Part #3: One Nation Under God
"I do not blame God for the evils of our world. Those are due to human nature. I blame Him for creating us as such, and for only watching as it happens, for intervening only when our pathetic and humiliating cries amuse him. For such reasons, the Church, organized religion, worship of the divine, it is all lunacy. He is not there for us we need him, and so we do not need him."
- Xander Cross[1], A World Without God
--|--
"Even the most radical of Puritans will admit that perhaps their ancestors let their lust for vengeance get the best of them. Certainly, they will defend several contentions of the first peace with the Metacomans[2], but there is a universal agreement that the actions taken against the Wapanook and Nippenuc[3] peoples were severe, and whose consequences would prove to cause far more pain than the actions themselves avoided.
On paper, the plans of the colonists were not atypical, and indeed was not dissimilar to the conclusion of the Third Anglo-Powatan War[4], in which a leader was killed, the enemy alliance dissolved, and yet still the colonists pushed on, striking at the increasingly isolated groups. In New England this pursuit resulted in the extinction of the Wapanook, or rather the various factions that fell under their banner, with those who refused to be corralled into the 'praying towns' of the Nauset, who became the dominant native power in the region alongside the Peckwat[5], either being made to leave in exodus or being killed in acts of 'preemptive defense'.
This wanton slaughter reached the Nippenuc, who agreed to cede territory, as well as the permanent allowance of missionaries into their territories. Which meant that, within a handful of generations, the vast majority of them had been converted, and most major villages had a local reverend soon enough. The Puritans believed that in doing so, they would neutralize the group as an enemy. While this would indeed be the case for the Nippenuc, or rather the lion's share of said tribe, the examples of both would serve to inspire enough horror in other natives as to make them prefer death to surrender."
- Colonial Relations, (1952) by Thomas Reddigan
“...The oldest recognized novan townships in New England were indeed praying towns. Now, of course, the term is a touch confusing, given the common term ‘Praying Township’ used by many New English settlements. There was even the rather comically named Praying Township of Praytown, although the city has since changed its official spelling and pronunciation to that of Prayton. However, there is a misconception that every majority novan city in New England was once a praying town. This is false.
Utopolis[6] is one of New England’s largest cities, and is still majority novan, but it was never a praying town. Many of its founders did originate from such places, yes, but the city itself, established in 1847, had no evangelizing mission. Its only churches were novan run, and its success led to numerous other places of replicated design to soon dot the landscape. Hawk’s Nest, Canaan City, Sury, Mohawk City, Kentsly, even New Ulster. All of these were built by novans and remain dominated by them to this very day.
Some suffered under the imposed guidance councils of late 19th Century, given the ethniprincipatic[7] undertones of that era's politics, but the majority were able to rebuild and recover in the following political climate. A select few, in fact, reached new heights, like Utopolis. The same cannot be said for other nations, where legal persecution and force of arms, leading to both genocide and xenocide[8], have decimated populations since the colonial period, or where tensions run high enough as to force novans to live in secluded, impoverished barbarism. And it is such facts that make certain allegations by so-called theoretical historians baseless.
The undeniable reality is that what has been decried as ‘coerced assimilation’, was perhaps the best possible outcome for the novan peoples…”
- Novans in the Modern Era, thesis by Dr. J. L. Prescott
“‘The Erased Tribes to the East, they tell us that the White Man has forced us into remaining in a state of uneducated savagery. That we dwell in outdated garbs and practices for his amusement. That our role in his government is purely a token gesture. Clearly...they have never actually had the idea to come here themselves.’
[Laughter]
‘I want to address each of those claims. To the first claim, of our uneducated savagery, I wish to invite any the Erased to come and see our schools and universities, many attended by white students, as I can see today, due to the established infrastructure of our territories in this country, and due to years of greater stability than much of the white-ruled regions. Where is the lack of education? For we know the same sciences, be that physik, arithmology, alchimy, or lebenslehre[9]. Is it then purely that we have refused to convert to a foreign faith? Or is it our rituals, the potions we imbibe? Is that really so different from Communion? From blessings of holy water? And where is the savagery you speak of? That we still ride out with our weapons to patrol our lands, half out of tradition, half out of necessary patrolling of our lands?’
‘...Now to the second claim; that our tradition are allowed merely to amuse the White Man. This is easily dismissed; not only in legal print, given the concession of white men that our tribes were too strong to vanquish or assimilate, but with simple logic. There is no requirement that novans do anything. We wear our garbs and paint our faces and craft our tools and weapons because we want to. Because it is our way.
[Clapping, cheering]
As would the Erased had they not lost all that they were. And white men and women have even joined our tribes, marrying in, converting to our beliefs and adhering to our customs. They are and were ostracized for this, but it has been allowed. And our ways have even shaped culture and practices for this country at large! If this, freedom of dress, of worship, of tradition, truly is for us to be amusing to the White Man, then call me a jester and hand me some juggling balls!’
