Xen
Banned
Normally I try to avoid the Harry Turtledove, people will still be born regardless of the butterflies crap, but I just couldnt resist this one. This is a roughdraft of a world I have been trying to create where the south achieves its independence.
NOTE: The South winning independence is NOT the POD
Constructive Criticism appreciated
The Confederate States of America
The Confederate States achieved independence in 1865 after the election of George Pendleton to the Presidency of the US over the Republican Party’s nominee John Fremont (who in turn was selected to replace incumbent Charles Sumner)
Kentucky seceded from the Union on May 14, 1861 when the Union Army led by Nathaniel Lyon invaded an arsenal at Paducah on four days earlier. Kentucky ranked only behind Virginia in number of battles fought on its soil during the course of the war. Native born Kentuckian Jefferson Davis commanded the Army of the Mississippi during the Kentucky campaign and assured Kentucky’s place in the Confederacy.
At the Treaty of London which granted independence to the Confederate States, the Union managed to hold on to several counties in Western & Northern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky merging them to form the State of Virginia with its capital in Wheeling. The Florida Keys also remained under Union control to give the United States access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
The Confederate States at independence included all 12 seceding states, plus Indian Territory, Arizona Territory, Chihuahua Territory and Sonora Territory (the latter two annexed from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase).
The Confederate States attempts to expand into the Caribbean was met with hostilities by the British and French, neither of whom wanted to see slavery expand or continue in areas where it was dying out (such as Cuba). The Confederate refusal to even consider abolishing slavery made it a pariah among world nations, setting its progress back many years.
The Great Slave Uprising in 1905 was crushed by the state militias and resulted in the deaths of 25% of all slaves in the Confederate States, it is estimated another 10% of those held in bondage escaped to the United States and forced the Confederate Congress to pass legislation abolishing slavery with the Emancipation and Compensation Act of 1907. Later that year the Confederate Congress passed their own version of the Pass Laws, restricting movement of all non-whites in the Confederacy.
After the slave uprising many displaced White Confederates began moving west causing the cities of Tucson, Phoenix and Guaymas to explode in population. By 1920 Guaymas reached a population of half a million, up from just under 100,000 at the turn of the century.
With slavery now a thing of the past, the Confederate States was more welcome in the brotherhood of nations, and began to play catch up with its northern neighbor opening trade with the nations of Central Europe and South America. For the first time in half a century, new states were admitted. Chihuahua was admitted as a state in 1909, Arizona and Sonora in 1911 and Indian Territory (as Oklahoma) in 1919.
With the election of Huey Long and the Popular Democrats in 1934, the Confederate States adopted a very strict apartheid system. The Confederate Apartheid would remain in place until 1988 when a more tolerant Supreme Court declared the Apartheid System to be unconstitutional.
The Confederate Movie Industry achieved its golden age in the 1940’s and is based out of Miami, Florida. Disappointed by the lack of morality in movies produced in the United States including an "excessive" showing of sexuality and nudity, the Confederate Movie Industry initiated Black Code (named after its creator former Vice President Hugo Black and an analogue of OTL Hays Code). Black Code underwent minor reforms in the 1980’s but remains in effect to this day.
Civil Rights Activists such as Martin Luther King, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Asa Philip Randolph were arrested and imprisoned for decades on charges of trying to incite riots and disrupting the peace. Never the less, the Civil Rights Movement in the Confederate States continued, and was often met with violence. Periodically and sporadically, the states of the Confederacy were placed under martial law by their governor to quell the Civil Rights Movement. Once again the Confederate States became a pariah to the world (South Africa and Rhodesia however supported the CSA).
The church has played an important role in the Confederate States since the nation’s inception, and the Christian Right is a very powerful and vocal lobby in Confederate national and state politics and is often aligned with the right-winged Constitutional Democratic Party. Christian extremists such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, and James Dobson have had a tremendous impact on policies in the Confederacy and have influenced laws banning movies made in the United States, and other foreign nations from entering the nations.
Domestically the Confederate government is weak, and while influential has little say over policies making the Confederacy a very diverse nation, where laws in one state do not necessarily apply in another. Occasionally, the Confederate Supreme Court forces the compliance of certain laws (such as declaring Apartheid unconstitutional) causing much grief amongst the Confederate conservatives.
Unlike the United States the Confederate States does not have an interstate system, citizens who travel from one coast to the other does so on the intrastate which after several decades has connected to form one massive highway system.
