Counterculture/The Lone Star Republic

The Lone Star Republic, also referred to as the Lone Star, LSR, LS, or Texian States, is a federal republic in south-western central North America, stretching from the Sabine River in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares large land borders with the Free American Republic in the north, Mexico in the south and the Confederate States of America in the east. It also shares a small land border with the United States of America in the northeast. The country has four states: Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. It also has a group of 37 territories collectively referred to as the Lone Star Indian Territories. A Lone Star citizen from any of the states is usually identified as a Texian. A citizen from the territories is usually identified as an Indian.

The Lone Star Republic traces its national origin to the declaration by Texas in 1866 that it was a free and independent nation from the Confederate States of America.

The Lone Star Republic was founded under a tradition of having the rule come from the people under the representative democracy model.

History

Following the end of the Confederate Revolution Texas, which did not have the number of slave owners that the rest of the Confederate States did, balked at the quantity and degree of abuses the black slaves faced between 1864 and 1866.

Sam Houston, a venerable Texas politican, began the work of secession from the the Confederate States by forging an alliance with the United States president George McClellan who assured political and economic support for the would be nation in return for the guarantee that it would be a slave-free nation. Sam Houston also forged an alliance with many of the Indian nations throughout the region, assuring the defense of the northern borders in return for semi-autonomous territories where the Indians could govern themselves.

Sam Houston became the first President of the Lone Star Republic when it declared itself a sovereign nation in February of 1866. The Western American War began with the Northwest Confederacy invasion of the Lone Star Republic in April of 1866 and ended the following year in May of 1867, during which the alliances Sam Houston had formed kept the Lone Star intact.

The Constitution of the Lone Star Republic, a mixture of the Constitutions of the Republic of Texas and the Constitution of the the United States of America was ratified in June of 1867 by the citizens of the state of Texas and the Council of Chiefs of the Lone Star Indian Territories.

There were a number of border skirmishes with Mexico during the later half of the 1860's which lead to California joining with the Lone Star Republic in February of 1870. In March of 1870 both Arizona and New Mexico were also admitted into the Republic.

Politics

The Lone Star Republic consists of four states and a set of 37 territories which have extensive but limited autonomy. What federal law there is takes precedence over laws within the states and territories. In general, matters that lie entirely within state or territory borders are the exclusive concern of state or territory governments. These include internal communications; regulations relating to property, industry, business, and public utilities; the state or territory criminal code; and working conditions within the state.

The federal government itself consists of three branches: the executive branch (headed by the President), the legislative branch (the Congress), and the judicial branch (headed by the High Court). The President is elected by the process of a nation-wide popular vote. The various legislators are chosen by popular vote within the states and the territories. All members of the executive and legislative branches are elected for terms of five years and can not succeed themselves. Justices of the High Court are appointed by the President and, if ratified by the Congress, serve for life. This tripartite model of government is duplicated for the states governments. Models of government are much more varied in the territories. Local governments both within the states and territories take various forms.

The federal and state governments are dominated by two political parties, the Free Soil Party and Labor Party. Given their complex support bases it is difficult to specifically categorize the two major parties' appeal. Within the Lone Star's political culture, the Free Soil Party is described as socially moderate-permissive and economically permissive whereas the Labor Party is described as socially moderate and economically restrictive. Minor party and independent candidates are occasionally elected, usually to local or state office, but the Lone Star's political system has historically supported "catch-all parties" rather than coalition governments. The ideology and policies of the sitting President of the Lone Star do not tend to play as large a role in determining the direction of his political party as in the United States or Confederate States.

Political parties in the Lone Star do not have formal "leaders," although there are complex hierarchies within the political parties that form various executive committees. Party ideology remains very individually-driven, with a diverse spectrum of moderates, centrists, and radicals within each party.

The two parties exist on the federal, state, and local levels, although the parties' organization, platform, and ideologies are not necessarily uniform across all levels of government.

