A truly United States of America

[JJohnson]

First draft - Stepping towards Revolution

In writing the history of these United States of America, it is important to see how our hemisphere was brought together under the stars and stripes. From a few steps, we can see how it could have all gone differently. Had King George allowed the Quebecois to practice Catholicism, or not forced Jamaica to trade solely with Britain first under the same coercive acts, they might not have joined our little rebellion. Here is an outline showing some of the key developments of the time:

1755 - Great Expulsion - Acadians expelled from Canada and settle in Louisiana
1760 - Tacky's Rebellion in Jamaica - ruthlessly put down by the British, a single slave who was later sold into New England brought news of this to several men who would end up very prominent in the next decade.
1763 - French and Indian war concludes; Colonists are forbidden from settling west of the Appalachians to avoid skirmishes with Indians. To fund the debt acquired in this war, King George passes a series of measures over the next decade, which end up angering the colonies of British North America.
1774 - Quebec Act passed; Quebec is extended into the Ohio River valley, but they are not allowed to practice Catholicism. The Anglican church is to be the church of the colony, and the colonists are to speak English. Enraged Quebecois write pamphlets urging rebellion. Their cries are heard within Boston, New York, and Charles Town, adding fuel to the fire of the growing Patriot cause.
* Across the colonies of British North America, the Intolerable Acts enrage a number of British citizens. King George underestimates the reaction to what he believes to be entirely within his power as Sovereign
* According to Commentaries on the Laws of England, a tract from 1765 by Sir William Blackstone, there must be a sovereign in every society, who had ultimate authority, and that authority was Parliament. Hence, the colonials must submit to the new trade acts that King George III supported.

Excerpt from a Personal Diary, William Mason
August 13, 1774
Boston

I have taken news from the royal colony of Jamaica of the brutal treatment of His Majesty's soldiers towards a slave revolt there. While it must be said that it is within the right of our Sovereign King George III to regulate such matters, the brutality of that agitates my conscience. We rebelled in our own fashion against the Stamp Act and numerous other acts of Parliament. With the actions against the Negroes of Jamaica, could that also be our fate as well? Could the King send troops here? And if that be the case, would not their cause be our cause in grievances towards the crown?

Quebec City, Quebec
August 17, 1774

Pierre de Mons, and Jean Paul de St. Martin met in secret in a local tavern. They chaffed at the redcoat who was walking into the bar to get a pint. The British policies of assimilation, and now, the Quebec Act, were bringing things to a head.

"It is the king who attempts to destroy our way of life," Pierre muttered under his breath. "First he promised us land, but then took away our freedom to practice our religion, our laws...what is next? Will we be forced to speak English amongst ourselves?"

"You are right, mon ami," Jean Paul agreed. "If we do not act to preserve our way of life, the crown that sits thousands of miles away will dictate our language, where we can practice our religion, and even force us to leave our homes if he so chooses!"

"What can we do?" Pierre asked. "To preserve our home, we must act now."

"I have heard from a friend visiting New York that a Congress of the colonies will meet in Philadelphia soon. We must go to our governor and seek representation there," Jean Paul said. He glanced at the soldier drinking his beer. His anger burned within him. He would not be forced. He would be free.

Quebec City, Quebec
August 24, 1774

The Governor of Quebec Guy Carleton authorized a delegation of four to represent his colony to Philadelphia to see what would arise of it. They were instructed to bring from that committee any assurance of the end of the Quebec Act. If no such assurance could be brought back to Quebec, then further action would be authorized.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 5 to October 24, 1774

The 60 representatives from 14 colonies met in Carpenter's Hall to discuss the Intolerable Acts. By October 20, the Continental Association is formed which will implement a boycott of British goods as of December 1, 1774. At the end of the First Continental Congress, they agreed to a Second Continental Congress to meet May 10, 1775. Quebec promised representatives from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland would be present. "Only a United America would be able to stand against the crown," declared the Quebec representative Jean de Champlain.

No delegation was sent from Jamaica, with the population so small, nor from Honduras, the Antilles, or Bermuda. News traveled slowly from the isolated islands, but Patriot pamphlets eventually made their way into the islands from 1775 to 1777 after hostilities began. News of British actions, from the Boston Massacre, to the fighting at Lexington, made their way into Jamaican, Honduran, and other hands. The islands did not side completely with the rebels, but their sympathies were leaning with each bit of news.