Education varies from state to state in some of the more “liberal” states such as Florida, Virginia and Sonora creationism is taught hand by hand with evolution, while in the more conservative states such as Texas, Alabama and South Carolina evolution is not even taught in schools. School prayer is common, though not mandatory in all 16 states.
Homosexuality and polygamy are not common problems in the Confederate States, many gays and lesbians choose to immigrate to the much more tolerant United States than face the bigomy and hatred in the Confederacy. As far as the average Confederate American is concerned, the debate of Polygamy is restricted to the United States.
The CSA is the only industrial nation that has not adopted a Universal Health Care system, ironically however nearly every citizen in the Confederate States has health coverage which is different from state to state and funded by the individual states rather than the central government. (The Confederate Health Care system is based on the Massachusetts health care reform of 2006). Sonora was the first state to adopt such a measure in 1989 and South Carolina was the last to adopt it in 2007.
The Confederate States has a small National Army of roughly 80,000 active duty soldiers based mostly around the Confederate capital in Richmond. The state militias are relied on for national defense serving as ground forces, in the modern era this includes the bulk of the Air Corps. The Navy on the other hand is doubled the size of the Army, excluding 7,500 Marines and is funded solely by the Confederate government. The Confederate Navy is divided into four fleets, the First Fleet is based out of Hampton Roads, the Second Fleet is based out of Mobile, the Third Fleet is based out of Guaymas and the Fourth Fleet is based out of Miami. The Citiadel serves as the academy for training officers for the Army and Air Corps, while the Mobile Naval Academy trains officers for the Navy and Marine Corps. In case of war, the Confederate Congress can approve for the President to nationalize the state militias. Most Confederate military equipment is purchased from France and Russia.
Gridiron Football is the most popular sport in the Confederate States with every state having at least one professional football team. Confederate Gridiron is different from US Gridiron, having a twelfth man and forbidding the lateral pass until third down. Baseball is well known and enjoys some popularity in the border states but is often ridiculed as being too slow and boring, basketball however has enjoyed great popularity, especially in the “Upper” Confederacy and in the western states, Soccer is popular in the western states, Louisiana and Florida but no so much anywhere else and hockey is not very popular. Stock Car racing is more popular than open-wheel car racing (the opposite of the US) with numerous tracks opening across the nation, and dozens of Stock Car Leagues competing, none however as popular as the Dixie Cup Stock Car League. The Confederate States is also a regular competitor in the Summer and Winter Olympics and has even once hosted the Summer Games in 2004 Houston.
The Confederate States joined the Congress of Nations based in Amsterdam, being one of the last nations to join the Congress in 1999. The 79 year old Ross Perot is the Confederate States current ambassador to the Congress.
In spite of a history of oppressive laws, the Black Confederate citizens have contributed to world culture, developing Jazz, which in turn became popular with Whites in the Confederacy, and expanded into the United States, Canada and Europe. Several years later white Confederates played an important role in the development of Rock and Roll with the likes of Elvis and Jesse Presley, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Currently Confederate Rock is the most popular form of music in the nation having been popularized by Lynard Skynard in the 1970’s, and by the band Alabama in the 1980’s. Todays biggest stars are Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and Jessica & Ashlee Simpson. With Confederate blacks R&B is more popular.
The two main political parties in the Confederate States are the conservative Constitutional Democrats and the centerist Reform Democrats (often called liberals and socialists by their opponents). The Green Party CSA is the most influential left leaning party in the nation, but its support varies from state to state with Florida and Sonora having the largest percentage of registered Greens.
The United States
Following the defeat of the Union Armies in the War of Secession, the Republican Party fell into obscurity with the conservative Democratic Party dominating politics for the next forty years until the rise of the Progressive Party at the turn of the Century.
After the War of Secession, the United States began to experience the Third Great Awakening, a revivalist religious movement spreading across a nation shocked by defeat in war. The Third Great Awakening lasted only until 1876 when the United States elected Charles Francis Adams (a liberal Democrat) as President. The grandson of one of the nations founding fathers and the centennial celebrations began a renewed age of enlightenment. The sting of war was eased with news papers reporting victory after victory of the Union Army over the Plains Indians including the near annihilation of the Lakota tribe in Montana by Brigadier General John Pope and Colonel George A. Custer in late July 1876.