Both major parties draw some support from across the diverse socio-economic classes which compose the multi-ethnic capitalist society which makes up the Lone Star Republic. Business interests provide the bulk of financial support to both parties, favoring the Free Soil party heavily. The Labor party receives more support from labor unions and minority ethnic groups. Because federal elections in the Lone Star are not nearly as expensive as they are in the United States, access to funds is not as vital in the political system. Thus corporations, unions, and other organized groups that provide funds and political support to parties and politicians play a smaller role in determining political agendas and government decision-making.

Political divisions

At the time of the birth of the Lone Star Republic, Texas became the first state, initially connected in a loose confederation with the Indian Territories. In 1870, the number of states grew to four with the addition of California, New Mexico, and Arizona. All of the states are divided into smaller administrative regions: counties, cities and townships.

The Lone Star Indian Territories are a collection of 37 seperate territories, which are united under a Council of Chiefs. The Indian Territories take up most of the northern border of the Lone Star Republic with some pockets inside of each of the states.

Geography

Texas has five major topographic regions:

  1. The Coastal Plain, from the Gulf of Mexico inland to about San Antonio and just southeast of Austin
  2. The Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, a hilly rocky area in central Texas bordered on the east by the Balcones fault zone and Blackland Prarie.
  3. The Great Plains region extends into northern Texas, including the Llano Estacado and the Panhandle high plains
  4. The North Central Plains
  5. The Trans Pecos Desert.

New Mexico has a southern border with Mexico, an eastern border with Texas (103°), and a western border with Arizona (109°). The landscape ranges from rose-colored deserts to mountains that are snow-capped most of the year. Despite New Mexico's arid image, forests cover a significant portion of the state.

Arizona has an abundance of topographical characteristics in addition to its desert climes. More than half of the state features mountains and plateaus and contains the largest stand of Ponderosa pine in North America. The Mogollon Rim, a 2000-foot escarpment, cuts across the central section of the state and marks the southwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau.

California borders the Pacific Ocean, Arizona, the Free American Republic, the Canadian province of Oregon, and the Mexican State of Baja California. The state has striking natural features, including a huge fertile central valley, high mountains, and hot dry deserts. With an area of 370,000 km² it is the second largest state in the Lone Star Republic. Most major cities cling to the cool, pleasant seacoast along the Pacific, notably San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego. The capital, however, is Sacramento in the Central Valley.

California has many types of geography. Down the center of the state lies the Central Valley, a huge, fertile valley bounded by the coastal mountain ranges in the west, the Sierra Nevada to the east, the Cascade Range in the north and the Tehachapi Mountains in the south. Mountain-fed rivers naturally irrigate the Central Valley. With dredging, several of these rivers have become sufficiently large and deep that several inland cities, notably Stockton, California, are seaports.

In the center and east of the state are the Sierra Nevada, containing the highest peak in North America., Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet (4421 m). Also in the Sierra is the world famous Yosemite National Park and a deep freshwater lake, Lake Tahoe. To the east of the Sierra is the Owens Valley and Mono Lake, an essential seabird habitat.

In the south lie the Transverse Ranges and a large salt lake, the Salton Sea. The south-central desert is called the Mojave. To the northeast of the Mojave lies Death Valley, which contains the lowest, hottest point in North America.

California is famous for its earthquakes due partly to the presence of the San Andreas Fault. While more powerful earthquakes in the United States have occurred in Alaska and along the Mississippi River, California earthquakes are notable due to their frequency and location in highly populated areas. Popular legend has it that, eventually, an earthquake known as "The Big One" will result in the splitting of coastal California from the continent, either to sink into the ocean or form a new landmass. The fact that this scenario is completely implausible from a geologic standpoint does not lessen its acceptance in public conventional wisdom, or its exploitation by the producers of science fiction and fantasy media.

California is also home to several volcanoes, some active such as Mammoth Mountain. Other volcanoes include Lassen Peak, which erupted from 1914 and 1921.