American Gotham

American Gotham

Flag of American Gotham
Motto: "Individual liberty is individual power."
No map available yet
Region	Depths of the Lower Lobby
Capital	New York City
Official Language(s)	No offical; American English
Leader	President Michael Badnarik
Population	402 million
Currency	Jew
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The Republic of American Gotham (often shortened to American Gotham and sometimes referred to as "The Great Republic") is a country that exists in the Western Hemisphere. It is made up of 7 Sovereign States, with its capital being located in New York City, New York State. American Gotham is a constitutional republic with strong Libertarian leanings. The country is a economic juggernaut, with the largest GDP in the world. It is home to over 331 million people, and the population is rapidly growing due to open immigration laws. It has the largest and most technologically advanced military in the world, yet remains mostly isolationist; it rarely gets into foreign entanglements. After the collapse of the United Nations, American Gotham and the Prussian Socialist Union were the only two major countries to decline readmission to the New U.N. The original 5 states of American Gotham declared their independence and formed a new nation after the Great Secession of the United States of America in 2083. The California Republic and the Coloradan Alliance joined the Republic in 2094.

History

The nation was founded by a total of 27 states declaring their independence from the United States of America on November 26th 2083. This event was known as the Great Secession. Shortly after, the 27 nations who chose to secede formed 5 Sovereign States and formed the Republic. Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massuchussets all joined together to form New England. New York remained its own Sovereign State, while New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland (along with the District of Columbia) joined together to form Washington. The Virginias, the Carolinas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, George, Alabama, and Florida grouped together to form the Southern Republic, and Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas formed the Bourbon States. The states of Nevada and California remained a part of the United States until 2090, and declared their Secession and subsequently joined the Republic in 2094. The Coloradan Alliance consisted of Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, and all joined American Gotham in 2094 as well. Arizona was the first state to secede from the U.S. and quickly rallied its surrounding states. After the merging of the Coloradan Alliance, the United States declared war on American Gotham in attempt to reacquire its lost territories. The New Canadian Republic intervened, and instead of a war erupting between American Gotham and the United States, war ensued between Canada and the U.S. The United States took over much of the New Canadian Republic, and expanded its borders further north. American Gotham's relation to the United States continues to be somewhat hostile, but they remain frequent trade partners, and the United States relies upon American Gotham to maintain its economy. In 2098, Bermuda was annexed as a part of American Gotham and joined the Southern Republic.