The US and CS nearly found themselves at war once again in 1877 when President Adams refused to honor the Fugitive Slave Act as his predecessors once had. The Confederate States were forced to back down when Great Britain threw its lot in with the United States. The near war between the two nations was more than enough to convince the US Congress to relocate the capital out of Washington D.C. and back to Philadelphia (after nearly moving to Chicago)
Dakota territory was admitted as a state in 1882 with its capital in Fargo, due to the elimination of the Indian threat, the Territory was quickly colonized by US Americans looking west for their fortunes and sympathetic southerners who had opposed secession and had become scions in the Confederate States.
The Florida Keys became a source of tension between the United States and the Confederacy, once again nearly leading the two nation into war. The Keys had been occupied by Union troops since the War of Secession, however after two decades most of the Confederate Sympathizers had moved to Florida and those who remained behind were freed slaves, Cubans and Union veterans all of whom preferred to remain part of the United States.
The United States grew rapidly in wealth and population during the latter nineteenth century, immigrants from Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia and Germany found new homes in the slums of major cities.
In 1897 a coalition of the Republican Remnants, Liberal Democrats, Populists and Reformers met in Wheeling, Virginia and formed the Progressive Party to rival the Democrats and stem the growing influence of Marxist in the nation. The Progressive Party took control of the House of Representatives in 1898, and won the Senate and Presidency in 1900 led by William J. Bryan.
The United States watched with great concern the Slave Rebellion of 1905, tens of thousands of escaped slaves poured over the border into Union Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland and Missouri. Public sympathies in the US lied with the refugees, however opinions were divided on allowing them to become citizens, returning them to the CSA when the conflicted ended or shipping them to Liberia. After years of debate, few refugees grew tired of their lack of status in the US and did return to the CSA, a few more migrated to Liberia however in 1910 the US Congress passed legislation declaring the refugees as citizens of the United States entitled to the same rights and benefits as any other citizens.
During the Presidencies of William J. Bryan (1901-1909), Theodore Roosevelt (1909-1917), Charles Hughes (1917-1925), Al Smith (1929-1933), Charles McNary (1937-1944) and Henry Wallace (1944-1949) the size of the Federal Government grew rapidly and on an unprecedented scale. The Progressives dominated early twentieth century politics in the United States establishing organizations such as the Appalachian Regional Authority (analouge of the TVA), the Workers Progress Administration, the Federal Housing Authority and many more. After winning the Presidency in his own right in 1944, Henry Wallace managed to get the Federal Health Care Act passed, establishing the Department of Medical Affairs and a Federally funded health care system.
As Progressivism gripped the nation, so too did it effect the arts by the early 1920’s the United States began to experiene the Sexual Revolution. It became more accepted for women to find work outside of the home, drink and smoke. Feeling liberated women began wearing shorter dresses and often had pre-marital sex on a scale unseen before in the nations history. Prohibition never was passed in the United States, keeping organized crime off the streets and in the casinos. Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees captured the nations imagination as he continued to hit home run after home run setting a record of 714 which continues to stand to this day. The 1920’s are often reflected on as the United States golden age.
With Will H. Hays serving as the Chairman of the Democratic Party and recognized leader of the Conservative Coalition, his attempts of creating movie codes similar to those found in the Confederacy were scorned by many in the US. As a result of this Progressive mentality, many flicks produced in the United States contained sexual themes and nudity.
Wall Street crisis of 1929 fortunately led only to a small recession that ended in 1931. Without the Great Depression, the Progressive atmosphere that surrounded the nation in the 1920’s continued on into the following decades.
The US declared war on Japan in the spring of 1942 after the Japanese sneak attack on the Royal Navy base in Pearl Harbor, and the sinking of several civilian Canadian ships in American territorial waters. The US Navy took the responsibility for the Defense of Pearl Harbor, and the US Army, Navy and Air Force served along side the British in the Pacific War which ended with Japans surrender in 1944. It was the first time in 80 years the United States had gone to war, (excluding the Indian Wars) the longest period of peace in the nations history.
Following the Pacific War the British Empire occupied mainland Japan, the United States was given the Trust Territory of Korea, which is often regarded as the beginning of the special relationship between the Republic of Korea and the United States.
In 1948, the United States became the fourth nation to develop nuclear weapons behind Germany (1941), Britain (1943), France (1944) and Russia (1947).