[Laughter, clapping]
‘And now...the third claim. That the Council of Chieftains and the required novan Delegates are but tokens of appeasement. This is a matter of debate, that I will admit, and there is no denying that was certainly the case at the time of the Council’s establishment. But today, our votes can sway the nation. Our chiefs often stand as impartial arbiters for white conflicts, and stop laws intended to harm us. And so I say, regardless of your political leanings, of what tribe you belong to, we can all agree that, in this country, we matter. And unlike the Erased, we have remained true to ourselves. We are not white men in red skin.’
[Thunderous applause]”
- Dr. Lone Pale Horse, lecture at Thethunwun[10] University, 1980
"MINISTER: Good King! Good King! I have for you a humble plea from your subjects!
KING CHUCK JR.: Wh-what? Er, what is it they want? Nothing too radical, is it?
MINISTER: Oh well it's--my lord are you shaking?
KING CHUCK JR.: W-what? No! Of course not! I am a King! And...and I will let no Parliament turn me into a cuckold of my nation! Yes! Yes, indeed! Tell the people, that I, their sovereign, while I shall glance upon their request, shall grant it only by my own assent as their rightful ruler, with the wisdom of the kings of old, with crown and throne and power granted to me by God, with the right to rule granted by my blood and heritage and--
MINISTER: My lord, this plea comes from the Colonies, not Parliament.
KING CHUCK JR.: The colonies? Well didn't why you begin with that?! What do those continentals want?
MINISTER: Er, well, they've stopped fighting with the natives and--
KING CHUCK JR.: They did? I assume the next war will be coming next week?
MINISTER: My lord this is no jest; they wish to request a unification of their colonies, and have sent a request from each individual colony, as well as several major townships, each showcasing reasons for their agreement to this general request, as well as other requests should a bid for unification not be assented to. They have also each sent documents providing cases for why the Crown most turn away from ‘faux-popery’, but followed those up with documents saying why it's fine if you do not.
KING CHUCK JR.: My good man, if I agree to this, do I assume correctly that I would henceforth receive only one piece of paper in reference to these particular colonies?
MINISTER: Yes, my lord.
KING CHUCK JR.: Right then, ready your quill. Ready? Alright: 'Yes, go ahead. Signed King Chuck.'"
- Merry King Chuck, an 1889 satirical play
“His Majesty, King Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, and Defender of the Faith, does grant consent to the unification of the New English colonies into a singular United Colony of New England, with their charters and borders to be merged once a unified government has been properly established.”
- The short reply to the Plea of Necessity written by King Charles II, other documents being penned by Members of Parliament
"RESOLVED; Each of the former colonies shall henceforth be recognized as constituent provinces of New England.
RESOLVED; The boundaries of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay during their period as separate entities shall be recognized as provincial borders.
RESOLVED; The colony of Connecticut shall be divided, with the territory of the former colony of New Haven being recognized as a separate province of the same name.
RESOLVED; The colony of Massachusetts Bay shall be divided, with the former province of Maine restored.
RESOLVED; The region of New Hampshire shall remain under the control of Massachusetts Bay[11]
...
RESOLVED; The government of the now recognized United Colony of New England shall be organized with a unicameral legislature, known as the National Commission, with the governors and legislatures of each province to send four commissioners to act as their representatives, with a President of the Commission to be elected by a two-thirds majority from amongst them. The power of proposal of legislation pertaining to interprovincial trade, interprovincial taxation, matters concerning treaties, matters pertaining to the United Militia, and matters pertaining to the expansion of the Colony as a whole shall be vested in the Commission, but requiring the ratification of two-thirds of the provinces.
...
RESOLVED; The status of the colony of Rhode Island will be discussed at a later time, upon first meeting of the New England government in the Spring of 1680.[12]"
- A Resolution Pertaining to the Unification of New England, passed by all three legislatures
“British instability would continue, however, despite the aspirations of Charles II. Mercifully, what came next did not come in his lifetime. His passing was essentially the source, ironically, but many a poem and pithy remark were made about how utterly revolted he would have been, and how saddened. Of course, the topic would resurge again not long afterwards, in yet another mass loss of life to bloody the British Isles. The Shakespearean Resurgence would see the creation of three separate plays on the matter; one on the King’s life peppered with allusions, one about his ghost guiding Lords Waterford and Monmouth, and a third on the First Civil War that ends with a monologue by Charles II, critiquing then recent English history.
However, Charles II, up until his death, was content in the belief that, for the forseeable future, England would prevail. This is in large part due to two major feats. The first was the failure of the so-called Exclusion Bill, which sought to exclude his brother James from succession, though the movement was too small to be more than a showcase of anti-Catholic zealotry. However, it became a major concern for the crown, as the group, led by the Earl of Shaftesbury, would continue to propose such bills in Parliament. Only the first, however, had enough backing to be a threat, in many cases backed purely because of anger at the King’s dissolution of Parliament during the impeachment of Lord Danby. Those that supported the bill were eventually called Crofts, due to their backing of the James the Bastard, who had taken the surname Crofts after the Crofts baronet, and the name stuck, becoming a name used for those in opposition to the King’s totalist[13] actions, and later the primary opposition party for many years to come. The term itself became notably attached when, in heated debate about James Crofts’ legitimacy to the throne, one supporter proposed he wed Charles’ niece Mary, with the King to agree to divorce her and William of Orange; in response he and Shaftesbury were mocked as being “family to the good gentleman,” who were absolutely desperate to see him succeed as to arrange a marriage for him.
