North America in 1865

The year is 1865. Tension mounts throughout North America. The political order has been thrown into chaos. With so many different players and ideologies, people and politicians nervously ask the question: can war be far away?

Canada (C): With the withdrawal of the British garrisons, the Canadas were worried about the results of the American Civil War. The Canadians felt insecure, and politicians played on their fears. They likened the Canadas to Roman Britain, abandoned by Roman troops and left to the mercies of the barbarian hordes. In response, they united their disparate provinces and built an expensive military force to defend their borders. Internal tensions between Catholic French-Canada and Protestant English-Canada threaten to rend the new country in two, but with memories of the failed 1812-14 American invasion still fresh in the minds of the country's elder statesmen, the greatest fear is American western and northern expansion. It's vital for the leaders of the country to shift focus away from internal conflicts to external threats and opportunities.

Haida Confederacy (H): The Haida heard of the events in the east. Their slave-holding city-states stopped raiding each other, and a new breed of anxious, far-sighted leaders emerged. Famed as ingenious and wily traders, they cobbled together a federation of tribes extending from their coastal cities on the rainforest coast to the Pacific Inuit of the North to their traditional trading hinterland in the interior of the continent. They bought Dutch weapons and ship technology from the East Indies, adopted very basic industrial techniques from the Russians and Asia, reverse-engineered designs and in a few years transformed their societies. With their newfound confidence, suffering a great deal of social upheaval and cultural shock, many Haida are unwilling to wait for foreign invaders to arrive before they take action.

Free Caribbean Federation (F): The former British Caribbean island territories of Trinidad, Jamaica and Tobago came together and formed a federation with the British Caribbean colony of Guyana. They then liberated the French slaves of Martinique after the rebellious island suffered vicious reprisals. The Federation maintained a rotating capital, alternately in Trinidad, Guyana and Jamaica. Jamaica withdrew over having to share too much power and now maintains strict, resentful neutrality.

Dual Kingdom of Haiti and the Spanish Isles (S): The slave uprisings spread to the French and Spanish territories. The colonial administrations showed near-total incompetence by attempting to quell the rebellions with brutal reprisals. The colonial administrations were forced out. The Spanish islands peacefully annexed Haiti, and form a dual Kingdom, bilingual in French Creole and Spanish.

The U.S.A. (U) and C.S.A (N): Slavery was the economic lifeblood of white Southern landholders, but the southern economies were moribund. The North had industrial and financial growth, while southern plantations fell relentlessly further and further into debt to northern financiers. The abolitionist North tried to complete the American revolution and launched a crusade to eliminate the cruel institution of slavery altogether. To preserve slavery and white slaveholders' wealth, the white Southern governments seceded. The North delcared the secession invalid, and brutal civil war erupted. With chaos all around, and a savage war of attrition taking its toll, the North and South came to a temporary ceasefire; the front lines remain tense, but threats now exist from other, newer powers. Both wish to expand westwards, but resistance in the West is already building, and the issue of expanding slavery to new territories still motivates people on both sides.

The Mexican Empire (X): The Mexicans were also infected by liberation fever. The Indian and Mestizo population finally rose up and overthrew their Hispanic overlords. Soon, a new Mexican Empire was established, speaking a revived Nahuatl language. But long before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Mayan Indians had repelled invasions from the Valley of Mexico. They smelled more Central Mexican oppression and opted out of the newly reborn "Aztec" government. Their southern cities maintain a fragile independence.

Ocean Zones

BSt: Bering Strait
ECo: East Coast
EGL: Eastern Great Lakes
GoM: Gulf of Mexico
GoS: Gulf of St. Lawrence
Gra: Grand Banks
HGw: Haida Gwaii
Hud: Hudson's Bay
MAO: Mid Atlantic Ocean
MWC: Mid West-Coast

NAO: North Atlantic Ocean
NEC: North East Caribbean
NWC: North West Caribbean
NWP: North West Passage
Pac: Pacific Ocean
Sar: Sargasso Sea
SEC: South East Caribbean
SWC: South West Caribbean
SWC: South West-Coast
WGL: Western Great Lakes

Canadian Territories

Caribbean Federation

Haida Territories

C.S.A. Territories

Kingdom of Haiti and the Spanish Isles

U.S.A. Territories

Mexican Empire

Neutral Territories

The Bahamas: The Bahamas chose not to join the Caribbean Federation when the British fleets were withdrawn. With a corrupt local government, many powers are looking to the strategic naval importance of the Islands and coveting their protected harbours.

Bermuda: Bermuda occupies a strategic position in the Atlantic Ocean. The population holds its independence dear, but they're isolated and remote from other centres. They look to the ex-British colonies for direction and growth, but are wary of joining any of them.

California: The Hispanic Mexican elite in California escaped the native rebellions in Mexico, but the territory has been inundated with American settlers. Some enterprising traders have set up an independent "Republic", which theoretically answers to the Mexican Empire, but the ultimate fate of California is a hotly debated subject. Both the U.S.A. and the C.S.A. want to increase their influence here.

Colombia: Mired in political chaos, the downtrodden native peoples in revolt, Colombia's wealthy and powerful Mestizo and Spanish population is besieged in Colombia's major cities. Colombia is a state on the verge of collapse. The loss of Panama was a deep humiliation to its leaders. Colombia's rich mines, plentiful resources and agricultural fertility make it a target for outside interests.

Florida: Florida, originally home to large Native populations who lived in farming towns, was savagely decimated by the Spanish. A wave of southern American settlers has arrived. In the wake of the colonial withdrawal, they established a new "independent Republic", and remained neutral in the American Civil War, waiting to see the results. The Kingdom of Haiti and the Spanish Isles wants to reclaim Florida for its own interests, thus giving it a foothold on the mainland.