Throughout the 1950’s the United States engaged in the Space Race with Germany, beating Germany to Space in 1955 and putting the first man (Chuck Yeager) into orbit in 1958, however Germany won the race to the moon putting a man on the moon in 1964. The United States Space Agency (USSA) operates out of La Paz, Baja California.
The United States began construction of the US Interstate System in 1952 with President Charles Lindergh fulfilling his earlier campaign promise to build an American Autobahn similar to what was found in Germany. The US Interstate is maintained by the Federal Government.
Under President Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. the United States was a founding member of the Congress of Nations in 1958 and has provided two Secretary-General’s to the Congress including the first Secretary-General Averell Harriman and the current Secretary-General Christopher Dodd.
In 1967 Progressive President Hubert H. Humphrey merged the Department of the Navy, the Department of War and the Department of the Air Force into a single branch, the Department of Defense. The US Army is the largest of the branches with about 215,000 active duty troops scattered throughout the nation, the Navy is second with only 200,000 and the Air Force is third with 110,000, the US Marine Corps is as always the smallest branch with 15,000. In case of war the US President can activate the reserves and National Guard which will put well over a million troops on active duty.
The Federal Education Program was initiated in 1989 by President Dennis Kucinich which allowed the Federal Government to take control of the Public Education Sector from the state governments and standardizing teaching programs across the country. The Teachers Union eagerly embraced the Federal Takeover as the salaries of teachers increased.
In 2000 the Florida Keys were admitted as a state with the capital in Key West. It is the smallest state in population and size in the Union. The population of the Florida Keys according to the 2000 cenus is 115,000, Key West has a population of 35,000.
As of 2009, the Federal Government is the largest employer in the United States ranking ahead of Target Department Stores, Kroger Grociers and Ace Hardware.
The Two Major Parties in the US are the right of center Democrats and the liberal Progressive Party (The US Social Democrats) there numerous third parties including the Libertarian Party, but the largest is the American Republican Party, a socially Conservative Party.
Well this is what I have gotten so far, I should mention that Nova Scotia and Franklin (OTL New Brunswick) are part of the US, conquered by Benedict Arnold in the Revolution just before his death of pneumonia in 1779. The border with the US and Canada is slightly different, Canada has Alaska, and Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the US has the Maritimes and Vancouver Island.
NOTE: The South winning independence is NOT the POD
Constructive Criticism appreciated
The Confederate States of America
The Confederate States achieved independence in 1865 after the election of George Pendleton to the Presidency of the US over the Republican Party’s nominee John Fremont (who in turn was selected to replace incumbent Charles Sumner)
Kentucky seceded from the Union on May 14, 1861 when the Union Army led by Nathaniel Lyon invaded an arsenal at Paducah on four days earlier. Kentucky ranked only behind Virginia in number of battles fought on its soil during the course of the war. Native born Kentuckian Jefferson Davis commanded the Army of the Mississippi during the Kentucky campaign and assured Kentucky’s place in the Confederacy.
At the Treaty of London which granted independence to the Confederate States, the Union managed to hold on to several counties in Western & Northern Virginia and Eastern Kentucky merging them to form the State of Virginia with its capital in Wheeling. The Florida Keys also remained under Union control to give the United States access to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.
The Confederate States at independence included all 12 seceding states, plus Indian Territory, Arizona Territory, Chihuahua Territory and Sonora Territory (the latter two annexed from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase).
The Confederate States attempts to expand into the Caribbean was met with hostilities by the British and French, neither of whom wanted to see slavery expand or continue in areas where it was dying out (such as Cuba). The Confederate refusal to even consider abolishing slavery made it a pariah among world nations, setting its progress back many years.
The Great Slave Uprising in 1905 was crushed by the state militias and resulted in the deaths of 25% of all slaves in the Confederate States, it is estimated another 10% of those held in bondage escaped to the United States and forced the Confederate Congress to pass legislation abolishing slavery with the Emancipation and Compensation Act of 1907. Later that year the Confederate Congress passed their own version of the Pass Laws, restricting movement of all non-whites in the Confederacy.
After the slave uprising many displaced White Confederates began moving west causing the cities of Tucson, Phoenix and Guaymas to explode in population. By 1920 Guaymas reached a population of half a million, up from just under 100,000 at the turn of the century.
