United States of America

The **United States of America**, the **USA** **US** or **America** was one of the biggest countries in the world, having been in existence for more than 150 years. Despite being young and energetic in the early 1900s it saw a rapid internal deterioration and political divide, resulting in the Second American Civil War and its “temporary” relocation to Alaska and Hawaii.

### **Capital**

Washington D.C. (before civil war)Honolulu (after civil war)

# History

## The Spanish-American War

What was seen to be a quick and easy war to strengthen American influence against the Spanish in the Caribbean and Atlantic turned into a violent and bloody affair that severely impacted American foreign policy and internal political affairs.

## Polarization

(Main article: History of the United States)

## Under exile

### Gillett’s first term

With the fall of the United States on the mainland, and with the Democratic/Republican Party split with the formation of the Republic of California, the United States was forced to retreat to Alaska and Hawaii, the USA fell into an isolationist dictatorship, while in the aftermath war tensions flared up across the Pacific as the Japanese threatened what remained of the United States. But after intervention by Australia, Britain, Canada, France and even China, the Japanese were forced to stand down and respect the USA, which was reduced to Alaska, Hawaii, its pacific islands, and the Philippines. The leader of America, Frederick Gillett, realized what a tenuous situation America was in. Should revolution spread to Alaska and Hawaii, the USA would be gone forever, and so he rapidly began what is known as the “Gillett Plan”, which was to limit the power and influence of the military, liberalize and industrialize the two remaining states, while hoping for peaceful reunification with California and Texas to gain a foothold on the mainland.

Canada for its part, was dealing with a major amount of refugees, over 1 million to be exact. As a result, Ottawa blamed the American military for the war and as a result persued a close alliance with California over Honolulu, but to warm Ottawa-Honolulu relations, the United States in 1922 signed the Refugee Agreements. In exchange for Canadian aid and increased trade, America would agree to house over 100,000 refugees, mainly those near Vancouver, Toronto and Ottowa which helped Canadian-American relations. That same year, Gillett turned Alaska and Hawaii into states of the USA, adopted the 2 year economic plan to boost industrial and military capacity, and promised if he was re-elected he would further pursue his goals of liberalization and democratization. A controversial act that his detractors took advantage of was the San Juan Treaty.

Puerto Rico since the end of the civil war was experiencing constant levels of violence from many groups who wished to seek independence from the USA. While Gillett immediately chose to keep the territory so as to not give away what little territory the USA had, he realized it would cost the USA much more to maintain their hegemony in San Juan that to peacefully leave. In 1924, Puerto Rico was given independence while the USA maintained trade privileges, and Puerto Rico remains an American puppet to this day.

With help from their British allies, the Two Year Plan was highly successful, expanding several cities in Alaska, Hawaii and also propping up the Philippines with Chinese and French support. If it wasn’t for their allies, the Plan would’ve expectedly failed. But because it didn’t, Gillett was re-elected.

### Gillett’s second term

In his second term, Gillett, under the newly created Honolulu Plan had hoped to curtail the influence of the military and expand the executive power of the president. With the evacuation and decapitation of most American politicians, the House of Representatives, Senate and Supreme Court were technically still around, albeit they’re smaller than before. However, Gillett proved unable to fully pacify the military, yet for the time, they remained loyal to Gillett, as many generals advocated for a stronger approach to the struggle of retaking the mainland, but weren’t ideologically or politically split, as they knew it would only fracture the government and maybe even cause a second collapse.

The American economy for its part suffered obvious setbacks from the revolution, and was severely reduced from the mainland, but it was the first two year plan which helped cement the economy in the position it was in. Gillett also created and encouraged massive propaganda efforts, emphasizing ant-socialist and pro-unification rhetoric. It called for the many minorities of the USA (which also made up a sizeable minority of the American population) to help the effort to return home. But in 1925 however, these propaganda efforts were halted by the disgruntled working class of Hawaii, who felt they were being exploited, and were inspired by the PUA’s message of “liberation through revolution” that inspired the guerrilla activities in the Black Belt. Non-whites were discriminated against, and that year a general strike was called, hoping for the American government to step down and for Hawaii to become independent, which was met with brutal repression by the national guard, who after 11 days successfully quelled the last remanents of the strike, but this came at the cost of the people’s support for Gillett.

Due to this, in the 1928 elections, Gillett was unpopular and quickly lost ground to veteran of the Spanish-American War Clarence Ransom Edwards. Edwards, one of them who orchestrated the 1920 military coup and fled to Hawaii, was a popular figure among white, rich and elite Americans, who managed to win against the newly formed separatist party, known as the Hawaiian Party for Freedom. Formed after the end of the 1925 strike, Gillett momentarily decided against banning the party only because he felt that if he didn’t he could still retain popularity among the Hawaiian population, which wasn’t true. But by the outcome of the 1928 election, and with the party as popular as ever, the HPF couldn’t be banned without political repercussions. Similarly, the Puerto Rican Popular Front was inspired by the HPF and was created after the 1928 election. Since then, America has been in a very tense situation with its people.

### Presidency of Clarence Ransom Edwards

Edwards’ rule was marked by economic growth and liberalization despite his hardline conservative stances. He partially militarized the economy, clamped down harder on separatism in Hawaii and Puerto Rico while also strategically gaining many allies across the world. But because he stripped many citizens of rights once given to them by Gillett, Edwards was unable to win the 1932 elections, which instead went to A. Mitchell Palmer, veteran of the civil war and experienced politician. Many breathed a sigh of relief with his ascension to the presidency, as instead of Gillett’s relative liberalism or Edwards’ conservative militarism, Palmer was seen as a compromise between the military and the people.