Union of American Realms: A World-Building Exercise

If your still thinking of combining some of the realms here are a few ideas:

-Maine and New Brunswick are pretty similar culturally and economically

This one makes sense, although currently Maine is part of Massachusetts!

-I'm not sure, but, it looks like central Illinois in a native state in TTL named Tecumseh? I'm not sure what the deal with OTL Indiana is, maybe you could combine them.

Central Illinois is Kaskasia, which I was pegging as a quasi-French realm; Tecumseh is Central Indiana!

-Not sure what the three states that make up OTL Ontario have going on in this timeline, maybe the two western ones can be combined? Their populations seperatly would be pretty low.

This is a good suggestion!

-Same with OTL Minnesota and Manitoba

Same as above!

Long Island was historically settled by a lot of people from New England, maybe you can give it to one of the tiny New England realms?

Hmmm, maybe Connecticut? Although I am fond of a separate Long Island realm! It was a holdover from my first take on this concept a few years back

You could combine the Carolinas, but, that's kind of boring. Culturally they're very different so keeping them separate makes sense.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly!

I feel like the huge blobs west of the Mississippi OTL Iowa, Nebraska, etc could be combined.

They could! Though I’ve been hesitant to have blobby realms, I may just combine the more northern realms a bit like you suggested with Ontario

Maybe give North Jersey to New York and South Jersey to Pennsylvania?

I really like this idea

Just my take.

Also when can we expect an update on Chicagou? As a resident I'm interested to see what the history of my city is.

I’ve been living in Chicago now for a few months, I’m eager to work on it! Plus, it being the newest realm, it has some intriguing recent history - I have to do substantial research before I tackle it, though, and I need to square up the surrounding history as well!

Thank you for the reply! I’ve added my comments in red!
 
Misc: University of Florida Oriental
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A significant overhaul of the realms is in the works! If there’s anything you’d like to see in terms of realm make up, voice it now! Nothing is off the table except for some things like the existence of Transylvania, Long Island, etc.

I have gone ahead and taken up a number of @Dante suggestions as well such as annexing southern NJ/northern NJ to PA and NY respectively, and the merging of some of the northwestern realms.
 
Okay, okay! I've scrapped the "regional groupings" idea at least as far as an actual governmental unit goes. Here are the tentative final realms:

View attachment 477064

There are now 34 Realms and four Native Confederacies.
Good idea to add in Native states! That will add in more social and political diversity, which I think is what makes the UAR cool.
 
Good idea to add in Native states! That will add in more social and political diversity, which I think is what makes the UAR cool.

Yeah! I cut them down from the original, mostly because I merged the southern native states into one! Tecumseh almost doubled in size a result of me retconning Kaskasia
 
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Excellent work. I like what you did with Chicago, making it more of a state and less of a city state. I'm looking forward to hearing about the culture and diversity of the UAR.
 
Excellent work. I like what you did with Chicago, making it more of a state and less of a city state. I'm looking forward to hearing about the culture and diversity of the UAR.

Yes! Hopefully I can get some cultural info in soon - I’ll have a break between my summer employment and school this month, soooooo

I incorporated a number of your ideas! Thank you
 
Yes! Hopefully I can get some cultural info in soon - I’ll have a break between my summer employment and school this month, soooooo

I incorporated a number of your ideas! Thank you

Glad to be helpful.
 
Docket of things I'm currently working on:
  • Juan Carlos I wikibox (incumbent Lord-Governor of East Florida)
  • List of current Executive Council of the Realms
  • List of Monarch-Presidents of the Union wikibox
Any requests?
 
Cultural: Church of Columbia in Transylvania
The Church of Columbia is a dominant denomination of Christianity in the Union being the most practiced denomination, just ahead of the Catholic Church. The Church owes its origins to the 18th Century, but really rose to prominence in the early 19th Century as part of the Great Awakening. The Church is a quasi-nationalist institution and exists almost entirely in the UAR. Throughout the history of the UAR, the Church has been extremely influential in social and political life - none the less, it is rather decentralized in modern times as a result of the Schisms of Policy that occurred in the early 20th Century. The Church was influential both in the rise of Christian socialism in the Union, as well as Christian nationalism.

