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Breakup of the US

Taken from “The Definitive History of the Planet Earth, Volume II – The Middle Era: Struggle for Planethood.”

This excerpt deals with the early formation of North American nations from the previous imperial federations.

…Hundreds of years after its descent from world superiority, the world’s first free democracy descended even further into anarchy. The United States Congress failed to reconcile a desperate economic package which flung the country into crisis. Almost simultaneously, armed conflicts erupted in the states of South Dakota and Texas. Following the uprisings, gang warfare erupted across the US. The most powerful forces took root in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Original map of the nations in Boiling Point.

The first to secede was Texas, linked with Oklahoma. The Texan army opened opened fronts in Arkansas and linked up with many communities in Louisiana. A front also opened in Kansas. The final armed uprisings came in Idaho and the Ozark Mountains. The Ozark peoples tried to drive the Texans out of Arkansas and declared an Ozark People’s Republic. The northern portion of Idaho was taken over by the Aryan Nation.

The first non-violent secession occurred in Utah, where the Mormon Church declared a Mormon Nation and negotiated a peace with California, which had also been taken over by an undeclared Republic at the time. Washington and Oregon stayed solid with the US but Montana led a coalition of states called the Great Plains Nations to ward off the Aryan Nation and the ever expanding Sioux Nation out of South Dakota. Concurrently, the non-Sioux portions of the Dakotas, formed an alliance with Nebraska and Kansas to battle the Sioux, Texans, and the Ozarks.

The City of Chicago under gang rule joined a similar group in Detroit and formed the Allied Cities. This pushed the Midwestern States to secede and ally against the Sioux, Ozarks and the Allied Cities. Then Texas invaded Colorado, causing that state to join the Great Plains Nations which was beginning to falter under pressure from north and south. Meanwhile Kentucky and Tennessee were dealing with Ozark aggression and formed the Ken-Ten Alliance to coordinate efforts to defend their borders.

Similarly, after receiving no direct help from the federal government, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama formed an alliance perhaps unwisely called the New Confederacy. This was the first defensive alliance to cause some International controversy. However the New Confederacy took the fight against Texas into Louisiana and defended New Orleans, becoming the first alliance to make any progress against Texas.

Then the City of Miami made a declaration unpopular with its own citizens, giving the Mayor new powers to form a militia to defend the city from the New Confederacy. This essentially made Miami a dictatorship, without technically seceding from the US. It also prompted the New Confederacy to move into northern Florida.

At this point more than a dozen skirmishes were happening and the federal government was scrambling to take back control of its domestic army, hold on to the eastern states, and recall armed forces from overseas. At this point New York and the New England states called back their Senators and Representatives from Washington for a “Regional Congress.” This resulted in the northeastern states taking temporary control of their own military.

At around the same time a coalition of native tribes in Arizona, led by the Apache, declared independence. This caused an uproar in the state of Arizona as they had proudly stayed loyal to the US. This also led to Texas invading and overrunning New Mexico in order to “save” Arizona.

Mexico then became the first country to get directly involved in the conflicts. In a meeting of representatives from California, Mexico, Texas, and various other minor delegates, a security corridor was ceded to Mexico. This corridor approximately covered the same territory sold by Mexico to the US in the Gadsden Purchase.

After receiving no assistance or attention from the federal government, the state of Washington finally voted to secede. However they surprisingly did not join the Great Plains Alliance which was barely held together by Colorado. Instead they accepted an offer of cooperation and protection by Canada. Oregon followed by declaring “local sovereignty” in order to better defend its territory, but stopped short of secession. Hawaii also declared “local sovereignty” and began the process of strengthening ties with other south Pacific nations. That process eventually led to the creation of the South Pacific Union.

In what must have been the low point for federal power, a group in the government of the state of Pennsylvania, declared Philadelphia the seat of the “true” United States of America, and peacefully persuaded much of eastern Ohio to join it. At the same time, Ken-Ten alliance welcomed West Virginia into its coalition. This addition gave them leverage to negotiate a peace with Ozarkia. They turned around and opened the first and only attack on the rump US. They fired few shots, and receiving cheers as they marched into the western parts of Maryland, Virgina, and North Carolina, where police protection had been sorely lacking. When the remnants of the US Army finally confronted what was now being called the Bluegrass Army, a cease-fire was quickly negotiated.

Meanwhile, Texas had thrust far into Colorado, which forced the remains of Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota into the newly-formed Republic of Colorado. The last secession then took place as the southern half of Florida, led by Miami, joined Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Pan-Carribean Alliance.

Peace of Vancouver MapAt this time, the Midwest, Ozarkia, and the rump US convinced the other factions to request the United Nations step in and negotiate what became known as the Peace of Vancouver. This peace mostly dealt with the setting of the borders of Ozarkia.  All other borders were recognized essentially where they were when the shooting stopped. The only issue not solved was the issue of Pennsylvania’s claim to be the United States of America. Pennsylvania unilaterally agreed to drop the word ‘united’ from their name, saying it was implied. They called themselves simply the States of America or SA. The USA was not appeased by this, but agreed to continuing negotiations in order to hammer out a permanent cease-fire.

