Massachusetts (formally America)

Flag of Massachusetts

## Introduction

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (formally America (which in turn is known as Gaiamerica to avoid confusion with Americas from different worlds)) was a country founded early in Gaia history, beginning on March 30, 2019. Throughout it's time as a great power on Gaia, the country has strived for diplomacy and peace rather than outright conquests.

### Government

The American/Massachusettsan government is very similar to a liberal democracy - all citizens have the ability to vote on nation-wide issues, and the capital is home to the central bank and court system of the country. Massachusetts is the only country in Gaia, and possibly in any Datearth world, where its citizens form the backbone of any national policy. The Massachusetts government also introduced a new concept - the Iron Bank. The Iron Bank was responsible for dispensing resources (which were collected from all towns in the nation) to towns that suffered from a recent raiding or other devastating event. The Bank proved to be useful when helping towns recover from raiding from infamous raiders such as xPR3STON.

Long before the election system was implemented on Datearth, a complicated system was developed so as to grant the people the ability to vote for their candidate of choosing:

* The candidate had to be a mayor of a town with more than 5 people to qualify, due to only mayors being able to hold the title of leader.
* Every citizen had the right to vote, which caused confusion due to a very unregulated voting system
* The candidate had to be fairly active on Gaia (bare minimal of 2 days per week) so as to serve the country more effectively
* Because this was before any election system was implemented onto Datearth, with the election of the new president, their town became the new capital of the nation.

### Provinces

While Massachusetts has shrunk over the months, in the past, the nation covered most of eastern America. The land was divided into provinces:

Northeast:

* Massachusetts (Capital)
* Vermont
* Maine
* New York
* Washington Hinterlands
* Appalachian townships

Southeast:

* Charleston
* Georgia
* Mississippi Territories

Northwest:

* Chicago Proper
* Chicago Hinterlands
* North Plains

West:

* Deseret
* Los Angeles Proper

## The Great Cities of the Early American Republic

On March 30, the great cities of New York and Chicago formed the American Nation. These cities are the most well-documented, and while it is true other cities joined and left the early nation, records on these actions have been few and far in-between.

### Boston

To go to the Boston wiki page, click here.

### New York City

New York City was a city established around March 24-25, and had accumulated around 20 people near its height. The city boasted Gaia's first real skyline, with skyscrapers dominating the New York territories. New York City was the original capital of the American Republic until mid-April and was ruled by Mr\_\_Ian. New York City also made a Statue of Liberty in the harbor, which was the largest structure on Gaia at the time. BurntFire, an active New Yorker, would build the city's first fire station in April and would leave the city to go on many adventures, eventually establishing the town of Hong Kong in late April.

### Chicago

Chicago, led by WittyT, was the metropolis of early Gaia. Chicago was the first city possibly on Gaia to accumulate more than 30 people. Established in late March (around March 23-24), Chicago boasted planned out houses, which formed grand neighborhoods of large luxurious houses on wide planned-out streets. Chicago also had the most territory out of any city in the Americas and even had a centralized bank. Chicago would remain one of the most populated cities on Gaia throughout April and well into May.

### Atlanta

Atlanta, presumably led by luke34994, was a very early city in America, established on March 23, 2019. Atlanta and neighboring city Charlotte shared one of the first intra-city roads in the whole of America. Atlanta also had an impressive skyline, with large stone buildings. It is believed that Atlanta had around 10 citizens at its height, though it is hard to assume considering the city became inactive in early April.

### Charlotte

Charlotte, possibly lead by a player dubbed "Dexter", was a city northeast of Atlanta and had a population roughly the same as Atlanta, and had a similar skyline. Charlotte was a more developed city, with concrete roads and various buildings. However, similar to Atlanta, Charlotte became inactive by early April, so much of what we know is relied primarily upon the memories of old players.

## Other Cities in America

While the four big cities made big impacts on early America, there were many more cities that, while having less influence, still were responsible for early America's wellbeing.

### Hoonah

Hoonah was built in early April by Lampiee and subsequently joined the American republic as the country's first Pacific port. Hoonah was built on the Alaskan panhandle and featured traditional Pacific Northwest architecture. Hoonah was responsible for all pacific activities in America until the establishment of Los Angeles in mid May.