Off post: I created two Quebecois; stereotypical names, yes, but I can't find any real names online. Also, I remember reading about a potential founding father in our timeline who somehow was struck on the head in the 1770s, and died in 1781 or 1783 with only brief boughts of sanity. He was an early patriot, had some good quotes, and I wanted to insert him here to give him a better legacy than OTL. Anyone know who I'm referring to?

Comments, questions, constructive critique all welcome.

James

PS - anyone have a map of British North America, ca. 1774, 1775, and 1776?

Edit-Thanks, Zod for the name

 

[General Zod]

A good start, JJ, a good start. I only suggest, perhaps may we have the unrest from Britain's restrictive trade policies to spread and affect all British Caribbean colonies equally, not just Jamaica ? Therefore, even if not all of them manage to break out from the Crown in the Revolutionary War, due to the actions of the British Navy, they remain hotbeds of unrest and philo-USA, ready to welcome the stars and stripes in 1812.

The name of the Quebec Governor was Guy Carleton. He was somewhat influential on keeping Canada British in the Revolutionary War OTL. We might have him switch to the Patriot side from being PO at the denial of the Quebec Act, since it was his idea.

No idea about the "near miss" founding father.

A map of British North America:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:British_colonies_1763-76_shepherd1923.PNG

 

[Dutchie]

To get Canada and the Islands on the rebels side you just need to make British rule of the colonies just as harsh all around. This could be accomplished by George III or whomever maybe making some really tough Anti-Catholic laws that really PO Quebec. Labrador will go as Quebec goes and maybe with Canadian soldiers and bases their would be more success militarily in the revolution against Nova Scotia and Halifax which means the fall of all of Maritime Canada.

I concur with Tex's advice. As it concerns Canada, you can simply assume that the Quebec Act isn't passed, which gave religious liberty to Canadian Catholics. This will PO Franco-Canadians and make them willing to join hands with the 13 colonies. And if Quebec joins the fold, so will Labrador and Maritime Canada, or fall to the rebels during the Revolution.

It's far more likely that Upper Canada would fall with Lower Canada than the Maritimes. The Atlantic provinces of today would be much more likely to continue independently of the United States, especially if Upper Canada joins/is annexed and another flood of Loyalists (these would be seriously pissed at the Americans, having been exiled twice) enters the region. And there's no guarantee that Labrador would go the way of Lower Canada, or that Lower Canada would consist of all of modern Quebec - at OTL Confederation in 1867, 'Lower Canada' was essentially a narrowish band along the banks of the St. Lawrence.

 

[General Zod]

It's far more likely that Upper Canada would fall with Lower Canada than the Maritimes. The Atlantic provinces of today would be much more likely to continue independently of the United States, especially if Upper Canada joins/is annexed and another flood of Loyalists (these would be seriously pissed at the Americans, having been exiled twice) enters the region. And there's no guarantee that Labrador would go the way of Lower Canada, or that Lower Canada would consist of all of modern Quebec - at OTL Confederation in 1867, 'Lower Canada' was essentially a narrowish band along the banks of the St. Lawrence.

Err, here we are assuming that Canada sides with the 13 colonies at the start of the American Revolution. You know, 1774-5. There aren't going to be any more "Loyalists" in Canada than in any other part of the Colonies. The Loyalist concentration in Upper Canada was a result of the Revolutionary War and the Patriots' failure to get Canada. Here we assume that Canada chooses the Rebels' side as enthusiastically as the 13 colonies. I suppose that in such a TL, the Loyalists will simply have to be relocated to UK, or any of the British West Isles that aren't lost to USA as a result of the war (they will fall to the Stars and Stripes in 1812 anyway) or maybe to Australia.

 

[JJohnson]

Nova Scotia colony
November 18, 1774

His Royal Majesty, King George III, has ordered and required that Lieutenant Joseph St. John be removed to England under the Administration of Justice Act for trial for the murder of Catherine Jones. The outrage in the colony, especially at Halifax, brought the colonial governor to listen to his counterparts in Quebec and Massachussets to join in the second Continental Congress the next year.

