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Canoerebel -> RE: Here come the Rebels! (Canoe v. Q-Ball) (6/28/2010 3:48:42 PM)
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It is now well after midnight, December 7, 1944. American intelligence has picked up baffling messages that include phrases like "single port attack" and "only move task forces at sea." There is a pervading sense of dread that something big is about to happen.
If a storm is impending, the quiet beforehand may be my last opportunity to tell you about the history of my country since our Civil War.
Nobody could have foreseen the turmoil, years of struggle, and ultimately the great blessings and unity that would follow the Confederate victory at Gettysburg. With the Union army in disarray, the victorious Army of Northern Virginia moved east to points on the roads and railroads between Baltimore and Philadelphia. The capital of the United States was isolated and violent, large-scale rioting wracked Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York.
When legislatures in the western states of Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky declared neutrality and recalled their regiments, America's will to wage war failed. When Maryland joined those four, all organized resistance to the rebellion ended. In fact, civil war nearly erupted between the western United States and the more hard-line abolitionist states like Massachusetts and New York.
A ceasefire between beliigerants went into effect on November 15, 1863, with terms of peace finalized and approved by both Congresses on February 21, 1864.
Although many citizens of both countries felt that the two - USA and CSA - were still one (especially the people of eastern Tenessee and western Virginia), the twain remained separate and the politicians and military mostly mistrustful for nearly one-score years.
Then something unexpected happened. On July 1, 1884, the Confederate Congress passed a law gradually abolishing slavery over ten years. President Ambrose P. Hill signed the legislation into law on July 4, 1884, a gesture that did much to heal the remaining wounds between North and South.
Over the ensuing thirty years, the two nations drew closer together through common interests in industry, agriculture, commerce, education, and security. Then, the upheval of World War I prompted the two nations to reunite. Less than two years after the Armistice, North and South became one again.
The newly-united United States of America has some oddities and anochronysms remaining from the period of disunion. Many of these resulted from compromises worked out during the reunification process. For instance, the United States Naval Academy is at Groton, Connecticut (it's location since the closing of its old facility in Annapolis in 1863). The United States Military Academy at West Point became an arsenal in 1922, and Virginia Military Institute took the name and responsiblity for the education of Army officers. (The U.S. Air Force Academy is located in Colorado Springs, but pilot training remains a real problem for America for some reason.) The capitols of the respective countries at Richmond and Albany reverted to state capitals in 1925, and the national capital returned to Washington that year after a 61-year hiatus.
Today, after more than twenty years of unity, America is growing strong. There are concerns in the military that three-scour years of division and one-score years of reunification have left the military a bit weaker than it might have been had the North won the Civil War. The military is waxing strong, but some believe that Japan is intent on attacking the USA...and that Japan will be more successful than it would have been had the nation remained united.
We shall see.
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