### Columbus

A one-player town, Columbus was established by former Bostonian player Deathsticcsales in the wilderness of Ohio around late April to early May. Columbus never really had impressive infrastructure, but it did server as an important frontier post for the American nation.

### Augusta (old)

Augusta was created by Stubbybooboo who joined America early on and became governor of Maine. Augusta was the easternmost town in the nation and had a modest infrastructure.

### St. Augustine

St. Augustine was an American military barrack town and contained most of the military equipment for the nation. Created by Sicko\_duck in the aftermath of the collapse of Norilsk, the one-player town contained a gigantic bastion of stone and stone brick.

### Miami (old)

Miami, founded by an unknown player, was one of the longest lasting towns in America, despite extreme inactivity. Miami was created in early March and lasted until May or June. Today, not much remains in the former town.

### Charleston

The only other city of brick besides Boston, Charleston was founded by junglegym in early April after junglegym left the town of Samoa. Charleston has the most brick infrastructure in any city besides Boston, and can be seen as a red spot on the American east coast.

### Cleveland

A city (possibly named Cleveland) was established in the Ohio region by a player known simply as Bob, after Bob left West Chester due to their warmongering practices. Cleveland would be a small hamlet in the middle of the woods.

### Salt Lake City

The first American city in the Rockies, Salt Lake City was created by RJWPod in April, and was featured in the Datearth Trailer. Salt Lake City had a modest population of just under 10 people, and was responsible for the shipment of most of Boston's terra-cotta. The city would fall in mid-April or early May.

### Los Angeles

Los Angeles was created by Daekor in early April/May and became the staple American pacific port after Hoonah fell. Despite being a one-player town, Los Angeles has many well-built structures and roads. Even during the days of the American Union, Los Angeles remained staunchly with America/Massachusetts, despite it being closer to California than Boston.

### Des Moines

After Salt Lake City fell, RJWPod made Des Moines, a less significant city than Salt Lake City, but still boasting the same architecture and style as Salt Lake City. Des Moines would have a very small population throughout its existence and dissolve around May.

### Montpelier

Montpelier, lead by Lilsnap1510, was the last of the Boston suburb towns to fall. Originally founded as a suburb town, along with Portsmouth and Augusta (new), Montpelier began expanding across northern New England under the Massachusetts banner. During the Bostonian dark age, Montpelier left the nation and by October, the city finally fell.

### Portsmouth

Portsmouth, established by two players: maaseen and nuts1000000, was a small suburb town a hop skip and a jump away from Boston. In fact, the town can be visible from Boston proper. The town never had more than a handful of citizens and fell some time during the Gaia dark ages.

### Augusta (new)

Augusta (new) was established by RJWPod as a suburb of Boston. Due to the constant raiding of America by xPR3STON, a group of Bostonians, most notably NextMyth, Green\_Warrior777 and LukeTheLukster, cleared out all of old Augusta, leaving nothing behind so as to prevent xPR3STON from gaining any valuables from the abandoned town. New Augusta became a small hamlet in the Maine wilderness, falling some time during the Boston dark ages.

## History

By late March/early April, the Republic of America was created by Mr\_\_Ian of New York City and consisted of New York, Chicago, and various other small communities. Boston would soon join the newly formed republic close to when the republic first formed.

### Change in Leadership

As Mr\_\_Ian became more and more inactive, America itself began to die out. No new towns could join, and the towns that were part of America weren't sure what to do without a leader. bencrab1 decided to become to new leader of America and has been so up to this day.

### Conflicts

As America was one of the most powerful members of United Europa (before the organization became strictly European) it was often up to America to dissolve conflicts in the world. One of the first acts of America diplomatically ending a conflict was on April 14, 2019, when America promised economic aid to the raiding town of Campeche, located in eastern Mexico, if Campeche would stop raiding American towns. Campeche agreed and stopped all raiding on American towns.

The next day, on the 15th, America again dissolved a conflict between the Canadian town of Toronto, lead by possibly Leisen6, and the British nation and prevented Toronto from being taken over.

On the 17th America stopped a conflict involving a mining dispute between American and Canadian towns (specifically Anonville and Toronto), causing one border town - Anonville, to become quite rebellious against American rule.