British North America
1775

Events are coming to a head. By May of this year, Guy Carleton himself, a Nova Scotian delegation (possible names?), and even an observer from Newfoundland joined fifty-six others in Philadelphia to discuss their situation. Some wanted to entreat the king again, others voted for outright independence. Either way, the momentum was gathering. The storm is coming.

 

[Hapsburg]

JJohnson, you should (I mean, you MUST) consider learning what the butterfly effect is, before starting a timeline.

Why would things involving Norse colonization affect George Washington's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. meeting and getting married, and having children?

Sometimes I think some people on this board waaaaaaay overdo the butterfly effect and take it to an irrational extreme.

 

[Dutchie]

Why would things involving Norse colonization affect George Washington's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. meeting and getting married, and having children?

Sometimes I think some people on this board waaaaaaay overdo the butterfly effect and take it to an irrational extreme.

I think its that a lasting settlement by the Norse would make the Americas known to Europeans earlier, meaning no Columbus, a completely different colonisation pattern, and therefore a different (if at all) colonial revolution with per force different actors.

 

[Hapsburg]

I think its that a lasting settlement by the Norse would make the Americas known to Europeans earlier, meaning no Columbus, a completely different colonisation pattern, and therefore a different (if at all) colonial revolution with per force different actors.

Not necessarily. You can't assume something like that.

 

[rewster]

Not necessarily. You can't assume something like that.

There are two conflicting... er... schools of AH thought I think at work here. There's the Butterfly Effect school, and the Infinite Timelines school. That is, some folks think that if something as drastic as Norse colonization being permanent were to happen, the chances of something hundreds of years later like Columbus' voyage happening similarly to OTL are too incredibly minute to consider the possibility seriously. Other folks think that even if the chances are incredibly minute, there is bound to be at least one combination of possible events following the POD that results in something similar to OTL. In other words, converging timelines. Sort of like convergent evolution.

I'm of the opinion that you can go either way, but if you choose convergent timelines, you'd better be able to come up with a plausible way of getting everything back to normal. Which of course would be very very hard in a case like this.

 

[Halcyon Dayz]

Why would things involving Norse colonization affect George Washington's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. meeting and getting married, and having children?

Sometimes I think some people on this board waaaaaaay overdo the butterfly effect and take it to an irrational extreme.

Because making OUR George Washington involved literally trillions of random occurrences.

Just the odds that a man and a woman would produce a genetically identical child in an ATL were one of them has to sneeze during sex is probably less then 1 in 100,000.

 

[JJohnson]

Second Continental Congress
May 10, 1775
Philadelphia, Pennsylvannia Colony

Peyton Randolph presided over the Second Congress, much like the first, with Charles Thomson acting as secretary. Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton attended this congress, unlike the last one. Fourteen colonies, not including Newfoundland or Georgia, sent delegates to this Congress.

By May 13, Lyman Hall arrived as a delegate from St. John's Parish from the Georgia Colony. It would be July 20 before Georgia sent a full delegation. Newfoundland's delegation arrived later that same day. By the time this Congress had convened, the Revolution's first shots had rung out at Lexington, Concord, and Montreal.

The Second Continental Congress had already sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III, but it would be weeks before a reply would be known.

In the interim, the United Colonies, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland had assembled in Congress, effectively acting as a governing body, while the war had begun in earnest.

End

Request - can someone draw up a map with the 1775 colonial borders?

James

 

[JJohnson]

