United States of America

The flag of the United States of America.

The **United States of America** (**USA**), known as the **United States** (**US**) or **America**, is a major Terran nation located in North America with some overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean. The USA contains forty-three states and a capital district, which contains the nation's capital, Washington DC. The most populous American city is New York City, home of the world-famous World Trade Center.

America borders the Kingdom of Canada to the north, and through Alaska, shares maritime borders with the Grand Russian Confederacy of Democratic Republics. The US borders Deseret and the Second Republic of Texas to the south.

The United States was formerly the world's top superpower, establishing several Mars colonies with its NATO allies (which later became the Royal Order of Tharsis) during the height of the Space Race and spearheaded space exploration and technological advancement. However, the devastating Second American CIvil War of 2221 splintered the nation into various factions, including the reformed Confederate States of America, leading to its exit from the world stage for some time.

## History

### **Independence (1776)**

The American Colonies, a collection of thirteen colonies governed by Great Britain, declared their independence from the global superpower on July 4, 1776, with fighting against Britain beginning a year before, in 1775. America would fight against the British until 1781, when General Cornwallis surrendered to American and French forces at the Battle of Yorktown, with the official end coming in 1783 after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

### **Post-Revolution and Expansion (1781-1848)**

The Articles of Confederation, the document that signaled the creation of the first American government, was signed in 1777. However, the government that it created would be decentralized and ineffective following the end of the war, leading it to be replaced by the current United States government system in 1789, following the historic ratification of the United States Constitution.

In 1789, the presidency of George Washington, famed war hero and leader of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, began after the first election.

In 1807, the federal government banned American participation in the Atlantic Slave Trade, however in the 1820s, the highly-profitable cotton crop used to make clothing and other goods demanded slaves to work on large plantations in the South, and thus, the American slave population skyrocketed.

Around this time, America would also begin its expansion westward, leading to many minor conflicts with Native American tribes in the areas of expansion. In 1803, France would sell its territories west of America to the US, in what became known as the Louisiana Purchase, effectively doubling the size of the young nation. In 1819, Spain ceded the territory of Florida to the US, and in 1845, the Republic of Texas was annexed. In 1846, the US signed the Oregon Treaty with Britain, leading to the US controlling what is now known as the American Northwest. In 1848, following the Mexican defeat during the Mexican-American War, Mexico ceded California as well as territories that would become the American Southwest to the USA, which made the US span from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

The Gold Rush of 1849 led there to be mass migrations to California in search of gold, leading to an increase in population in the western territories and leading to the creation of new states.

### **First American Civil War (1861-1865)**

In the 1840s and 1850s, divisions between differing opinions on the institution of slavery began, with abolitionist movements gaining traction in the North, as large plantations in the South continued to use slave labor to achieve vast amounts of money via cotton farming. This and some federal actions, including but not limited to the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Act, lead to more divides between the populace.

The election of Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln in the 1860 election led to further divisions, and the secession of eleven American southern states that then founded the Confederate States of America.

In 1861, Fort Sumter, a Union fortress in Charleston Harbor, was fired upon by Confederate forces, leading to outrage across the United States and the call for war against the Confederacy to preserve the Union. The American Civil War that resulted from this would be the bloodiest war in American history. As Union defeats increased and casualties began piling up, Abraham Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation, making the war not simply about preserving the Union, but now to end slavery as well.

In April 1865, the United States defeated the Confederacy, and all secessionist states were absorbed back into the Union.

### **Reconstruction (1865-1877)**

The period of time known as the Reconstruction Era began after the Civil War as ordered by the president, however Lincoln would be assassinated on April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, again causing some divide between the North and South. Northern Republicans continued to oversee reconstruction in the South to ensure that the rights of newly-freed slaves were being protected, however this lasted until 1877, when the Compromise of 1877 was passed.

Following this, "Jim Crow Laws" were passed in many southern states from 1890 to 1910, leading to the discrimination and segregation of African-Americans in the southern states.

### **World Wars and Interwar Period (1914-1945)**

The United States declared its neutrality when the First World War broke out in Europe, however it would enter the conflict in 1917, with the first American troops arriving in Europe in 1918, aiding in the Allied offensives against Germany and the Central Powers, helping turn the tide of the war in the Allies' favor.