With slavery now a thing of the past, the Confederate States was more welcome in the brotherhood of nations, and began to play catch up with its northern neighbor opening trade with the nations of Central Europe and South America. For the first time in half a century, new states were admitted. Chihuahua was admitted as a state in 1909, Arizona and Sonora in 1911 and Indian Territory (as Oklahoma) in 1919.
With the election of Huey Long and the Popular Democrats in 1934, the Confederate States adopted a very strict apartheid system. The Confederate Apartheid would remain in place until 1988 when a more tolerant Supreme Court declared the Apartheid System to be unconstitutional.
The Confederate Movie Industry achieved its golden age in the 1940’s and is based out of Miami, Florida. Disappointed by the lack of morality in movies produced in the United States including an "excessive" showing of sexuality and nudity, the Confederate Movie Industry initiated Black Code (named after its creator former Vice President Hugo Black and an analogue of OTL Hays Code). Black Code underwent minor reforms in the 1980’s but remains in effect to this day.
Civil Rights Activists such as Martin Luther King, Fred Shuttlesworth, and Asa Philip Randolph were arrested and imprisoned for decades on charges of trying to incite riots and disrupting the peace. Never the less, the Civil Rights Movement in the Confederate States continued, and was often met with violence. Periodically and sporadically, the states of the Confederacy were placed under martial law by their governor to quell the Civil Rights Movement. Once again the Confederate States became a pariah to the world (South Africa and Rhodesia however supported the CSA).
The church has played an important role in the Confederate States since the nation’s inception, and the Christian Right is a very powerful and vocal lobby in Confederate national and state politics and is often aligned with the right-winged Constitutional Democratic Party. Christian extremists such as Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Pat Buchanan, and James Dobson have had a tremendous impact on policies in the Confederacy and have influenced laws banning movies made in the United States, and other foreign nations from entering the nations.
Domestically the Confederate government is weak, and while influential has little say over policies making the Confederacy a very diverse nation, where laws in one state do not necessarily apply in another. Occasionally, the Confederate Supreme Court forces the compliance of certain laws (such as declaring Apartheid unconstitutional) causing much grief amongst the Confederate conservatives.
Unlike the United States the Confederate States does not have an interstate system, citizens who travel from one coast to the other does so on the intrastate which after several decades has connected to form one massive highway system.
Education varies from state to state in some of the more “liberal” states such as Florida, Virginia and Sonora creationism is taught hand by hand with evolution, while in the more conservative states such as Texas, Alabama and South Carolina evolution is not even taught in schools. School prayer is common, though not mandatory in all 16 states.
Homosexuality and polygamy are not common problems in the Confederate States, many gays and lesbians choose to immigrate to the much more tolerant United States than face the bigomy and hatred in the Confederacy. As far as the average Confederate American is concerned, the debate of Polygamy is restricted to the United States.
The CSA is the only industrial nation that has not adopted a Universal Health Care system, ironically however nearly every citizen in the Confederate States has health coverage which is different from state to state and funded by the individual states rather than the central government. (The Confederate Health Care system is based on the Massachusetts health care reform of 2006). Sonora was the first state to adopt such a measure in 1989 and South Carolina was the last to adopt it in 2007.
The Confederate States has a small National Army of roughly 80,000 active duty soldiers based mostly around the Confederate capital in Richmond. The state militias are relied on for national defense serving as ground forces, in the modern era this includes the bulk of the Air Corps. The Navy on the other hand is doubled the size of the Army, excluding 7,500 Marines and is funded solely by the Confederate government. The Confederate Navy is divided into four fleets, the First Fleet is based out of Hampton Roads, the Second Fleet is based out of Mobile, the Third Fleet is based out of Guaymas and the Fourth Fleet is based out of Miami. The Citiadel serves as the academy for training officers for the Army and Air Corps, while the Mobile Naval Academy trains officers for the Navy and Marine Corps. In case of war, the Confederate Congress can approve for the President to nationalize the state militias. Most Confederate military equipment is purchased from France and Russia.
Gridiron Football is the most popular sport in the Confederate States with every state having at least one professional football team. Confederate Gridiron is different from US Gridiron, having a twelfth man and forbidding the lateral pass until third down. Baseball is well known and enjoys some popularity in the border states but is often ridiculed as being too slow and boring, basketball however has enjoyed great popularity, especially in the “Upper” Confederacy and in the western states, Soccer is popular in the western states, Louisiana and Florida but no so much anywhere else and hockey is not very popular. Stock Car racing is more popular than open-wheel car racing (the opposite of the US) with numerous tracks opening across the nation, and dozens of Stock Car Leagues competing, none however as popular as the Dixie Cup Stock Car League. The Confederate States is also a regular competitor in the Summer and Winter Olympics and has even once hosted the Summer Games in 2004 Houston.