America was also tasked with dealing with xPR3STON, a dangerous highwayman that lived near New York City who's one desire was to kill as many people as he can. While at this point America didn't have the manpower to deal with Preston upfront, the president of America instead warned any and all players that Preston could easily kill to get away as fast as they could. This tactic mostly worked, as it prevented more killings by Preston.

### Political Height

By May, America established towns all over North America, from the east coast to Los Angeles and a dozen towns in between. On May 22, the California Republic was formally established in Las Vegas. On the 28th, The Plains Republic was established in Oklahoma City.

America desired influence all over the continental United States, but didn't want to declare war on these new nations. Instead, America met with the leaders of these new countries and came up with the idea of creating a union for all countries in the continental United States. This would be the foundation of the American Union. As being part of the American Union, bencrab1 voted on changing the name of his country from America to Massachusetts.

By June 14th, Texas agreed to secede from Massachusetts if they would join the American Union. By this point, the most important cities in Massachusetts were Boston and a few other cities.

Later in June, bencrab1 bought the nation of Canada from Ne\_Notice for 2 cookies and a button. Canada would then from now on become an autonomous region of America, technically independent but honorarily part of America.

### Decline

After June, however, the country began to decline. Since bencrab1 was away, no new towns could join, and the ones that were part of Massachusetts began to die out. By August 20th, all towns in Massachusetts were gone except for Boston, which was on the verge of collapse. On August 21st, bencrab1 resumed control of Massachusetts and has been ruler ever since. By Late August, Massachusetts was far from being the powerhouse it once was during the hay days of the server, but has been gaining a sustainable population once again.

### Revival

While Massachusetts may never be the powerhouse it once was, it is still a thriving nation nonetheless. After August 20, the nation gained more and more people, and Neo Cork as well as Atlantis both joined Massachusetts during this time. Even Boston was beginning to thrive once again. For the first time in months, traders are going to the nation for goods and Massachusetts is becoming wealthy once again. By late August, Massachusetts was declared a neutral state by the Gaia Global Court, but with ever-increasing tensions between member states, Massachusetts' neutral standing could begin to waver. But despite rising tensions, Massachusetts stayed out of major conflicts. By October, with the nation of Florida on the verge of completion, it was decided to revive the American Union between Florida and Massachusetts. On October 18, 2019, ThikKrab of Miami formed the nation of Florida. With Florida created, bencrab1 officially announced the revival of the American Union between Florida and Massachusetts, after more than 2 months of dissolution.

### Final Collapse

After the release of Nova in September, what remained of the Gaia player base moved to the new world, finally abandoning Gaia. Massachusetts by this time lost all overseas towns due to inactivity and was based only in Boston. This would be the status quo until December 17, when Gaia was permanently removed from the server to make way for Gladia.

## Flag Design

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Flag, shown right, is a basic red flag with a green pine tree on the top left hand of the flag. When America joined the American Union in May, the country could not retain its original name or flag, so the country adopted the flag of New England and changed the nation's name to Massachusetts. The Pine tree represents the northeastern identity of both Massachusetts as well as Boston.

## Overseas Territories

Over the course of Massachusetts' existence there have been many overseas territories of the nation, including:

* Cork
* Neo-Cork
* Salvation
* New Haven
* Atlantis
* Merchant's Union
* Turtle Island
* Polaris
* Herning
* Copenhagen

There have also been outposts in:

* Lake Victoria
* Off the Black Sea coast of Turkey
* Antarctic Peninsula

## Conflicts

While Massachusetts was a peaceful nation, it was involved in numerous conflicts, sometimes against the will of the President.

### Campechian Raids

In early April, the city-state of Campeche began raiding the towns of early America, and the city became a threat to the entire southern regions of the nation. On April 14, bencrab1 met with Campeche leader Arthreos and discussed terms of peace. Thus, the Campeche raids ended peacefully.

### Toronto-British Skirmish

On April 15, the players in Britain surrounded the town of Toronto and held it under siege for an hour, for an unknown reason (although it is speculated that the British offense was for no reason except to conquer Toronto). It took both bencrab1 and the newly-formed United Europa to prevent all out war between Britain and Toronto, and resulted in a white peace between Britain and Toronto.

