The Church of The Independent

The Church of The Independent is a theocratic faction operating in the city of New July, Pennsylvania. It is a small city-state, and the faction's forces outside of the city are minimal, restrained to patrols and small outposts to gather resources.

The Church bases itself on a mixture of Christianity and delusional American patriotism, formed by a rogue squad deserting from The Capital Wasteland's Enclave chapter after the fall of Raven Rock.

## Background

The Church of The Independent was initially formed as an idea on June 28th, 2279. A rogue, deserted squad from the Raven Rock Enclave arrive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the time the city was ruled by raiders trying to imitate the success of The Pitt, a nearby raider city. The soldiers, crazed from the war with the Brotherhood of Steel had lost their mind, and began to perceive the Founding Fathers of the pre-war United States as the combined second coming(s) of Christ, caused by the propaganda they were spoon fed in their youth.

Civilians in the outskirts of Pennsylvania, either just as far gone as the soldiers or intimidated by their shiny toys, began to buy into their talk of religion. Eventually a formidable militia was formed, and with the combined forces of manpower and powerful arms compared to the raiders' arsenal of pipe weapons, after a battle that lasted 5 days, The Church of The Independent was formed and Pennsylvania was renamed to New July, in honor of both the battle of Pennsylvania and July 4th, the pre-war American Independence Day.

The Church immediately began to rebuild and recover from the battle, as the fighting had resulted in many of the buildings being destroyed. Along with this, they began to clean up the mess left behind by the raiders, like the many slave pens. Aside from the cleanup, many renovations were made, like the Liberty Bell being turned into a sacrificial alter.

After they had repaired their city, they began to exert their influence outward, sending patrols and squadrons in their new Continental army to tax caravans for traveling in their turf and control resources like water. They began to charge people for resources and set up a state-controlled caravan company, giving people who submitted to The Church in ways like enlisting in the army or doing work for the government discounts on extremely valuable resources like purified water as a way to encourage people to join.

### Presidents of The CTI

#### Benny Newman

Benny Newman was the first President of The CTI. His administration lasted from 2279 to 2284, he died from old age. He was the leader of the Enclave squad that founded the Church, his rank was Sergeant First Class. He was not affiliated to any party, and was the sole architect behind the government system.

#### Washington II

Washington II is the fanatical second and current President of The CTI. His administration has lasted from 2284 onward. He is extremely devoted to worshipping the Founding Fathers, deluded into believing he is the second coming of George Washington. He is affiliated with the Bluecoat Party, although many people rumor that if he was smarter he'd be in the HU party, but only joined the Bluecoat Party because their name was based off of the uniforms of the Revolutionary War's Continental Army, this is probably true.

## Government

The government is a Theocratic Monarchy with Representative Democracy aspects. The President has absolute power over the nation and government, due to them having a status similar to a Pope, where they speak to God and the Founding Fathers. Every 8 years the people elect Representatives, the Representatives serve no purpose other than to give advice to the President. The only time the Representative have any direct effect on the government is when the President dies before having any children, where they will vote for one of the Representatives to be the new President.

Despite the Representatives having barely any impact on the government, there are separate political parties in the government, however these parties mostly campaign in city elections in New July, these parties are mostly divided by the largest political debate in The Church, whether Ghouls and Super Mutants should be accepted into the nation. There are 3 major parties, the most popular party is the Bluecoat Party. The BP believes that Ghouls, while not outright bad, should not be allowed into the nation's borders. They also believe that Supermutants should all be brutally murdered. The second most popular party is the Nation Under All Party, the NUA believes that Ghouls and intelligent, civilized Supermutants should be allowed and welcomed into The Church. Finally, the least popular, mostly underground party is the Humanity United Party. The HU believes that all living, sapient organisms should be in the image of the Founding Fathers, mostly the most radical in The Church's population. They believe in mass genocide of Ghouls, Supermutants, and other non-Human sapient organisms. The HU is the only party that has zero influence in the Representatives Council and New July Government.