Following the First World War, in the 1920s, the nation experienced an era of great prosperity, as well as voting rights being extended to women. The "Roaring 20s," as it is now called, was this era of great economic prosperity that lasted until the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the beginning of the era known as the Great Depression. The Depression was an era of high unemployment, poverty, and homelessness following the crash, and the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932 led to his New Deal, which was aimed at combating this, creating new jobs in industry and others.

Much like in World War I, the United States remained neutral on the onset of World War II, however it would supply the Allied Powers in its Lend-Lease programs. On December 7th, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, leading to thousands of American casualties and the crippling of the US Pacific Fleet, which would not be operational for some time after this.

The United States then entered the global conflict on the side of the Allied Powers, first focusing on the European theaters of war, sending troops to aid Allied forces in North Africa in 1942. Later, focus would also be on the Pacific Theater, which saw many major naval engagements between the United States, aided by allies, against the Japanese.

Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, ending the war in Europe. Japan officially surrendered on August 15, 1945, with the signing of this surrender happening on September 2, 1945. Japan's reasons for surrender are likely due to a number of factors: the potential Allied and Soviet invasion of the Japanese homeland, the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the fact that the Japanese military was no longer fully operational at this time.

### **Cold War, Civil Rights and Space Travel (1945-2070s)**

After the Second World War, the two global superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, once allies, would compete for power and influence in the world, sparking proxy wars, avoiding direct military conflicts with each other but using other nations instead. The USSR and its Warsaw Pact and the USA with NATO would dominate military affairs in Europe, where it was believed that the USSR would eventually launch an all-out invasion.

The first "proxy war" between the US and USSR was the Korean War, a conflict in which the communist North Korea and American-backed South Korea would fight to fully control the Korean peninsula. American troops would be involved in the conflict, and a true victor was never known, as a ceasefire was ordered in 1953, ending the conflict but not ending hostilities between the two nations. Korea would not be united until the 23rd century. Another proxy war began in 1955 and ended in 1975, this time in Vietnam, and became known as the highly controversial Vietnam War. This war saw full American participation and was a defeat, as the communist North Vietnam united Vietnam.

The Space Race began as the USSR launched the first artificial satellite, *Sputnik 1*, in 1957, with the first crewed spaceflight in 1961. The Space Race would continue well into the 21st century after the Soviets beat the United States to the Moon in 1969.

The US and other capitalist first-world countries saw an economic boom following the Second World War, and also saw a massive population boom and the expansion of the American middle class. The Civil Rights movement began getting traction, culminating with the ascension of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the figurehead of this movement, before being assassinated in 1968, the same year that the Civil Rights Act would be passed.

Soon after America was seemingly defeated in the Space Race, and after both superpowers had established presences on the Moon, the United States began to plan with its NATO allies to fund a mass colonization effort of the Moon in order to prepare for future Mars missions. The USSR followed, reaching out to China for aid.

Developments in rocket propulsion and the expansion of existing orbital infrastructure led to the colonization of the Moon in the 1990s and 2000s. The first crewed Mars missions were launched by NATO in the 2010s, instrumental in carrying out experiments and laying the groundwork for future missions. The Soviets and China reach the Red Planet in the mid 2010s, establishing their own colonies.

On August 25, 2031, individuals from the terrorist group Al-Qaeda successfully hijacked several aircraft, targeting several famous American landmarks. The Willis Tower in Chicago was struck and later collapsed, leading to around 3,500 deaths. Another aircraft struck Chicago's Wrigley Field, with the remaining planes targeting some parts of the National Mall in Washington DC. The estimated death toll on 8/25 is around 6,000 total dead.

In the latter half of the 21st century, the industrial capacity and technological advancements of NATO far outstripped those of the Eastern Bloc due to immense pressure on their space industry. Thus, with the American landings on Triton, the largest moon of Neptune, the Eastern Bloc was unable to compete, ending the Space Race. Communist China and the USSR collapsed soon after, ending the Cold War, which at this point had lasted for over a century.

## Conflicts

The United States has participated in many conflicts over its long history, however, only the nation's major conflicts will be included here.

### **American Revolutionary War**

The United States of America successfully waged war against the British Empire in its war for independence, achieving victory over the world superpower and gaining independence. This war lasted from 1775 to 1783, with the first battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775, with the last being in 1781, at the Battle of Yorktown, with the official end in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

### **War of 1812**

The War of 1812 lasted from 1812 to 1815, and was an armed conflict between Great Britain and Native American nations against the United States. Both sides attempted to invade each other, which ended up in a stalemate. The US's capital, Washington DC, would be burned to the ground in 1814 by the British, only to be rebuilt after the conflict. The true victor of this war is currently still up for debate.