The Church oversees a structure similar to the Church of England, but modified. At the top is Jesus Christ, and under Jesus Christ is the Monarch. There are two archdioceses in the Church of Columbia, the Archdiocese at Boston Harbor and the Archdiocese at Chicagou. Under the archdioceses are the bishopric - every realm and native confederacy corresponds with an individual bishopric, meaning there are 37 total. The bishoprics are further divided into provinces, with each province having an archdeacon. Beyond the archdeacons of the provinces, the church structure is decentralized and largely local, with little oversight from the head leadership. Local ministries are led by ordained deacons. Much of the Union aristocracy/nobility are members of the Church, as is the royal family by obligation. Nonetheless, while the religion is the official religion of the royal family it is not the official religion of the Union as a whole.

The following map shows the 11 Holy Provinces of Transylvania:

cocprovincestransylvania.png
 
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Confederal Politics: Current Council of Executives
Present Council of Executives, January 1, 2020
  1. Acadia County: Count Phillip II (Gray) Independent; since 2007 (12 years) (LAP)
  2. Commonwealth of Aegyptania: Imperator Martin (Bellman) Farmer-Labor Party; since 2011 (8 years) (UWF)
  3. Duchy of Canada: Duke Joseph III (Papineau) Independent; since 1991 (28 years) (PRCM)
  4. Duchy of Carolina: Duke Alexander V (Martin) Independent; since 2016 (3 years) (LAP)
  5. Chicagou County: Count Jacob (Lane) Imperial Socialist Party; since 1973 (46 years) (SPF)
  6. Delmar County: Countess Amelia (Clayton) Independent; since 2013 (6 years) (LAP)
  7. Governate of Erie: Lord-Governor Dennis (Kucinich) Conservative Party; since 1991 (28 years) (LAP)
  8. Governate of Georgia: Lord-Governor James (Carter) Liberal Party; since 1971 (48 years) (LAP)
  9. Governate of Hudsonia: Lord-Governor Jacob (Lewiston) Great Path Party; since 2003 (16 years) (LAP)
  10. County of Huron: Countess Margaret II (Acer) Independent; since 1979 (40 years) (LAP)
  11. Long Island County: Count Hezekiah III (Pierrepont) Independent; since 2008 (11 years) (CAL)
  12. Governate of Manitoba: Lord-Governor Frederick (Becker) Farmer-Labor Party; since 2004 (15 years) (UWF)
  13. Duchy of Maryland: Duke John III (Howard) Independent; since 1977 (42 years) (LAP)
  14. Massachusetts County: Count Charles V (Adams) Independent; since 2001 (18 years) (LAP)
  15. Governate of Michigan: Lord-Governess Jennifer (Amash) Conservative-Reform Party; since 2019 (0 years) (LAP)
  16. Newfoundland County: Count Peter II (Nash) Independent; since 2010 (9 years) (LAP)
  17. New Hampshire County: Countess Mary II (Bell) Independent; since 2019 (0 years) (LAP)
  18. New Haven County: Countess Kathleen (Hammers) Nutmeg Party; since 2002 (17 years) (LAP)
  19. New Scotland County: Count Henry II (Sullivan) Independent; since 1999 (20 years) (LAP)
  20. Governate of New York: Lord-Governor Thomas (McKean) Yorker Party; since 2019 (0 years) (LAP)
  21. Governate of Ohio: Lord-Governor Robert III (Taft) Conservative Party; since 2009 (10 years) (LAP)
  22. Governate of Occidental Florida: Lord-Governor John III (Lavoie) Peoples Unity Party; since 1997 (22 years) (LAP)
  23. Governate of Oriental Florida: Lord-Governor Juan Carlos (Alvarado) Liberal Party; since 2014 (5 years) (LAP)
  24. Duchy of Palmetto: Duke Charles III (Pinckney) Independent; since 2005 (14 years) (PRCM)
  25. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Imperator Matthew (Metzler) Keystone First; since 2012 (7 years) (PRCM)
  26. Commonwealth of Riviera: Imperator Claire (McCaskill) Liberal Party; since 2005 (14 years) (LAP)
  27. Saybrook County: Count John II (Cromwell) Independent; since 1984 (35 years) (PRCM)
  28. Superior County: Count Paul II (Superior) Independent; since 2001 (18 years) (UWF)
  29. Commonwealth of Transylvania: Lord-Governor Steven (Beshear) Transylvania Party; since 1993 (26 years) (UWF)
  30. Governate of Twin Rivers: Lord-Governor Thomas (Harkin) Farmer-Labor Party; since 2005 (14 years) (UWF)
  31. Governate of Vermont: Lord-Governor Joseph II (Smith) Christian Democratic Party; since 2000 (19 years) (UWF)
  32. Commonwealth of Virginia: Imperator Abner (Holton) Liberal Party; since 1965 (54 years) (LAP)
  33. Governate of Ouisconsin: Lord-Governor Robert II (LaFollette) Progressive Party; since 2019 (0 years) (CAL)
Governor-President of the Council: Count Charles IV of Massachusetts since 2019