American Revolution Begins: 1775
April 18 - Concord - General Gage sends troops into Concord to capture munitions. Riders, including Paul Revere, alert the countryside to the presence of British troops, who face militia once they reach Lexington. After facing armed rebels, they must then fight their way back to Boston, taking casualties along the way.
July 1775 - George Washington in appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, and begins amassing his resources.
August 21 1775 - Generals Schuyler, Montgomery, and Carleton fight in the north, securing Quebec city from British regiments.
Sept/Oct - Gen. Montgomery lays siege to Isle aux Noix on Lake Champlain, and takes St. Johns and Chambly soon after. He advances towards Montreal.
November - Gen Montgomery takes Montreal on Nov. 12, forcing British retreat. Citizens celebrate his arrival with a feast in the Revolution's honor. General Benedict Arnold leads a troop of 1100 into Canada, but does not make it in time to assist, due to disease of his troops. He arrives too late for anything but to assist in securing the city and countryside.
Fall/Winter 1775 - Sir Charles Douglas, a Royal Navy Admiral, attacks Quebec. His forces are met by General Guy Carleton, and soon, by Montgomery and Schuyler. General Benedict Arnold left two days before notice was received of Sir Douglas' ramming of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and was unable to assist the Generals. General Arnold instead lead a force to pacify the countryside, which was already assisting the Revolutionaries.
Fall, Winter 1775 - A standoff between forces develops along the 13 Atlantic colonies, with neither side gaining considerable ground, nor losing much ground. The British take most of Newfoundland, but lose Nova Scotia.
New Year's Eve 1775 - Colonial Armies hold Quebec City against British forces attempting to retake the city.

Revolution in 1776
January - Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense, which spreads across the Atlantic colonies, Quebec, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Upper Canada.
February - Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge (NC) - Loyalists charge across a bridge to fight what they believe to be a group of rebels, killing several Loyalist leaders, and effectively ending British authority in the town
March - Americans fortify and capture Dorchester Heights, securing the Port of Boston, forcing the British out of Boston by the end of the month.
April - NC drafts the Halifax Resolves;
April 17 - General Schuyler marches to Toronto and captures the city.
May - 4; Rhode Island renounces allegiance to King George III
June -
-7: Richard Henry Lee proposes a Declaration of Independence
-8: Battle of Trois-Rivières - General Arnold, Sullivan, and Carleton fight against the Royal Navy (led by ??) and several Hessian squadrons, losing to the British, but Sullivan and Carleton agreed to split forces, with Sullivan advancing to Montreal, and Carleton securing the lines back to Quebec. Once in Montreal, General Arnold is left in charge by Sullivan, who leaves to fight another battle elsewhere. Arnold must soon abandon Montreal, and in leaving, tries to burn the city, but suffers many casualties.
July -
-2: final copy of the Declaration of Independence written
-4: United States officially declare independence from the British Empire. Sixteen colonies unite in signing the declaration. The flag adopted carried sixteen stripes for each colony, and sixteen stars in a circle.
August -
-Battle of New York / Staaten Island - Gen. Washington routed to Brooklyn Heights by William Howe.
-A South Carolina mission to Jamaica rouses some sympathies but does not lead to participation by Jamaica in the revolution
September -
-Battle of Haarlem Heights - British and American forces clash, and while retreating, the British call a fox bugle, insulting the Americans, and galvanizing their resolve to continue fighting. Among the dead was Yves Le Ny, a colonist from Montreal who had heard about General Washington from revolutionary pamphlets.
-Nathan Hale executed by British for espionage.
October -
-Battle of Valcour Island: Americans under Benedict Arnold, and British under General xxxxx fight near Lake Champlain; General Arnold's fleet is destroyed, but he gives enough time to prepare defenses for New York city. General Carleton was delayed in fighting
-Battle of White Plains: General Howe faces General Washington on Manhatten Island. Though he had the chance to capture him, Howe allows General Washington to escape.
November -
-Hessians capture Fort Washington
-Prussian military sends Friedrich Willhelm von Steuben (says he) to assist the rebels in America.
December -
-Marquis de Lafayette attempts to join American army, along with Wilhelm von Preußen
-NC reorganizes as a State
-Battle of Trenton - Washington surprises the Hessians and defeats them early in the morning.
December


End post

-would there be any possibility of Greek and/or German assistance to the Americans? The Greeks were inspiration for their democracy, and the Germans were moderately related to the English, if not linguistically, then by some of the immigrants. I would like to set up 2 things - the eventual reclamation of Asia Minor by Greeks, and a Germany that is more in the Anglo-American sphere than France would otherwise be, to set up a favorable WWI and WWII scenario for the two lands.
-no matter the timeline, Benedict Arnold is still inept. Sorry folks.