### **Mexican-American War**

The Mexican-American War saw the United States as well as the California Republic fight Mexico, in a two year long conflict that lasted from 1846-1848. The war ended with a Mexican defeat, and the cession of the territories of Texas and California, as well as others, to the United States.

### **American Civil War**

The American Civil War is one of the most important conflicts in US history, with the Union and Confederacy fighting for four years, from 1861-1865. The US fought first to preserve its union, then later in 1863 added the emancipation of enslaved peoples in the CSA to further grow support for its cause. The war ended with a Union victory in 1865, leading to the dissolution and assimilation of the Confederacy back into the Union, as well as the official abolition of slavery.

### **Spanish-American War**

The Spanish-American War occurred in 1898, beginning after the warship USS *Maine* was sunk in Havana Harbor, one of the reasons for the war. The US fought the Spanish Empire until August 1898, when the Spanish signed the Treaty of Paris of 1898, establishing a US protectorate over Puerto Rico and the ceding of Guam and the Philippines to the US.

### **World War I**

The United States announced its entrance to the First World War in 1917 on the Allied side, with the first troops making landfall in Europe in 1918. The US forces helped to turn the tide of the war against the Central Powers, which were defeated in 1918, with Germany's surrender on the 11th of November, 1918, leading to the end of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires.

### **World War II**

The United States of America entered World War II in 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Before this, the US had already supported the Allied Powers via the Lend-Lease Program. However, after this, the US would start its full involvement against the Axis Powers. America would become one of the major players of the Second World War, with its massive industrial capacity. The US fought in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific, becoming a major player in the defeats of both Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. Following the war, the United States emerged as one of the two global superpowers, along with the Soviet Union, beginning a decades-long rivalry between the two nations, known as the Cold War.

### **Korean War**

In 1950, the communist North Korea invaded the NATO-backed South Korea, leading to a three year long conflict that led to one of the major proxy wars of the Cold War. The Korean War lasted until 1953, and ended with an inconclusive result, however the North Korean invasion was repelled. Korea would not be united until the 21st century.

### **Vietnam War**

The Vietnam War was perhaps the most controversial conflict during the Cold War period, with a driving factor behind controversy being the frequent television coverage of the front lines. The war began in 1955 and ended in 1975, with a communist victory, and the withdrawal of American and allied forces from Indochina. Vietnam would be reunified under a communist state.

### **Middle East Conflicts**

In 1990, Iraq invaded the US allied nation of Kuwait, leading to a US-coalition involvement in the region, called Operation Desert Storm. The invasion was highly successful, with Iraq withdrawing from Kuwait, and was also the last combat appearance of the *Iowa*-class Battleships of the United States Navy.

## Military

The United States Armed Forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The armed forces has played an important role in American history since its inception, helping the US reach its superpower status in the 20th and 21st centuries.

### **United States Army**

The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces, first founded on the 14th of June 1775 as the Continental Army. The army was historically one of the most powerful branches of the military, operating a plethora of armored vehicles and transports, as well as a large amount of personnel, leading to a highly-effective military force.

### **United States Marine Corps**

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces, first founded on the 10th of November 1775 as the Continental Marines. The USMC operates under the Department of the Navy, despite being its own branch, due to the fact that it works very closely with the USN.

### **United States Navy**

The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces, first founded on the 13th of October 1775 as the Continental Navy. The USN has historically operated a large amount of warships and other watercraft, as well as having a large inventory of aircraft.

### **United States Air Force**

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces, first founded on the 18th of September 1947 from the United States Army Air Force. The USAF has operated a large amount of aircraft, from the technologically advanced B-2 Spirit to the highly-advanced yet controversial and expensive F-35 Lightning II.

### **United States Space Force**

The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces, first being founded on the 20th of December 2019. The USSF may have been the most expensive service branch to maintain due to the complexity of its vehicles.

### **United States Coast Guard**

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces. First being founded on August 4th, 1790. The USCG operates a large fleet of cutters, naval ships similar to US destroyers, for coastal defense and patrolling duties.