LAP - Liberal Alliance for Prosperity

CAL - Coalition for the Advancement of Liberty
UWF - United Workers Front
PRCM - Pan-Realm Confederalist Movement
SPF - Socialist Popular Front

The Party names you see are of the respective executives' realm-party. For those realms with hereditary executives who reign as independents, political leanings are noted. This is the case for most counties and some duchies. I may change some of these, and I am open to any countering ideas. Some of the people named are fictionalized versions of OTL individuals, others are native to the UAR-verse.

The current Executive Council leans towards liberal policies, which tend to mean harmony and coordination by the realms, an expansive foreign policy and trade policies, an generally moderate stances. The most recent Governor-President election occurred in 2019 and the Count of Massachusetts was selected as Governor-President of the Council.
 
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Confederal Politics: The Four Types of Realms
You'll also notice the revised realm-system.

realmgovttypes.png


Counties:

12 of the 33 Realms are organized as Counties of the Realm. Counties hold their origins in the New England realms, although are also prevalent in the Great Lakes region. Counties are traditionally led by powerful, hereditary executive and a unicameral, popularly elected legislature. New Haven and Long Island remain the only counties to allow the popular election of Counts, with the children of Counts becoming Viscounts (a special noble rank found only in New Haven). Nobilities in counties lack significant control outside of lobbying and influence as a result of a lack of governmental body; nonetheless, counties are sub-divided into earldoms which can be hereditary, elected, or a mix of both.

Governates:

13 of the 33 Realms are organized as Governates, making it the plurality form of organization in the Union. Governates hail from the early examples of the New York and Georgia governments. They are led by a Lord-Governor, who is popularly elected and who has significant authority in realm-affairs. Governates, however, also tend to have strong legislatures, typically bicameral with a popularly elected body and a body made up of the realm's earls. The role of nobility is weaker than in counties since earls in Governates are popularly elected - although hereditary titles do exist, though these tend to carry little to no actual political authority. Although Transylvania is technically called the Commonwealth of Transylvania, it's government is a governate - Transylvania's earldoms are also called counties.

Duchies:

The Duchies represent four of the realms. Duchies are led by a strong executive and having either a unicameral legislature made up of the realm nobility, or a bicameral legislature with a superior house made up of the nobility. In the past, duchies have proven rather realmist, and two of the four duchies currently have executives who align with realmist views (Charles III of Carolina firm believer in realmism, and Joseph III of Canada firm believer in theonationalism).

Commonwealths:

The four commonwealths are home to the weakest executives of all the realms. Imperators have little to no power and are popularly elected to serve confederal functions at the Executive Council. There are little to no nobility in the commonwealths and all positions are popularly elected. Imperators may designate peerages, but these peerages hold no political or administrative power. Commonwealths have strong legislatures, typically unicameral, with most of the realm's executive functions lying in the hands of the head of the respective legislature. In most instances, imperators hold ceremonial functions, but have limited executive influence in government.
 
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It's not on the capitals map, for the reference.

Interesting map, by the way!!

Just checked, it’s on there but the wording slips into Riviera which may be why you’re not seeing it!

And yeah, Europe is a whole mess - I’m sticking to the “Europe collapsed” idea I had earlier
 
Just checked, it’s on there but the wording slips into Riviera which may be why you’re not seeing it!

And yeah, Europe is a whole mess - I’m sticking to the “Europe collapsed” idea I had earlier
Ah, apologies!

And yeah, it's a really interesting idea! If you need suggestions, you might see an Imperial China that is still a major power in Asia, seeing as Europe falls apart.
 
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