### Mining Conflicts

On April 17, the town of Iron City (known today as Anonville) mistakenly mined into the strip-mines of nearby Toronto, causing conflict between the two towns. Because Anonville was unwilling to make amends with Toronto, they were expelled from America and was an independent town before collapsing in August.

### The Rise of xPR3STON

On April 19, a serious issue between the American town of West Chester and Madrid was caused by the Spanish leader, \_Minceraft being killed by xPR3STON, leader of West Chester. xPR3STON also stole Madrid's enchantment table and books. After trolling \_Minceraft by returning his items too slowly, Mince killed Preston. Preston attempted to rally bencrab1, the leader of America, to his cause, but bencrab1 trusted \_Minceraft and assumed the conflict was nothing more than a misunderstanding. After some espionage bencrab1 learned the truth and ordered xPR3STON to make amends with \_Minceraft. When xPR3STON refused, bencrab1 kicked West Chester from the nation. The lack of a powerful ally drove Preston into isolation and resorted to highway banditry all over America and parts of Latin America and Europe.

### Canadian Civil War

While not much has been written about the Canadian Civil War (even this conflict being classed a civil war is a controversy of itself), there has been evidence that Canada, lead by Ne\_Notice, went to war with the Prussian towns in Canada, most notably Calgary. America promised aid to Canada, but would only join in if Canada were attacked first. It is assumed that the war ended in a white peace, where nothing changed. It is known that this conflict took place on April 27, 2019.

### Kurdish War against Indonesia

Around May 25, 2019, Kurdistan under Tausus declared war on Indonesia due to Tausus thinking the Indonesians killed someone from Kurdistan. After declaring war, Kurdistan sent a player to Bone Town, the regional capital, to spawn kill the people there, and cause the town to fall. Gav8077, the leader of the city, appealed to bencrab1 for military aid. Apart from this, not much is known about the war, but it is known the Kurdish were not able to defeat Indonesia. After battles in and around the capital city of Tarsus, including battles in Lebanon, the Kurdish nation was defeated. This defeat will lead to the inevitable collapse of the nation.

### American Union Civil War

As the American Union prohibited fighting between old rivals, outright war ceased, but tension and distrust took the place of war. This tension and distrust would boil over in mid-June as the California Republic and Republic of the Golden Circle began to make preparations to attack each other. An emergency meeting was called to meet at Boston by the neutral republics in the Union, which were Massachusetts, Texas, Laurencia and the Plains Republic. The republic of Laurencia was already beginning to look like a potential target of California. In order to prevent war, bencrab1 and the neutral states vowed to aid the republic that was attacked, whether it would be California or Golden Circle. Unfortunately, in a very demented sense of victory, the American Union Civil War was overshadowed and eventually forgotten due to a much bigger threat: Canterbury Bight.

### Canterbury Wars of Aggression

Persisted, a player from Britannia (New Zealand) was not content with the server-wide peacefulness of Gaia around June. Persisted kept insisting that world peace could not be achieved, that something could cause the server-wide peace to disintegrate.

#### Context

Persisted was becoming an increasingly violent and warmongering player throughout late May. By June 15, a C.O.W.L meeting was held in Boston to decide how to avoid Persisted gathering too much power. A half hour after the meeting began, Persisted arrived at Boston. While saying he was only interested in listening to the meeting, everyone knew otherwise. In an attempted assassination plot, Persisted was trapped in the meeting house and doused in lava. The plan worked and Persisted teleported away. This would not be the last of Persisted though.

Also during this time, Persisted traveled to many towns across America, pillaging and killing any players not in claims. Ever since xPR3STON, there has never been a player who has committed such barbaric actions.

#### The War Begins

In mid-June, Persisted decided to take matters into his own hands and form the nation of Canterbury Bight, a nation who's only function was to go to war with other nations. Before striking Massachusetts, many other nations have already been hit. It was decided by all remaining NATO nations (Massachusetts, Norway, Albania, Daguo-China and others) to store all valuables into overseas bunkers. Just as preparations were finished, Persisted declared war on Massachusetts on June 20, 2019. It is said that Persisted declared war while looking directly at bencrab1 through a window, then pulling out a rocket launcher and killing bencrab1 in cold blood. Fortunately, all of the valuables were safely stored away, and Persisted got little to nothing out of the war. Because so many nations took to flight rather than fight, many were spared in the onslaught that Persisted caused. Only those that did not get away stood and fought, and eventually won against Persisted.