On the other side was the court party, which earned many deriding nicknames from Shaftesbury and company; Tories, Catholiers, Yorkites, and so on, but the term that became most notable, and the one that has survived to the modern day, was the one they gave themselves. And so is the history of the Abhorrers, or Abhors as we know them, who stood in abhorrence to the bill, and later to actions against the King’s will[14]. Most notably was Sir George Jeffreys, who helped create the term, and who later cemented it into the British lexicon during the war, in which he remarked “I stood in abhorrence to treason then, and I stand in abhorrence to it now.”
Perhaps what won the King the day was that, while a general anti-Catholic sentiment had existed in England for some time, it was essentially deescalating at the time of the first bill’s failure. Indeed, the power of Crofts more came from resentment of Charles’ repeated dissolutions of Parliament than anything else. Luckily, soon afterwards, an anti-Puritan craze would sweep the nation, spurred on by Abhors who accused Crofts of Cromwellian ambitions, furthered by the misspeaking of several Croft MPs, who had proposed that until Mary was with child, a regent hold power, their use of the term Lord Protector allowing for surging of scathing remarks against them. This led to Puritans leaving for New England including a few prominent English families who would use their wealth to become instrumental in the rebuilding of the colonies following the First Metacom War. Others would eventually help found Ricardia.
The second major feat of the King, which in truth helped end the Exclusion Bill entirely, was the successful pregnancy of Queen Catherine of Braganza in 1680. Succession was now sorted, the king being in seeming good health and the pregnancy seeing the birth of Prince Richard, who, while sickly, survived past infancy. Many conditional Crofts, especially those who merely disliked Charles, drifted away from the group, but there were some who, while not officially, still supported Lord Monmouth as a pretender to the throne, especially given Richard’s weak health in his youth. Likely, once Richard sat upon the throne, a man in his own right, these supporters would have faded off into obscurity, and English throne would have seen itself secure for many more years. But, instead, the year 1687 became known as the Bloody Year…”
- A Political History of the British Isles by Ian Anderso
ToastedAvocado said:
here is my idea for a flag of a united north america
SquadCmd said:
Eek. That's a little busy for my taste. I mean, the stripes aren't bad, but why 13 of them? And the stars are fine but that many with so many stripes just looks kinda excessive I guess.
lobomacho4 said:
I think it has potential, but you may have to explain what it all means to us. For instance, like Squad asked, what is the significance of 13 for the stripes? For that matter, what's the significance of 24? There are more than 24 countries in North America, although I guess the definition for where that ends and South America begins is pretty iffy.
ToastedAvocado said:
well the stripes i just sorta put on until i thought it looked good
stars are 24 for each country but with the a lot of the caribean all as 1 since its a lot of smaller countries
Tomanderson said:
If I'm being honest, "it looked good" shouldn't be the only reason why something is on a flag. It should have meaning. A flag is a symbol for a country. As for busy-ness, I agree with Squad that it is a bit on the far side, but look at pre-Reform Germany's flag and you'll see there's plenty of precedent for that in OTL.
Still, I'd up the star count for each country. The Caribbean would be livid if each nation wasn't shown in itself. And since that will clutter it more, maybe just a few stripes? But alll in all it isn't bad. Certainly not any worse than some of the ones I've made for Gaze to the East
ToastedAvocado said:
how is this?
?
also made this. jus messing with stars
SquadCmd said:
Im gonna call that second one as my favorite. Still busy with the stars though.
--|--
[1] This name will become important later
[2] The term is used as a catch-all for all tribes involved in the First Metacom War
[3] Wampnoag and Nipmuck in OTL
[4] I don’t really have explain which one this is, do I?
[5] Pequot
[6] Derived from Utopia, Thomas More’s book, namely for the idea of a native-run city that was perfect in every way. That they slapped on -polis is essentially redundant, but sounding intelligent was more of the idea
[7] This term will be important, but put in Social Darwinist or White Man’s Burden for understanding
[8] TTL genocide, murder based on ethnic grounds, is differentiated with xenocide, which is defined as murder based on cultural or ideological grounds. Science Fiction authors of TTL will use eidocide, murder based on form.
[9] OTL we would say “physics, mathematics, chemistry, and biology.”
[10] The Lakota, derived from
Thítȟuŋwaŋ
[11] OTL Massachusetts Bay had control of the area, but New Hampshire’s charter was eventually recognized. TTL, control is recognized given the struggling nature of the colonies.
[12] Rhode Island was neutral in the war, but suffered heavily, as in OTL. However, they did not petition to join New England themselves, and New England is unsure if they should include them. This is going to cause headaches down the road
[13] Absolutist, or totalitarian would be good OTL synonyms.
[14] The Abhorrers are from OTL, and was indeed a name that came before the more commonly used Tory, itself derived from an Irish word for a bandit. OTL Petitioners used it to decry the Abhorrers, being ‘Catholic criminals’. Events in TTL see Abhorrer become the predominant term.
