Soveriegn States

Soveriegn States

Flag of Soveriegn States
Motto: "A Free People Know No Limits"
[1]
Region	Excalbian Isles
Capital	Jefferson
Official Language(s)	English
Leader	President Thomas Caine
Population	Over 3 billion
Currency	The Sov (S)
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Geography and Early History

The Excalbian Isles rise from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Northern Atlantic, southwest of Iceland and southeast of Greenland. The Excalbian Isles were first settled by the Celts around the 6th century. By the early 10th century, they formed a number of stable, agrarian tribal groups, located mostly in the Southwestern grasslands and along the rugged Eastern coast.

In the late 10th century, a second wave of settlers – Norsemen – arrived from their colonies in Iceland and Greenland. While the earlier arrivals, now known as the Lowlanders, remained along the coast and in the grasslands, the Norsemen migrated into the highlands.

Despite relative isolation from Europe, occasional new arrivals continued to land on Excalbia. These included a small group of Scots, who moved into the highlands and submerged into the Norse Highlanders, and some Irish monks, who in the 12th century introduced Christianity among a small tribe of Lowlanders on the Eastern coast (now part of the Confederation of Sovereign States).

By the 13th century, the island’s social structure was well established. The Highland clans were warriors, herders and artisans and dominated the Lowland farmers. In the 18th century, a number of English and Colonial merchantmen visited Excalbia, but found little worth trading along the coast and ignored it. In 1798, a small group of Virginia Baptist missionaries took an interest in the Excalbian Isles and booked passage on a Yankee merchant ship familiar with the islands. A storm, however, crashed the Narwhal against the Western coast. Stranded, but alive and still possessing much of their goods and supplies, the missionaries began working to convert the Lowlanders to Christianity and the crew of the merchant ship began establishing control of the local trade routes and building alliances with the local tribes.

In 1801, the newly assertive Lowlanders, backed by the missionaries and the guns of the ship’s crew, came into conflict with the Highland king, Ragarth. Low-level conflict continued until a truce in 1807, by which time the new American arrivals had reestablished contact with their homeland, bringing in new supplies for themselves and their Lowland allies. Seeing the balance of power tilting to the Lowlanders, Ragarth undertook a diplomatic mission to the Lowlanders’ new capital, Landing – the site of the Narwhal’s wreck. While in Landing, Ragarth’s son converted to Christianity and adopted the Christian name Joshua.

Joshua became king in 1809 and engineered a union between the Lowlanders and their allies and the Highland kingdom. On Christmas Day in 1810, Joshua proclaimed the Holy Empire of Excalbia, named the Alvis Miller, former Lowland governor of Landing, his Chancellor and established Christianity as its state religion. Emperor Joshua I also launched an aggressive campaign to bring modern education and knowledge to his kingdom.

More information on the geography and early history of the Isles can be found in the listing for the Excalbian Isles.

Founding of the Confederation of Sovereign States

In 1817, a mixed group of American settlers and Lowlanders began demanding a republican government. In order to avoid violence, the Emperor extended a land grant to the republicans east of the Borodea Mountains and a patent to establish an autonomous republican government. The republicans accepted the grant and establish New Virginia. By 1828, a second settlement, known as Southland and dominated by extremely devout Christians, had been established. Another settlement, known as Deandra, had been founded by a group of Freedmen on an island south of Excalbia. Despite lingering racial prejudices, New Virginia, Southland and Deandra, along with the Lowland settlement of Saxmere and the Highland settlements of Alud and Trondgard, declared themselves independent states and immediately formed a Confederation of Sovereign States in 1829. The C.S.S. adopted a Constitution based on a modified version of the U.S. Constitution that created a weak central government with strong guarantees for personal liberty.

In 1856, Peter Courtland, commander of the New Virginia State Militia, was tried and convicted for treason for attempting to use the threat of military force to secure the resignation of the Governor and install himself as the new Governor. Before he could be imprisoned, Courtland, along with a number of supporters fled across the mountains to the sparsely inhabited plains of the northwest. By 1862, a number of settlements had been established in the region. Following Courtland’s death in 1870, leaders of these new settlements proclaimed the Dominion of Upper Virginia.