#### Canterbury Occupation of Boston

Little to no information is present about the Canterbury Occupation of Boston, as all of the central government of Massachusetts, and to that extent the entire American Union, went into either hiding or exile or chose to fight Persisted head on. From the sources provided, it is known that Persisted, and possibly his allies, used Boston as a staging ground for more inland attacks, possibly targeting the Plains Republic and California from Boston. The sources provided also state that Persisted would most likely be within the city limits of Boston, even during times of relative peace. Whether gathering intelligence on the city's layout or preparing a full North American invasion, we may never know. The occupation of Boston ended when Persisted was defeated by a joint-force of morte\_rossa and SomeGuyNamedDon.

Past June 20, there have been no recorded wars that Massachusetts was involved with. Whether there were wars that the nation was involved with beyond this point, we may never know. But by July, there were too few people on the server to host such grand wars. With Massachusetts being a neutral state, it is unlikely it will be involved in as many wars as before.

## Constitution

### Preamble

"We the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do solemnly swear to protect and serve the country, in times of peril and prosperity, and in times of activity and inactivity. We the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do solemnly swear to serve in the best interests of the nation and put Massachusetts before all other nations. For we the people serve the Commonwealth, as the Commonwealth serves us."

### Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are to be used to protect the rights and lives of every citizen of the Commonwealth.

* The first bill is the right of the people to vote on any major issue, whether it be leader elections, invitations/expulsions of towns, or any major national issue.

* The second bill is the right to a fair and unbiased jury. In order to prevent bias, the Commonwealth shall appoint a Judge who possesses no favoritism or biases in the case. If no potential judges exist, then the Governor of Massachusetts shall be the judge.

* The third bill prohibits the use of bias or favoritism in situations involving trade or diplomacy. Because the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been declared a neutral state by the Gaia Global Court as well as by C.O.W.L, it is vital to prevent favoritism in diplomatic activities. This bill also prohibits bias in trading, whether it would be beneficial or harmful for the merchants of Massachusetts.

* The fourth bill allows Commonwealth cities overseas greater autonomy in terms of self-governance and other important factors. Massachusetts will not impede on the overseas governments, unless the governments directly threaten the central government in Boston, or threaten any other governing body in the Commonwealth.

* The fifth bill defines the boundaries for electing players into offices of political power. A candidate must have proven their cooperation to both their town and to the federal government, and not be at risk of beginning a revolt against the federal government. A candidate must also be active, at the very least once or twice a week. If a candidate who is elected becomes inactive overtime, it is the job of the citizens to elect a new candidate into the office. Any voting can happen both in Boston as well as locally.

* The sixth bill allows free international travel for the merchants of the nation, but prohibits piracy, privateering, or outright aggressiveness against any other nation, in order to keep the peace between the Commonwealth and the rest of Gaia. By breaking this bill's law, the player will be charged with treason and be punished with either expulsion or confiscation of property. As for the merchants of the Commonwealth, this bill allows them almost free, independent travel to any of the capitals on Gaia to conduct trade.

* The seventh bill is to cement the central government in Boston as the central government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If any conflict arises within the Commonwealth, the capital of Boston shall take measures to resolve said conflict. No conflict that affects the whole nation should be tackled by the towns in the nation.

* The eighth bill forms an entirely voluntary military force. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts only allows players who are willing to join the military the ability to become part of the Commonwealth Militia. This will permanently prohibit a military based either solely or partially off of conscripted or drafted players.

* The ninth bill dictates how the central Massachusetts government functions. Each town shall send one delegate to Boston every two weeks, which will be elected by the people of said towns. In Boston, the delegates and the Governor as well as an appointed sub-Governor shall discuss policies relating to the entire nation. If a policy is agreed up by the group, then it shall be put up to vote for the citizens to decide. If a policy is voted in favor of by the population, then it becomes national law. If a policy is voted against, then the group of officials in Boston shall either scrap the policy or modify it and let the population vote on the new policy.

* The tenth bill prohibits any elected official from taking advantage of government positions, such as demanding more autonomy from the central government or granting more autonomy without permission, or any other act that could negatively affect the central government or the governments of the towns in the Commonwealth.