The Great Secession

After the turn of the 21st Century, the United States slowly began to change its shape as a powerful Capitalist nation, to a large, powerful, Socialist State. In 2018, the Green Party took control of both houses of Congress from the Libertarians. In 2020, the Green's took the Presidency, and the United State began to shift towards a Socialist State. In 2024, Welfare and Social Security were brought back into existence after being removed by the Libertarians in 2016. In the same year, taxes were greatly increased on the wealthy, and large corporations (Microsoft-Apple, Wal-Mart-Time Warner) were broken up. Unemployment rose 10% in 2026, and it was predicted that the Green's would lose Congress, and control would be shifted back to the Libertarians. But Senator Marcus Carter Jr. introduced the Necessary Fulfillment Bill of 2026, which effectively did away with term limits, and a number of the Green's were able to remain in power, and therefore retained the majority in Congress. This was contested in the Supreme Court, which ruled that the bill did not violate the Constitution, but Chief Justice John Roberts, in his dissent stated that the ruling left "the door wide open for tyranny." In 2028, all firearms were restricted. A large increase in crime followed, and some blame it on the restriction of firearms. Subsequently, the National Police Force was introduced. In 2031, Germany surpassed the United States with its GDP, and the U.S. quickly fell as an economic power. In 2042, the United States was attacked by Russia, which took Alaska and Hawaii. The U.S. invaded Russia in 2045, but reached a wall just past the North Korean border. The U.S. managed to take back Alaska and signed the treaty of Juneau, which allowed America to keep Alaska until 2059, when the U.N. would lift its restrictions on oil drilling. Russia kept Hawaii, and took back Alaska in 2059. Following its The Russian-American War, the U.S. relied heavily upon foreign aid to keep itself afloat economically. In 2072, every member of the Green Party's term limits were up, and the Federalists took the Senate, while the Libertarians controlled the House of Reps. In 2074, Congress impeached Green Party President Madison Kennedy on the charge of ineffectively dealing with the Russian conflict, giving weapons to Russia so they could annex Hawaii, and creating a treaty (the treaty Juneau) that gave America's largest state back to Russia, after many Americans died defending it. After her impeachment she was removed from office. Vice-President Jakob Hathaway took over, but was given very little power. The removal of President Kennedy caused an uproar in the largely Green northwestern states, which resulted in rioting all across the northwest. Almost every major city west of Chicago was run over by mobs. The National Police force was called in, but Congress denied them power over the situation and instead relied upon the local police. Kennedy, with the backing of the National Police, attempted to take power back from Congress. President Jakob Hathaway joined Kennedy in her Coup de'tat. Just before being overthrown, Congress passed the "Natural Secession" bill, which allowed any state to secede. In 2075, Arizona became the first state to secede and was quickly joined by Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico. Civil war alomst broke out between 2076 and 2083, just before President Kennedy and the newly appointed Green/Federalist Congress granted 32 states the right to secede. 27 states seceded from the U.S. (which was a great surprise to Kennedy). The 27 states formed 5 Sovereign States and became American Gotham. The Coloradan Alliance joined American Gotham, which almost caused a war with the U.S. Canada tried to intervene to protect the newly formed nation, but the U.S. defeated Canada and occupied its territories. The U.S. moved its capital to Toronto, and continues to be hostile to American Gotham.

Geography

American Gotham enjoys two coasts, and is home to the world's most frequently visited and most luxurious beach resorts. The border along Mexico in the south was restored after American Gotham took control of Texas. The result was the The Great Mexican Migration of 2112, which gave a huge boost to American Gotham's economy. To the North it borders the United States, and shares the use of Lake Erie with the U.S. as well. The United States attempted to build a wall in the middle of the Lake, but 2 weeks from completion, the wall collapsed and the project was abandoned.

Terrain

American Gotham has an extremely varied geography, particularly in the West. The eastern seaboard has a coastal plain which is widest in the south and narrows in the north. The coastal plain does not exist north of Washington-Jersey, although there are glacial outwash plains on Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. In the extreme southeast, the Florida territory of the Southern Republic is home to the ecologically unique Everglades.

The abrupt rise of the Rocky Mountains, at the western edge of the Great Plains, extends north to south across American Gotham and into the U.S., reaching altitudes over 14,000 feet (4,270 m) in the Colorado territory. In the past, the Rocky Mountains had a higher level of volcanic activity; nowadays, the volcanic activity in the Rocky's has been inherited by the United States. Though the super-volcano beneath Wyoming National Park (formerly Yellowstone) was expected to erupt in 2071, it appears to be dormant.

Climate

Due to its large size and wide range of geographic features, American Gotham has many ranges of geographical climate. The southern tip of the Florida territories is considered tropical, while in the North in New York and New England, the winter often reaches freezing temperatures.

Government and Politics

American Gotham is credited with bringing the republic and democracy back onto the world scene. After seceeding, American Gotham wrote a strict constitution (similar to the United States' original Constitution) that corrected the problems it saw in its father nation. The result was a constitution that was much harder to amend, and more clearly granted freedoms to the people.

