Counterculture/The United States of America

The United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., and U.S., is a federal republic in eastern central North America consisting of seventeen states. It shares a border with Canada in the north, the Free American Republic in the west, the Confederate States of America in the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It also occasionally borders the Lone Star Indian Territories in the southwest, depending on how Kansas is split up at the time. Its capital is Philadelphia and its population numbers 74,221,918 as of the last census in 2004. A United States citizen is usually referred to as a Yankee.

The United States traces its national origin to the declaration by thirteen British colonies in 1776 that they were free and independent states. It was founded under a tradition of government with the consent of the governed under the representative democracy model. This model of government (presidential-congressional) has since been adopted by many other countries, most notably the Confederate States of America and the Lone Star Republic, although Central and South America boast others.

17 states after Confederate Revolutionary War: Conneticut, Delaware, Indiana, Ohio, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, & Wisconson.

Parts of northern Kentucky are absorbed into Indiana & Ohio at the end of the Secession War.

2 more states join the USA during the Northwest Revolutionary War which leads to the FAR: Illinois & North Missouri.

• This lets all four countries have a border with Kansas after the formation of FAR (assuming South Missouri goes to the CSA.)

USA is puritanical: most freedoms but with censorship, especially regarding sex. No successful socially liberal political party.

Constant problem with uneducated blacks as illegal immigrants from the CSA.

History

Following the European colonization of the Americas, thirteen colonies split from Britain and formed the United States, one of the world's first modern representative democracies, after their Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the United States Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government.

During the first half of the 19th century, many new states were added to the original thirteen as the nation expanded across the North American continent and acquired a number of overseas possessions, and the nation became an industrial power.

In 1861, the Confederate Revolution began, and the Confederate States of America split off from the United States. While the United States appeared to be winning, in 1864, the Northwest Confederacies (later to become the Free American Republic seceded from the United States, and supported the CSA. The now much reduced USA made peace with the countries that had seceded from it.

The United States has since been a player in World War I and World War II. It went through a fairly serious economic downturn between the wars, but then was one of the founding nations of the American Union, which revitalized the continent, especially the nations that had come from the original United States.

Politics

The United States of America consists of nineteen states with limited autonomy in which federal law takes precedence over state law. In general, matters that lie entirely within state borders are the exclusive concern of state governments. These include internal communications; regulations relating to property, industry, business, and public utilities; the state criminal code; and working conditions within the state. The District of Columbia falls under the jurisdiction of the US Congress, and has limited home rule.

The various state constitutions differ in some details but generally follow a pattern similar to that of the federal Constitution, including a statement of the rights of the people and a plan for organizing the government. On such matters as the operation of businesses, banks, public utilities and charitable institutions, state constitutions are often more detailed and explicit than the federal Constitution. In recent years, the federal government has assumed broader responsibility in such matters as health, education, welfare, transportation, housing and urban development.

The federal government itself consists of three branches: the executive branch (headed by the President), the legislative branch (U.S. Congress), and the judicial branch (headed by the Supreme Court). The President is elected to a four-year term by the Electoral College, which is chosen through popular votes in the states and the District of Columbia. The various legislators are chosen by popular vote in the states. Members of Congress are elected for terms of two years in the House of Representatives and six years in the Senate. Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate for an unlimited term. This tripartite model of government is generally duplicated at the state level. Local governments take various forms.

The federal and state governments are dominated by two political parties, American Party, which is fairly socially restrictive, and fiscally permissive and the Democratic Party, which is socially moderate, fiscally moderate. The dominant political culture in the United States is, as a whole, somewhat to the right of the dominant political culture in European democracies, other American countries besides the CSA, and indeed most countries in the world though the issues at odds are somewhat different. Given their complex support bases it is difficult to specifically categorize the two major parties' appeal. Within the United States political culture, the American Party is described as center-right and the Democratic Party is described as center-left. Minor party and independent candidates are very occasionally elected, usually to local or state office, but the United States political system has historically supported "catch-all parties" rather than coalition governments. The ideology and policies of the sitting President of the United States commonly play a large role in determining the direction of his political party, as well as the platform of the opposition.

Political parties in the United States do not have formal "leaders" like many other countries, 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 that compose the United States' multi-ethnic society. Business interests provide the bulk of financial support to both parties, generally favoring the American party. The Americans generally receive more funding and support from business groups, religious Christians, and rural Americans, while the Democratic party receives more support from labor unions and minority ethnic groups. Because federal elections in the United States are among the most expensive in the world, access to funds is vital in the political system. Thus corporations, unions, and other organized groups that provide funds and political support to parties and politicians play a very large role in determining political agendas and government decision-making.

Political divisions

With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies transformed themselves into nation states modeled after the European states of the time. In the following years, the number of states within the U.S. grew steadily due to western expansion, the conquest and purchase of lands by the national government, and the subdivision of existing states, increased the number greatly, until the Confederate Revolutionary War. Today, there are nineteen states in the Union. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships.

The United States also holds several other territories, districts and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several small overseas insular areas.

Geography

The United States landscape mostly consists of temperate forestland on the coast, the eastern edge of the Great Plains on the Western edge of the country which are shared with the Free American Republic, and the Great Lakes which are shared with Canada.

The country mostly has a continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters.

Economy

The economy of the United States is organized primarily on a capitalist model, with some government regulation in many industries. There are also some social welfare programs like Social Security, unemployment benefits, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families ("welfare"), the Earned Income Tax Credit, Medicare, and Medicaid. Such departures from a pure free-market economy have generally increased since the late 1800s, but are less pronounced in the United States than in many other ("first world") industrialized countries.

The United States has recently incorporated its currency into the new American Dollar, the common currency of the American Union.

The country has limited mineral resources, but has significant farm industries and manufarcturing industries. The United States is one of the most important manufacturing nations in the world, after Canada and the Lone Star Republic.

The largest trading partners of the United States are its northern neighbor, Canada and the [LSR]] to the Southwest. Other major partners are the Free American Republic, Mexico, the European Union, and the industrialized nations in Asia, such as Japan, India, and South Korea. Trade with China and the Confederate States of America is also significant.

Transportation

The United States is known for its complicated and time-conscious rail system. Of the American countries, the only one with a larger and more complicated rail system is Canada, due to its larger size. There are very good subway systems within most large cities, but roads tend to be small and limited, intended more for bicycles than cars. Due to the lack of oil in the United States, private cars never became very popular. Those rich enough to afford them may have private helicopters, and heli-cabs can be found in large and wealthy cities.

Legal holidays

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