The Confederate States joined the Congress of Nations based in Amsterdam, being one of the last nations to join the Congress in 1999. The 79 year old Ross Perot is the Confederate States current ambassador to the Congress.
In spite of a history of oppressive laws, the Black Confederate citizens have contributed to world culture, developing Jazz, which in turn became popular with Whites in the Confederacy, and expanded into the United States, Canada and Europe. Several years later white Confederates played an important role in the development of Rock and Roll with the likes of Elvis and Jesse Presley, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Currently Confederate Rock is the most popular form of music in the nation having been popularized by Lynard Skynard in the 1970’s, and by the band Alabama in the 1980’s. Todays biggest stars are Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and Jessica & Ashlee Simpson. With Confederate blacks R&B is more popular.
The two main political parties in the Confederate States are the conservative Constitutional Democrats and the centerist Reform Democrats (often called liberals and socialists by their opponents). The Green Party CSA is the most influential left leaning party in the nation, but its support varies from state to state with Florida and Sonora having the largest percentage of registered Greens.
The United States
Following the defeat of the Union Armies in the War of Secession, the Republican Party fell into obscurity with the conservative Democratic Party dominating politics for the next forty years until the rise of the Progressive Party at the turn of the Century.
After the War of Secession, the United States began to experience the Third Great Awakening, a revivalist religious movement spreading across a nation shocked by defeat in war. The Third Great Awakening lasted only until 1876 when the United States elected Charles Francis Adams (a liberal Democrat) as President. The grandson of one of the nations founding fathers and the centennial celebrations began a renewed age of enlightenment. The sting of war was eased with news papers reporting victory after victory of the Union Army over the Plains Indians including the near annihilation of the Lakota tribe in Montana by Brigadier General John Pope and Colonel George A. Custer in late July 1876.
The US and CS nearly found themselves at war once again in 1877 when President Adams refused to honor the Fugitive Slave Act as his predecessors once had. The Confederate States were forced to back down when Great Britain threw its lot in with the United States. The near war between the two nations was more than enough to convince the US Congress to relocate the capital out of Washington D.C. and back to Philadelphia (after nearly moving to Chicago)
Dakota territory was admitted as a state in 1882 with its capital in Fargo, due to the elimination of the Indian threat, the Territory was quickly colonized by US Americans looking west for their fortunes and sympathetic southerners who had opposed secession and had become scions in the Confederate States.
The Florida Keys became a source of tension between the United States and the Confederacy, once again nearly leading the two nation into war. The Keys had been occupied by Union troops since the War of Secession, however after two decades most of the Confederate Sympathizers had moved to Florida and those who remained behind were freed slaves, Cubans and Union veterans all of whom preferred to remain part of the United States.
The United States grew rapidly in wealth and population during the latter nineteenth century, immigrants from Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia and Germany found new homes in the slums of major cities.
In 1897 a coalition of the Republican Remnants, Liberal Democrats, Populists and Reformers met in Wheeling, Virginia and formed the Progressive Party to rival the Democrats and stem the growing influence of Marxist in the nation. The Progressive Party took control of the House of Representatives in 1898, and won the Senate and Presidency in 1900 led by William J. Bryan.
The United States watched with great concern the Slave Rebellion of 1905, tens of thousands of escaped slaves poured over the border into Union Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland and Missouri. Public sympathies in the US lied with the refugees, however opinions were divided on allowing them to become citizens, returning them to the CSA when the conflicted ended or shipping them to Liberia. After years of debate, few refugees grew tired of their lack of status in the US and did return to the CSA, a few more migrated to Liberia however in 1910 the US Congress passed legislation declaring the refugees as citizens of the United States entitled to the same rights and benefits as any other citizens.
During the Presidencies of William J. Bryan (1901-1909), Theodore Roosevelt (1909-1917), Charles Hughes (1917-1925), Al Smith (1929-1933), Charles McNary (1937-1944) and Henry Wallace (1944-1949) the size of the Federal Government grew rapidly and on an unprecedented scale. The Progressives dominated early twentieth century politics in the United States establishing organizations such as the Appalachian Regional Authority (analouge of the TVA), the Workers Progress Administration, the Federal Housing Authority and many more. After winning the Presidency in his own right in 1944, Henry Wallace managed to get the Federal Health Care Act passed, establishing the Department of Medical Affairs and a Federally funded health care system.