 

[Admiral Brown]

-would there be any possibility of Greek and/or German assistance to the Americans? The Greeks were inspiration for their democracy, and the Germans were moderately related to the English, if not linguistically, then by some of the immigrants. I would like to set up 2 things - the eventual reclamation of Asia Minor by Greeks, and a Germany that is more in the Anglo-American sphere than France would otherwise be, to set up a favorable WWI and WWII scenario for the two lands.
-no matter the timeline, Benedict Arnold is still inept. Sorry folks.

The thing is, nor "Greece" nor "Germany" existed back then. "Greece" was governed by the Ottomans, and "Germany" was a bunch of independent states. I could see "Germany" uniting earlier than IOTL (1871) and becoming influential earlier. But not Greece. Even if it got independent earlier (1821), it would still be a small and poor country, incapable of influencing the events of anywhere except in its inmediat neighbourhood. And remember that, for the vast mayority of early 1800s Greeks, the "Ancient Greeks" weren't a vivid legacy. They did remember that Constantinople used to be Christian, but they didn't feel attached to the memory of Pericles, Socrates or Classical Athens.

 

[JJohnson]

I realize the modern Germany and Greece concepts didn't exist. But Willhelm von Steuben was what we now consider German. He came from Hesse, and spoke German (sounds like gibberish to me when I listen to Hessians, though ). Point is, I'm trying to set up a history of Germanic and Greco-American cooperation so that it will be more logical later on in the timeline for the Americans to reciprocate.

I'm thinking something like with Hebrew and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda perhaps, where a community of Greek exiles in the Americas, emboldened by their freedoms here, encourage their adopted home to push for a larger Greece. Their numbers have swollen to between 10 and 15 million here, and by the time the Ottoman empire falls after WWI, they agitate the US to partition Turkey to Greece, giving them back a portion of Asia Minor, including Constantinople. They get the European portion, and some of Asia Minor, possibly setting up a grudge for WW2. This map, I edited only to show a possible partition for Greece and Turkey - nothing else changed. Back to the 18th century...

 

[Dutchie]

Not necessarily. You can't assume something like that.

yeah, I can - and do. Unless fate controls the course of our lives (in which case, there's no point discussing alternatives - they were never destined to happen) then the accumulation of major and minor historical events following the discovery and continuing knowledge of an extra half to the world over 300+ years is just to great to be ignored.

If Caesar had died one day later, that's a change small enough that one could argue that the coarse outline of history is unaffected. This isn't like that at all.

There are two conflicting... er... schools of AH thought I think at work here. There's the Butterfly Effect school, and the Infinite Timelines school. That is, some folks think that if something as drastic as Norse colonization being permanent were to happen, the chances of something hundreds of years later like Columbus' voyage happening similarly to OTL are too incredibly minute to consider the possibility seriously. Other folks think that even if the chances are incredibly minute, there is bound to be at least one combination of possible events following the POD that results in something similar to OTL. In other words, converging timelines. Sort of like convergent evolution.

I'm of the opinion that you can go either way, but if you choose convergent timelines, you'd better be able to come up with a plausible way of getting everything back to normal. Which of course would be very very hard in a case like this.

There is certainly an arguement for infintie worlds where even with a remaining Norse presence you get G. Washington, but it requires a considerable stretch of imagination and logic to get to it. And if nothing ever changes from OTL except for the one element introduced, what's the point of discussing AH?

 

[JJohnson]

The Revolution Years

1777
In January, Washington wins the Battle of Princeton and winters at Morristown, where his army shrinks due to the harsh winter and desertion, though by spring, it grows to 9000 men. In March, the Continental Congress returns to Philadelphia from Baltimore

In April, Benedict Arnold defeats the British at Ridgefield, Connecticut. In June, the Congress passes the flag act, setting the flag down to 13 stripes, with 16 stars. The thirteen stripes represented the first thirteen States joining into the rebellion, while the sixteen represented the current sixteen states united against the British.