The federal government comprises three branches, which are designed to check and balance one another's powers:

• Legislative: Congress, which is made up of two houses: the House of Statesmen and the House of Senators. Each of the seven states is represented by 3 Senators, while Statesmen represent the smaller states within the Sovereigns. Congress and Congress alone has the authority to declare war, and has the power to impeach the President. Congress must approve of Supreme Court appointments and has the power to remove students from the Office of the Constitution (but not Officers). In the two houses, there are currently 345 members.
• Executive: This is composed of the President and his cabinet. The President acts as a representative of the state, and is voted upon using a electoral college system similar to the United States (though the U.S. no longer uses the electoral college.)
• Judiciary: Is composed of the Supreme Court. The President appoints Supreme Court members, but if citizens are unhappy with a Supreme Court appointee's performance, he can be voted off of the Court if 85% or more of the citizens vote for his removal. However, these voting procedures must be organized by the citizens. So far, no Supreme Court members have been voted off. The Judiciary is closely tied to the Office of the Constitution, and it alone can remove Officers from the Office.
• Constitutionary: The Office of the Constitution is a school/training ground for those who seek to be experts in Constitutionary language. Students enroll in the school just after Middle School and if they wish to become Officers, they must remain in the school until they are 30 years of age. After 30, they are brought before a council, and the council decides whether or not the student can become an Officer. The council is made up of 5 members. Currently, there are an estimated 2,000 students enrolled in the School of the Constitution, and there are 26 Officers of the Constitution. These 26 are granted the responsibility of interpreting the Constitution.

Term Limits

There are strict term limits in American Gotham; no Senator can serve more than two terms, and no Statesmen can serve more than 4. The President is also restricted to two terms. Officers of the Constitution can only be removed by the Supreme Court, and students enrolled in the School of the Constitution can be removed by Congress. So far only 15 students have been removed, and all have been for rowdy or disruptive behavior.

The Constitution

The American Gotham Constitution is a short document, similar to the Articles of Confederation of the United States. The Constitution calls for a smaller federal government, and puts more emphasis on the city-states within the nation. The Constitution strictly abolishes all welfare and social security. It grants its citizens the right to carry guns, and prohibits slavery. Though it is hard to amend, the Constitution allowed for an Amendment which enabled states the rights to trade independently with other nations. New York State proposed this Amendment, and New England also sought to see it added. States are now given the freedom to deal with other nations, though some forsee this as a problem with potential enemies abroad. If American Gotham is at war, any of the city-states can still trade with the nation A.G. is at war with. Senator Robertson of New England said this in response, "Why would we, a city-state in a sovereign nation, ever seek to trade with a nation seeking our own destruction? Surely the destruction of American Gotham means ours as well."

Foreign relations and military

American Gotham has a large Military and it is solely voluntary. There is no draft and the Constitution prohibits a draft ever taking place. The Military has 4 divisions: The Army, The Navy, The Air Force, and the ASD (Aeronautics and Space Division.)Foreign relations with American Gotham are often a subject of controversy. Though the nation has many allies abroad, (The United Kingdom, and United Arab Emirates) it often distances itself or ignores foreign affairs. It has only once sent troops abroad: to aid the United Arab Emirates in their war against Egpyt. American Gotham's refusal to join the United Nations has put it at odds with many other countries.

Environment

The U.S. has over 17,000 identified native plant and tree species, including 5,000 just in the California Republic which is home to the tallest, the most massive, and the oldest trees in the world. With habitats ranging from tropical to temperate, the flora of American Gotham is the most diverse of any country; yet, thousands of non-native exotic species sometimes adversely affect indigenous plant and animal communities. Over 400 species of mammal, 700 species of bird, 500 species of reptile and amphibian, and 90,000 species of insect have been documented.

Economy

The American economy is the largest and most resilient in the world. The median income in Gotham was $220,813 annually. The U.N. often categorizes American Gotham as the most economically free nation in the world. There are no tariffs, and no laws against monopolies. Though the rise of certain monopolies has been a subject of controversy, most monopolies are short lived. Gothamsians currently enjoy some of the most opulent lifestyles in the world, though there is some debate about Social mobility. Gotham's currency is the Jew, named so in memorial of the second Holocaust of 2054 with the destruction of Israel. The Jew is backed by real currency, which has helped curb inflation.

Largest cities

The largest cities of American Gotham figure prominently in the economy, culture, and heritage of the Nation. In 2103, 54 incorporated places in A.G. had populations greater than 1,000,000, and four Global cities (full service world cities) had populations greater than 7.8 million.