Modern History

While the nations of Excalbia avoided World War I, they did suffer under the Great Depression. The Dominion proclaimed neutrality in World War II, but both the Holy Empire and the C.S.S. backed the Allies and sent small forces to join the fight in Europe.

The Confederation of Sovereign States is prosperous and well-developed country, with a large population and a booming economy. The C.S.S., however, maintains only a small military, with the bulk of its troops serving in the militias of the various states.

The President of the Confederation is Thomas Caine of the Liberty Party. Caine recently won a hotly contested election, unseating former President Ilmar Alderson. Alderson was running as a write-in candidate after earlier unexpectedly losing the Liberty Party nomination to Caine.

The Liberty Party won the largest number of seats in the lower house – the House of Representatives – but failed to win a majority. The Democratic Party, a radical left-wing that faired surprisingly well in the elections, formed a coalition with the New Liberal Party, the former majority part in the House. The Sovereignty Party, which also did better than expected, has withheld its support from either the the Liberty Party or the Democratic-New Liberal coaltion, effectively allowing the Democratic-New Liberal coalition to take the post of Speaker of the House. Congressman Joseph Sumners of the New Liberal Party is Speaker of the House. All four parties hold seats in the House of the States with none being able to exercise a majority.

Officials and Other Leading Figures

President of the Confederation: Thomas Caine

Presidential Chief of Staff: Rihards Krauklis

Special Advisor to the President: Ruth Adeyole

Presidential Press Secretary: Shannon Coles

Secretary of Commerce and Trade Promotion: Anton Binks

Secretary of Foreign Affairs: Janice Rudeles

Secretary of Defense: Thornton Dorn

Secretary of Treasury and Home Affairs: Rachel McQuinn

Attorney General: Allen Robertson

Speaker of the House of Representatives: Joseph Sumners

Chief Bishop of the Church of Excalbia in the Confederation: Bishop Aigars Ormann

Catholic Archbishop of Cambera: Archbishop Gregory Thrain

Catholic Bishop of Umbra: Bishop Patrick Kiernan

Catholic Bishop of Cesis: Bishop Peter Riekstins

Alliance with Knootoss and Rumours of the Invisible Hand

President Caine's first act after inauguration was to travel to the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss to sign the Knootian International Stabilisation Treaty (KIST). This has caused the Holy Empire of Excalbia to nullify the Treaty of Jefferson, a long-standing mutual defence pact between the Empire and the Confederation. Many organizations and international observers believe that the Confederation's sudden alignment with Knootoss is due to the influence of the Order of the Invisible Hand. It has long been rumoured that the Order's influence was growing among the Confederation's business leaders.

Church leaders in the Confederation and Excalbia have been the most vocal critics of the Caine administration and have been among those most likely to claim that the Order is influencing Confederation politics. After the election, Ryan Edelmann, the former Presidential Chief of Staff under President Alderson, has become the Caine administration and the Order's most vocal secular critic.

You can find more information on the current political situation here: NS forums

Economics and Business

National Currency: The Sov (S).

Exchange Rate: 1 S = $1.9538

GDP: Over $142 trillion, or over 75 trillion S

Per capita GDP: Over $44,000, or over 23,000 S

Tax rates: There is no income tax or corporate taxes. Each state charges a nominal sales tax of between 2 and 3 percent. The rest of the government's revenue comes from user fees, rents and other fees.

Largest companies: The largest company in the Confederation is Confederated Enterprises - CE. The Chairman of CE is John Hayes, one of President Caine's biggest financial backers. CE owns a number of other companies, including Libert House Multimedia. The former CEO of Liberty House is Rihards Krauklis, the current Presidential Chief of Staff.

Other large companies include Confederacy Uranium, Ltd and New Hope Consumer Products Group. Ruth Adeyole, owner and former CEO of NHCPG is now a Special Advisor to the President.