The Great Plains: The Great Plains are inhabited by many mobile Native tribes, such as the Cheyenne, the Dakotas and the Blackfoot. They hunt buffalo and protect their land against white encroachment with a fierce tenacity. They've recently tried to band together, but historical animosities and cultural misunderstandings make the task difficult. The American states are constantly threatening to expand westwards. The Native peoples don't trust the newly independent Canadians, either, and are wary of being drawn into greater wars by the Haida Confederacy.

Guatemala: Along with the Yucatan, the Mayan areas are fractured into dozens of city-states. They've formed a union to prevent the Mexican Empire from reestablishing power over the Mayan peoples. Their independence remains fragile and their unity difficult.

Hudson's Bay Company land: The Hudson's Bay Company was given its royal charter for a trading monopoly in 1670 by the British Crown. It dominated the watersheds that emptied into Hudson's Bay. Since Canada gained its independence, HBC lands have become an integral part of the desperate Canadian effort to expand westwards. The bulk of the population is Native and Metis, and though the people are reliant on Eastern trade, there are some who look to the Haida Confederacy.

Illinois: Illinois, exhausted by the Civil War, is threatening to leave the United States and expand its borders westwards on its own. This would result in war against the Native peoples of the West, something which the white settler population sees as necessary. The United States is trying to reassert Federal Government control.

Jamaica: After becoming independent, Jamaica joined the new Caribbean Federation with Guyana, Trinidad, Tobago and the other ex-British colonial islands. Jamaica had much of the new population, but wasn't given what it thought was enough power, so it left. It has declared a strict neutrality, offering its harbours for the use of friendly powers who have cash and goods to trade.

Newfoundland: Like Canada, Newfoundland is newly independent. More closely allied to Britain and completely reliant on outside trade, the island offers strategic control of the North Atlantic seas. The proximity of the Grand Banks makes it one of the richest commercial fisheries in the world. Poor, its has few resources with which to defend itself, and Canada wants to annex it and finish the job of uniting the former British North American posessions into one country. The outport fishermen and urban elite Newfoundlanders in St. John's are ambivalent about the prospect.

New Mexico Territory: New Mexican tribes staged a successful revolt against their Hispanic Mexican overlords and repelled encroaching American settlers. Their cultures are some of the most resilient Native societies in North America. The Haida and Mexican Empire both have influence, and American settlers want the territory annexed to either the C.S.A. or the U.S.A.

Ohio: Ohio supported the North in the Civil War, but has refused to get involved again unless the United States allows its settlers to expand westwards into Indian territories. The South has been doing everything in its power to prevent Ohio from supporting a new offensive against the Confederate government. The United States has promised to reassert federal control over the territory.

Oklahoma Territory: Since the brutal expulsions and forced marches of Native peoples from their towns and cities in the American East, including the once powerful and wealthy Cherokee, refugees fleeing from the warlike, violent American settlers have been pouring into Oklahoma Territory. The fate of this territory is uncertain. American settlers, from both the South and the North, are attempting to annex the territory to the U.S.A. or the C.S.A., but native resistance is strong.

Panama Zone: The European powers and the United States convinced the Colombian government to build a canal from the Caribbean to the Pacific. The Canal Zone was then forcibly carved from Colombia by the United States and the British fleets. Since the political chaos of the British withdrawal, the Panama Canal zone has been run by the local administrators as their personal fiefdom. The canal is one of the only ways to get ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Pennsylvania: The Civil War exhausted Pennsylvania. It voted to refrain from sending more troops to join Union forces. It wants to retreat into the revolutionary past and escape from the tragic power struggle between North and South. The federal government has been trying to answer local fears, but wants to reestablish full federal control of the state, especially as the results of the civil war remain unclear.

Puerto Rico: The colonial aristocracy of Puerto Rico declared the island independent of Spain, and managed to avoid the class conflicts of the rest of North America. The aristocracy considered joining the Kingdom of Haiti and the Spanish Isles, but demured, and now face pressures on all sides to relinquish its power.

Red River Colony: This is a colony in conflict. Much of the population is Metis. Half-French, Half-Native, they're Roman Catholic and speak French. They've gathered native bands together, trying to spread their new culture among the Cree and other Native peoples. Their neighbours are a band of adventurous Scottish settlers. Each population wants independence, but distrusts the other. Due to the political chaos involved in the British withdrawal, Metis leader Louis Riel led a successful rebellion against the British Crown, and established some independence. He has allies on the Great Plains, while the Scots have allies in Canada. Canada would like to absorb the settlement and turn it into the gateway for its western expansion, to stop the Americans from getting there first. The Native peoples see it as a model successful Native-European state, and many seek to emulate it or have it join one of their local alliances.

Texas: Texas declared its independence, rather than join the South in war against the North. As a slave-holding territory, few outside powers were willing to support it, and many would like to see it abolish slavery or be annexed by another power. The C.S.A. decided that trying to force Texas' hand would be potentially too costly, so they accepted its official neutrality. Texans volunteered on both sides of the Civil War. The C.S.A. would like to reattach Texas to their Confederacy, and the Mexican Empire would like to reclaim Texas, the territory it lost to the Americans a generation before.

Ungava and Labrador Territory: North of Lower Canada, the vast but sparsely populated territory of Labrador and land south of Ungava bay is cold and rugged. Its harsh environment provides rough bounty for roving native bands. The cold North Atlantic and Arctic waters wash its shores. Its land is forbidding territory for any forces unprepared for the brutal wilderness.

The Yucatan Peninsula: The Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula, along with the Mayans of Guatemala, declared their independence from Central Mexican control. Their city states maintain a fragile independence. Their territory is strategic and rich in resources and agricultural produce. Due to local disunity, their future remains uncertain.