief of Staff, John Kerry, organized the efforts, and that she knew but turned a blind eye to it. Kerry, when brought in front of the Senate, tried to bring the President down him him, ultimately revealing a secret "hit list" that was composed to target those through secret government intimidation that were opposed to the President's policies. This revelation sunk the Rodham presidency, and citing health factor, Hillary Rodham was the first president to resign on February 6, 2006. Her Vice-President, Micheal Moore, was sworn in, but he was unable to stop the FBI from arresting her, and was unable to accomplish much in his short time as President, and the Socialists were swept from Congress in 2006, and the Presidency passed to Nationalist Tom Hanks in 2008.
The Caribbean Border Conflicts and the Present[]
Tom Hanks came to power facing a tarnished Executive branch, and a brewing crisis in Mexico and the Caribbean. The Sorelist States of Mexico, Hispaniola and Texas were reliant on French subsidies and economic support, due to an unofficial American embargo on the region. However, with France in trouble closer to home after 1999, less and less money were spent in the region, making the economies unstable, and people trying to flee to the United States. While Hispaniola decided to liberalize and lift some of the restrictions on personal freedoms (and President Rodham began negotiations with in 2003) Mexico and its puppet state Texas instead began spiraling downward faster as Mexican dictator Miguel de la Madrid implemented the failed Autosuficiencia (self-sufficiency) project. The economic situation collapsed, and thousands tried to flee the country, only to be gunned down by Mexican Border Guards.
By 2009, the economy was in shambles, and the army was no longer paid. An incident in the Yucatan peninsula resulted in riots and protests across the country, which army conscripts joined when sent to put it down. Many hundreds of thousands were guessed to have tried to escape the crisis, but those that reached the US were confined to internment camps, while only a few were allowed to work. Pressure from the states along the border such as Cimmaron, Deseret and California at last pushed President Hanks to send an intervention force into Mexico, and "Operation Taylor" forced President Madrid from power, and popular cabinet minister and defector Vincente Fox was placed in charge of Mexico. In Texas, freedom activist Rick Perry was elected president in 2011, in the first free elections held since the 1930s.
Along with Mexico, President Hanks was faced with a slowing economy, and increasing tensions with other Juneau Pact members, namely Russia. He was re-elected in 2012, but it remains to be seen if the Juneau Pact will break or the economy will stall.
Government[]
The federal government of the United States is divided into three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The Constitution of the US outlines the powers and duties of each branch with checks and balances placed on their activities. The Executive consists of the President, the Cabinet, and their offices. However, the actions of the cabinet level departments and agencies are responsible to Congress. Congress itself is composed of two houses, the lower House of Representatives, and the upper house Senate. Both are elected positions, the Representatives being elected by electoral districts determined by an independent agency to serve roughly an equal proportion of the citizenry of the US. Senators are elected on the basis of two per state, no matter the population.
Elections for the President are held every four years, with elections for Congress held every two years. Members of the House of Representatives have two year terms, while Senators have six year terms. In each election cycle, one third of the senators are up for election. All elections are held the first Tuesday in November, though it isn't until March when the winner's are sworn into office.
The United States is also divided into 30 self-governing states. Each state is set up similarly to the Federal government with the three branches (executive, legislative and judicial), though have different responsibilities. While the Federal Government in Washington, D.C. takes care of foreign affairs, defence and inter-state relations, the states themselves take care of education, healthcare, roads and other local affairs. Each state has a governor and a cabinet for the executive, one or two houses for their Legislative Assemblies, and a court system that is the starting point of many legal cases in the US. The elections for each state also takes place on the first Tuesday of November.
Economy[]
The economy of the US is one of the largest in the world, increasingly focused on the service industry and manufacturing. As of 2010, the major sectors of the economy, as determined by the percentage of GDP, is the service industry at 43%, Manufacturing and Industry at 29%, Resource Extraction at 18%, and Agriculture at 10%. Despite what this states, the American agriculture sector is still one of the largest in the world, and is able to produce a large export crop mostly comprised of wheat, other grains and cattle.
American industry is still a world leader in automobile and aircraft production, along with technology products including computers, smartphones and other high end products. However, with the rise of cheap labor in Nations in South America and Asia, and advanced mechanization of industry, traditional manufacturing jobs have been transferred to these locations starting in the 1970s. Efforts to reverse this tide has taken many forms, including tax cuts for major businesses, laws proposed in Congress to require businesses with their Headquarters in the US or trade on American stock exchanges to have a certain percentage of jobs in America at all times, and subsidies for new industries.
An increasingly large part of the US economy is in the service industry, mostly comprised with shopping centers, finance and technology services. These jobs are, on the whole, more unstable, lower paying, and without the job perks that traditional manufacturing jobs had, which results in a high percentage of both unemployment that has not dropped below 6% since the 1980s, as well as underemployment. In 1998, Illinois was the first region of the world to a "floating" minimum wage, which would be the lowest that employer's could legally pay some was based on an index of the cost of the necessities of life, including food, shelter and transportation, with an extra 15% added on to be saved or spent as the employee wished. Ten other states in the US has also enacted a floating minimum wage, along with the federal government in 2006. As of December 2012, the Federal minimum wage, which is automatically adjusted to the state with the highest minimum wage, which was $9.54 an hour (in New York State) based on this formula.
Military[]
The United States military is one of the most advanced in the world. Although overall numbers are lower in comparison to France, Russia and China, military spending is even higher than France and Russia combined. This is due to the so-called "American Doctrine," where the US must maintain a fleet capable of operating in both the Atlantic and Pacific simultaneously, with a highly trained, technologically advanced army and air force designed for "Strike and Fight" tactics. The US discontinued conscription in 1976 as a budget cutting measure, though laws allow the President to re-instate conscription during a National Emergency.
The US Army maintains a peacetime force of 1.2 million troops, with a reserve force of 1,850,000 that typically trains a minimum of 40 days a year. The full reserves can only be called up in an National Emergency by the President with the approval of one member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate concurring, although the reserve components of each state can be called up for Local or Regional Emergencies by the governor of that state by two of the local lawmakers determining that an emergency is indeed taking place. The most recent call of the reserves has been during the February 2013 Super-Blizzard that pounded the Midwest, with every state from Dakota to Ohio calling the reserves to aid emergency services in rescuing people, restoring transportation and services including electricity, gas and food supplies.