As Progressivism gripped the nation, so too did it effect the arts by the early 1920’s the United States began to experiene the Sexual Revolution. It became more accepted for women to find work outside of the home, drink and smoke. Feeling liberated women began wearing shorter dresses and often had pre-marital sex on a scale unseen before in the nations history. Prohibition never was passed in the United States, keeping organized crime off the streets and in the casinos. Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees captured the nations imagination as he continued to hit home run after home run setting a record of 714 which continues to stand to this day. The 1920’s are often reflected on as the United States golden age.
With Will H. Hays serving as the Chairman of the Democratic Party and recognized leader of the Conservative Coalition, his attempts of creating movie codes similar to those found in the Confederacy were scorned by many in the US. As a result of this Progressive mentality, many flicks produced in the United States contained sexual themes and nudity.
Wall Street crisis of 1929 fortunately led only to a small recession that ended in 1931. Without the Great Depression, the Progressive atmosphere that surrounded the nation in the 1920’s continued on into the following decades.
The US declared war on Japan in the spring of 1942 after the Japanese sneak attack on the Royal Navy base in Pearl Harbor, and the sinking of several civilian Canadian ships in American territorial waters. The US Navy took the responsibility for the Defense of Pearl Harbor, and the US Army, Navy and Air Force served along side the British in the Pacific War which ended with Japans surrender in 1944. It was the first time in 80 years the United States had gone to war, (excluding the Indian Wars) the longest period of peace in the nations history.
Following the Pacific War the British Empire occupied mainland Japan, the United States was given the Trust Territory of Korea, which is often regarded as the beginning of the special relationship between the Republic of Korea and the United States.
In 1948, the United States became the fourth nation to develop nuclear weapons behind Germany (1941), Britain (1943), France (1944) and Russia (1947).
Throughout the 1950’s the United States engaged in the Space Race with Germany, beating Germany to Space in 1955 and putting the first man (Chuck Yeager) into orbit in 1958, however Germany won the race to the moon putting a man on the moon in 1964. The United States Space Agency (USSA) operates out of La Paz, Baja California.
The United States began construction of the US Interstate System in 1952 with President Charles Lindergh fulfilling his earlier campaign promise to build an American Autobahn similar to what was found in Germany. The US Interstate is maintained by the Federal Government.
Under President Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. the United States was a founding member of the Congress of Nations in 1958 and has provided two Secretary-General’s to the Congress including the first Secretary-General Averell Harriman and the current Secretary-General Christopher Dodd.
In 1967 Progressive President Hubert H. Humphrey merged the Department of the Navy, the Department of War and the Department of the Air Force into a single branch, the Department of Defense. The US Army is the largest of the branches with about 215,000 active duty troops scattered throughout the nation, the Navy is second with only 200,000 and the Air Force is third with 110,000, the US Marine Corps is as always the smallest branch with 15,000. In case of war the US President can activate the reserves and National Guard which will put well over a million troops on active duty.
The Federal Education Program was initiated in 1989 by President Dennis Kucinich which allowed the Federal Government to take control of the Public Education Sector from the state governments and standardizing teaching programs across the country. The Teachers Union eagerly embraced the Federal Takeover as the salaries of teachers increased.
In 2000 the Florida Keys were admitted as a state with the capital in Key West. It is the smallest state in population and size in the Union. The population of the Florida Keys according to the 2000 cenus is 115,000, Key West has a population of 35,000.
As of 2009, the Federal Government is the largest employer in the United States ranking ahead of Target Department Stores, Kroger Grociers and Ace Hardware.
The Two Major Parties in the US are the right of center Democrats and the liberal Progressive Party (The US Social Democrats) there numerous third parties including the Libertarian Party, but the largest is the American Republican Party, a socially Conservative Party.
Well this is what I have gotten so far, I should mention that Nova Scotia and Franklin (OTL New Brunswick) are part of the US, conquered by Benedict Arnold in the Revolution just before his death of pneumonia in 1779. The border with the US and Canada is slightly different, Canada has Alaska, and Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the US has the Maritimes and Vancouver Island.