Gen. John Burgoyne plans to invade Canada, turning, then meeting up with General Howe in NY, splitting up the rebels and forcing Quebec back into the British fold. The actions of his men in suppressing the rebellious Quebecois turn more Loyalists into willing Patriots. Shouts of "Vive la Revolution!" and "Vive la Liberté!" are heard in Quebec City and Montreal with Gen. Burgoyne. The French-Americans hold the General, whittling his men, but the General's forces do receive a reinforcement from Hessian mercenaries from Hesse-Kassel, helping to tenuously subdue the city, allowing a slightly weaker General Burgoyne to continue to meet up with Howe.

Burgoyne captures Ticonderoga on July 6, capturing supplies desperately needed by Washington. This is a blow to the rebel cause, but a surprise attack by Carleton and his forces make Burgoyne flee; the men capture the supplies at Ticonderoga, and gather more locals to assist, swelling their numbers to over 6000. The supplies are fed to Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Washington, aiding the Patriots there.

General Howe leaves NY for Philadelphia to capture that city; Marquis de Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia to fight for the rebels without pay. He is impressed with the Rebels and the Quebecois fighting alongside each other, and believes France is a natural ally to the Americans.

By August, Burgoyne has spent a horrible month crossing 23 miles to the Hudson, fleeing Carleton's forces which dog him the entire journey. A regiment from Vermont wipes out a force of 800 Hessians sent to seize horses by Burgoyne, further lessening his strength.

In September, Howe forces the Americans out of Philadelphia with the Battle of Brandywine Creek. By October, the rebels have a major victory with the Battle of Saratoga, with Gen. Gates and Arnold facing Gen. Burgoyne's forces alone. After 7 days of fighting, Burgoyne surrenders to the Americans. Shortly thereafter, the troops are marched to Boston and sent back to England after swearing not to serve again in the war against America. Reports of the American victory at Saratoga travels to Europe, and boosts support for the American cause.

Nova Scotia, with the valuable Halifax port, became Carleton's next target. His siege there kept the British occupied there, and helped his reputation as a governor and military leader in the northern colonies. His forces grew from volunteers in Maine, Nova Scotia, and parts of New Hampshire who aided his fight east of the Hudson.

In Paris, news of the victory at Saratoga is celebrated as if it were a French Victory. Frederich II of Prussia, a fellow Freemason, looked on with a bit more than a mild interest when Carleton, after speaking with some German Americans and meeting up with Gates, urged an envoy to be sent to Prussia for support. They almost had France. If they had Prussia, so much the better. Silesia would be a valuable source of raw materials for the rebels.

Ben Franklin is soon received by the French Royal Court, and later in the year, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben arrived to assist the rebels. France soon recognizes the independence of the United States.

The Articles of Confederation are adopted in November, putting the Confederation Congress in charge of the war effort. Envoys are sent to Europe to secure additional assistance. France, Netherlands, Prussia, Bavaria, Austria, and even Spain received envoys, partially at Carleton's urging, with assistance from Franklin and Adams.

For the winter, Washington sets up at Valley Forge.

 

[JJohnson]

1778

In February, the French sign an alliance with the rebels in America, and Britain declares war on the French. Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge to begin training the Americans in military procedures. His protocols eventually become the first Blue Book for North America.

British General Howe is replaced by General Clinton. By May and June, the Battles of Barren Hill, Halifax, and Monmouth are fought. The rebels fail to take Halifax, but have severely hampered the British effort to fight naval battles by denying them a safe harbor in the North. In May, the British incite the Indians along the frontier to fight against the Americans, from Georgia to Quebec.

In June, the Americans reoccupy Philadelphia as General Clinton withdraws to New York, fearing a French blockade. The Battle of Monmouth is a standoff, but American Gen. Charles Lee orders retreat, enraging Washington.

Congress returns to Philadelphia by July, in time for a British and Indian massacre in the Wyoming Valley. France declares war with Britain a few days later.

An attempted capture of Newport, RI by a combined American and French naval force ends in failure due to bad weather and delays for the ground troops.

By September, Ben Franklin is appointed the American diplomatic representative in France, and Rudolf Schwarz to Prussia. Negotiations to bring Germanic-speaking regions into the war proceed with Frederick II of Prussia into the end of the year. In November, Loyalists and Indians massacre 40 Americans in Cherry Valley, and the British capture Savannah and Augusta in Georgia in December.