*Peace of Vancouver Fact Sheet

And that’s essentially all the Peace of Vancouver was; a permanent cease-fire.  No issues were resolved and no territorial changes made. It merely stopped the fighting and set the table for protracted negotiations which played out over the next 50 years. But the Peace of Vancouver did do a good job at stopping the fighting. Only one more armed conflict would happen before the Peace of Houston.

The first resolution came after the first post-war elections were held in Pennsylvania, and the SA group lost decidedly.  The States of America were no more.  Pennsylvania returned to the US, although it retained control over part of Ohio. On the other hand New York and New England formalized their association to form the New England States of America, while still refusing to formalize secession from the US. The uncertainty caused the northernmost French-speaking county of Maine, Aroostook, to secede from the US officially and join Quebec as the region of Nord-du-Maine. The remainder of the state became known as South Maine.

As the governments turned from fighting to the realities of governing, more consolidation took place. The Ken-Ten Alliance, now known as the Bluegrass Mountain Republic, dissolved and the three states joined the New Confederacy, now going by the less controversial Southern States of America. The New City of Chicago, split from Detroit and was admitted as a separate state from Illinois to the Midwestern States of America.

In the West, the US admitted it was in no position to aid Oregon, and that state entered into a similar arrangement with Canada as Washington State had. Both states eventually became territories and then provinces of Canada over the years. Montana’s tattered Great Plains Alliance, the Colorado Republic and the Sioux Nation all agreed to federate to form the United Nations of the Great Plains.

After a failed experiment in a populist government, Ozarkia dissolved and was peacefully divided among the ‘ancient’ borders of Missouri and Arkansas. Less peaceful was the Arizona problem. It arose when Native Americans in California and Texas united to form their own republic. Concurrently, Hispanics along the Mexican border of California and Texas, led by Rosario Gonzalez, declare a return to Mexico. Before the battles could ignite another anarchical situation, the UN stepped in and took the unusually symbolic act of nullifying the Gadsden Purchase. Plebiscites were taken in border communities and a new border was set between Texas, Mexico, and California. Several UN enclaves were also created for the Native American tribes. These eventually federated to form the United Native Americans. This final agreement on borders and the creation of the UNA was known as the Peace of Houston.

*Peace of Houston Fact Sheet

A map of the nations of North America at the time of the Peace of HoustonThe Aryan Nation and Florida (Pan-Carribean Alliance) were the only North American Nations not to send representatives to the Peace of Houston talks. It was at this time however, that the Aryan Nation opened its capital of Lewiston to limited visits from foreigners.  Its borders remained closed otherwise. Only very limited trade missions were allowed in Lewiston. The UN was specifically not allowed to send represntatives, but oddly, only UN planes were allowed to land in Lewiston.

The next dispute began in West Virginia, now part of the Southern States of America after the Bluegrass Mountain Republic had dissolved. A group called “The Mountaineers” was campaigning for West Virginia to leave the SSA and request re-admittance to the US. At the same time the state of South Carolina was dealing with popular pressure to do the opposite. The UN brokered a deal with the SSA where West Virginia would be allowed to leave the SSA if the state of South Carolina decided to leave the US. The US protested and charged the UN with domestic intervention, claiming they were attempting to incite South Carolina to secede with this agreement. The World Court however determined that the status and fate of West Virginia had no affect on South Carolina’s decision to stay with the US or leave. South Carolina did vote to secede and the switch was made 20 years after the Peace of Houston.

At this point the US, desperate to regain some semblance of its former self, opened negotiations with the New England States. These states had never technically seceded, but had not returned their congresspersons or military to Washington DC. After two years of negotiation, the New England States rejoined the US under a heavily amended constitution.

The US then pursued its continued reconstruction by attempting to re-open negotiations with the Midwestern States of America. The Midwest however, only wanted to discuss the severed condition of Ohio.

The Southern States of America ran into its first major challenge when a small number of Representatives tried to ammend the constitution to change the name back to the Confederate States of America, for historical reasons. The fight came about over a national rebuilding program. The conflict came to a head when the press discovered a plan by the KKK to to make common cause with the Aryan Nation to overthrow the Southern States and conquer the United Nations of the Great Plains. What started as an abortive attempt to change the name of the country, ended with the outlawing of the KKK and the execution of 100 clansmen accused of murders during the war.

The United Nations of the Great Plains found it hardest to maintain their independence. They were entirely landlocked. The MSA was also landlocked but dominated the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi giving them some leverage and outlet. The Great Plains did have good trade relations with Canada, especially through ties to Oregon and Washington. The UNA was not only landlocked but fractured, however they maintained good relations with Mexico and survived almost as a principality of that nation.

The final landlocked country, the Mormon Nation, had largely stayed out of most fighting and lived simply with good trade relations with the Great Plains and the MSA. The UNA kept good relations with Mexico.

The back story continues with the formation of United Earth.

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